Law/Legal Information: Home
Legal guides, rules/regulations, codes, and legislative and judicial information.
Gov Info Coordinator/Kelley Center
Volunteer Legal Services and Opportunities
The State Bar of Texas has partnered with Paladin, a justice tech company, to create a statewide online portal designed to help lawyers find volunteer opportunities and assist Texans with their legal needs. Through the free statewide portal at State Bar of Texas Pro Bono Portal powered by Paladin (joinpaladin.com), volunteer lawyers and law students have a centralized location to search and sign up for pro bono opportunities across the state.
Legal Databases
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WestlawNext Campus Research This link opens in a new windowU.S. and state case law (1944-), United States Code Annotated, Code of Federal Regulations, Federal Register (fulltext 1980+), and state administrative codes and statutes.
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HeinOnline This link opens in a new windowHeinOnline is the world’s largest fully searchable, image-based government document and legal research database.
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Nexis Uni This link opens in a new windowNews, company information, market information, legal cases, law (U.S. federal, state, and international law), briefings, codes, and regulations.
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Congress.govCongress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information. The site provides access to accurate, timely, and complete legislative information for Members of Congress, legislative agencies, and the public. It is presented by the Library of Congress (LOC) using data from the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, the Government Publishing Office, Congressional Budget Office, and the LOC’s Congressional Research Service.
Congress.gov is usually updated the morning after a session adjourns. Consult Coverage Dates for Congress.gov Collections for the specific update schedules and start date for each collection. -
GovTrack.usGovTrack.us tracks the United States Congress and helps Americans participate in their national legislature.
They publish the status of federal legislation, information about your representative and senators in Congress including voting records, and original research on legislation. They’re one of the oldest government transparency websites in the world. -
Google Scholar @ Rice UniversityGoogle Scholar provides a multidisciplinary citation platform with links to free full texts. With this localized implementation, additional full texts are available for resources licensed by Rice University, and no manual setting of Rice preferences is required when accessing Scholar off-campus. Note the case law button to locate court opinions from federal and state courts and the ability to include patents in searches for articles.
Legal Forms
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Nolo Self-Help Law CenterFind legal information by category.
Local Law Libraries
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Online Law Library of CongressProvides access to legal blogs, non-commercial databases, U.S. and international legislative resources, digitized collections, and global law resources.
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Harris County Law LibraryOfficial page of the Harris County (Texas) Law Library.
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O'Quinn Law Library (University of Houston)Official page of the O'Quinn Law Library (University of Houston).
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The Fred Parks Law Library (South Texas College of Law)Official homepage of The Fred Parks Law Library (South Texas College of Law).
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Thurgood Marshall School of Law Library (Texas Southern University)Official home page of Thurgood Marshall School of Law Library (Texas Southern University).
General Information
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What do Lawyers do? (TYLA)An introductory guide to the legal profession prepared by the Texas Young Lawyers Association.
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Legal Information Reference Center This link opens in a new windowLegal reference books for consumers and small businesses, as well as legal forms for various purposes.
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Guide to Law OnlineLaw Library of Congress and Global Legal Information Network's compilation of free online legal resources by country. Also include resources for U.S. states and territories.
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Internet and Online Sources of U.S. Legislative and Regulatory InformationBriefly describes and then provides a comparison table containing more than 60 online free and subscription-based sources for U.S. federal and state legislative and regulatory information. Provided by the Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C.
Legal Skills
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Summer Associates Identify Writing and Legal Research Skills Required on the JobLexis-Nexis paper stressing that law school students need to develop strong research and writing skills to success in practice.
Legal Research
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Texas Legal ResearchLibGuide prepared by Oklahoma City University School of Law.
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Legal Information InstituteFree online resources by Cornell University Law School to help people find and understand the law. Includes world, federal, and state legal resources and federal rules and regulations.
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LLSDC's Legislative Source BookComprehensive website from the Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C. that provides help for for finding and using a wide variety of legislative and regulatory information. Includes research and practical guides.
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