Law/Legal Information: Home
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 Information Reference Center offers everyday users the necessary tools and detailed how-to instructions covering a wide-range of legal issues. A majority of the full-text legal reference books are provided through Nolo, the nation’s oldest and most respected provider of legal information for consumers and small businesses. With the Legal Forms by U.S. State feature, users can search state-specific legal forms by top subject areas including adoption, bankruptcy, name changes and more.
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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.
Welcome
Scope of Services
Since 1967, Fondren Library is a congressionally designated U.S. Federal Depository Library. (FDLP mission, vision, and value) Kelley Center works with U.S. Government Printing Office and 1000+ Federal Depository Libraries across the country to ensure the free and equal public access to the official U.S. Federal government documents. (Title 44 United States Code). In addition to serving as a Federal depository library, Fondren Library is a designated patent and trademark resource center (PTRC). Kelley Center has well trained PTRC staff to provide free patent and trademark service to the public. Kelley Center further assists the research and instructional needs of the Rice faculty and students by providing access to and assistance with the Library's large research collection of microform materials. The Center also provides access to and assistance with maps. Click here for more Kelley Center department information.
Legal Databases
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WestlawNext Campus Research This link opens in a new windowWestlaw includes U.S. and state case law (1944-). The system also includes access to: United States Code Annotated, Code of Federal Regulations, Federal Register (fulltext 1980+), state administrative codes and statutes.
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LexisNexis AcademicLexis Nexis Academic includes government and legal information with access to government and political news, legal news, and state and federal statutes and case law. Also includes law reviews, state and country profiles and other news and reference resources.
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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. Choose advanced search to locate court opinions for federal and state courts.
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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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WashLaw WebFind legal information for states, federal agencies and courts, and other countries. Site is no longer updated since June 1, 2019.
The focus of this guide is legal information provided by government organizations.
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HeinOnlineHeinOnline is the world’s largest fully searchable, image-based government document and legal research database. It contains comprehensive coverage of both U.S. statutory materials, U.S. Congressional Documents and more than 2,700 scholarly journals. It provides topic specific databases, including all of the world’s constitutions, all U.S. treaties, collections of classic treatises and presidential documents, Criminal Justice, Religion and the Law, and Women and the Law, among others.
Legal Forms
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Gale Legal Forms This link opens in a new windowProvides a wide selection of state-specific (and multi-state) legal forms across the most popular legal areas. Includes real estate contracts, wills, pre-marital agreements, bankruptcy, divorce, landlord tenant and many others. Also included is a comprehensive attorney state directory and a dictionary of legal definitions explained in laymen's language.
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Nolo Self-Help Law CenterFind legal information by category.
Volunteer Opportunities
New: 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 Research
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Texas Legal ResearchLibGuide prepared by Oklahoma City University School of Law.
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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.
Local Law Libraries
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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).
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.