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Beginners Guides
- Beginner's Guide to LawThe Library of Congress has 21 guides to researching law for beginners on a variety of topics--a great place to begin!
Legislative Histories
About This Guide
Welcome to the Legal and Paralegal Studies Program Guide
This guide provides pointers for getting started with your research. It includes links to key resources. If you are just getting started with legal research, it is often suggested that you begin with something that will give you background/an overview of your topic (called secondary sources) as these will usually mention primary sources of law like cases and statutes that you can then look to for more information.
To find background information, try a law review article or a report on your topic.
See: How do I search for law review articles?
Also try CRS Reports. These are Federal reports/ documents that are non-partisan and designed to provide an overview on a topic. They often provide extensive references to primary law and legislation. Search by topic, such as energy or veterans.
Library of Congress. Legal Research Reports by Topic
Once you have enough background and want to start looking for primary sources of law, try these links:
- How do I research federal legislation?
- How do I find out what the state laws are on a topic?
- How do I find a specific legal case using Nexis Uni?
Key Legal Studies Resources
Legal Databases
- Nexis Uni This link opens in a new windowAccess to over 10,000 news, business, and legal sources, including deep backfiles and up-to-the-minute stories in national and regional newspapers, wire services, broadcast transcripts, international news, and non-English language sources.
- Fastcase This link opens in a new windowLegal database including primary law, public records, treatises and legal forms (formerly Loislaw).
Free Content
- American Enterprise Institute Publications from the policy think tank, American Enterprise Institute. Most of the entire collection can be found at the AEI’s website (aei.org): Articles, Policy Areas, and Research Products.
- Brennan Center for Justice Reports The Brennan Center for Justice is a nonpartisan law and policy institute.
- Commission on Civil Rights Publications produced by the Commission on Civil Rights, all of which can be found through the Thurgood Marshall Law Library
- Congressional Budget office (CBO) Since 1975, CBO has produced independent analyses of budgetary and economic issues to support the Congressional budget process. Each year, the agency’s economists and budget analysts produce dozens of reports and hundreds of cost estimates for proposed legislation.
- Constitutions (Various countries) Constitute Project has text of all of the countries’ constitutions.
- CRS Reports (Congressional Research Service) The Congressional Research Service (CRS) serves as shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. CRS experts assist at every stage of the legislative process — from the early considerations that precede bill drafting, through committee hearings and floor debate, to the oversight of enacted laws and various agency activities.
- GAO Reports (Government Accountability Office) GAO provides Congress, the heads of executive agencies, and the public with timely, fact-based, non-partisan information that can be used to improve government and save taxpayers billions of dollars.
- JFK Assassination documents (National Archives)has the complete collection of government records that have been released so far for the JFK assassination.
- Supreme Court Opinions The Supreme Court’s website has access to opinions of the court dating to 1991 and slip opinions. The Library of Congress has all of the U.S. Reports of the Supreme Court.
Legal Writing and Citation
- APUS Legal Studies Program Writing GuideThis is the place to start for all things legal writing at APUS: forum posts, exam essays, case briefs, legal memos, book reviews, and more.
- The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (20th & 21st editions available).)Use this link to access the official Bluebook style guide, compiled by the Harvard Law Review Association, the Columbia Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and the Yale Law Journal. Scroll down the page to view link to 20th and 21st editions.
APUS Legal Studies Videos
Help Links
Legal Studies and Paralegal Studies at APUS
Interested in Legal Studies or Paralegal Studies as a major? Learn more about the Legal Studies and Paralegal Studies degrees and certificates APUS offers:
Writing@APUS
Writing@APUS provides resources for all aspects of the writing process, from choosing a topic to proofreading the final draft.