LibGuides: JFK Law Library: Legal Databases

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Legal Research Resources

Lexis+
Self-Registration Required - Please reach out to your instructor or the library if you need the self-registration flyer.
Westlaw Edge
JFK School of Law Students Only (JD only) - Password protected - Instructions sent to student e-mail prior to the first semester
This database contains cases, statutes, regulations, practice guides, forms, also have citation analytics to determine how current the case law is. This database offers live attorney reference assistance and the Key number system to help find relevant law in categories. This database also contains Rutter Group Guides and Black's Law Dictionary.
FastCase
Available to all students. This legal database contains cases, regulations, statutes, and uses "AuthortyCite" to indicate whether an item is considered "good law"
CEB/OnLaw
Available to all students. This database contains California practice guides for law clinic courses, including Housing, Elder Law, and others
HeinOnline
Available to all students. This database contains Law Journals and Historical documents. A great starting place for any legal research topic.
Aspen Learning Library (Formerly Wolters Kluwer Study Aid Library)
Formerly WKOSAL. Only available to JD Law students in the JFK School of Law

Experiencing technical issues logging in? Contact library@ncu.edu or jdiermier@ncu.edu for Lexis or Westlaw or Casetext issues.

Contact the NU Help Desk for issues with Fastcase, CEB/OnLaw, or HeinOnline. The NU Help Desk may be reached at 1-888-327-2877 Ext: 8888 or ServiceDesk@ncu.edu.

Casetext
Register here for a free student account. This database is comparable to Westlaw and Lexis. Casetext has provided complimentary access for our law school. Please set up a personal account and add it to your bookmarks. Available to all students.

Legal Resource	Location
General National Materials: Corpus Juris Secundum or American Jurisprudence, 2d	Lexis: Content Type >Secondary Materials > Treatises, Practice Guides & Jurisprudence Westlaw: Content Type > Secondary Sources > Jurisprudence & Encyclopedias – Alphabetized list has Corpus Juris Secundum (C.J.S) and American Jurisprudence, 2d.
Dictionaries: A legal dictionary	Black’s Law Dictionary on Westlaw: Secondary Sources > Tools and Resources bar on the right side.
Annotated Reports: American Law Reports - Federal American Law Reports, 4^th and 5th	Lexis: Content Type> Secondary Materials > Treatises, Practice Guides & Jurisprudence Westlaw: Content Type> Secondary Sources> “By Type” – American Law Reports
American Law Institute Publications: Model Codes, Reports and Drafts Restatements of the Law, Reports and Drafts	Westlaw: Content Types > Secondary Sources > “American Law Institute” Lexis: Content Type> Secondary Materials > Varies
Forms of Pleading and Practice and Legal Forms: CA Judicial Council Forms Current set of CA forms Current set of Federal Forms	Lexis: State Materials > California > Secondary Materials > “Top Secondary Sources” > California Forms Of Pleading and Practice – Annotated OR “Forms” Westlaw: Form Finder > Forms by Publication > Federal Procedural Forms
Uniform Laws Annotated	Westlaw > Statutes & Court Rules > Uniform Laws Annotated
CA Materials: -CA Supreme Court case reports (official or unofficial) -CA Appellate Courts case reports (official or unofficial -West Digest -CA Jurisprudence 3^rd -Wests or Deering’s -Annotated Codes, including indices -CA Jury Instructions, -Civil and Criminal -Law Commission Reports -Attorney General Opinions -CA Code of Regulations	Westlaw> State Materials> Cases > California State & Federal Cases > California State Cases / Lexis: Advanced Search: CA Supreme Court Cases from 1850 Westlaw: State Materials > Cases > California State & Federal Cases > California Courts of Appeal Cases Lexis: State > California > Cases > “CA Courts of Appeal Cases from 1905” West’s Digest: Westlaw – State Materials > California > "Key Number Search Tool", which uses a word search to identify up to five key numbers OR with the "Key Numbers and Digest" feature (browse by subject using an expandable tree – no search terms required) Cal Jur 3^rd: Westlaw – “State Materials” > California > Secondary Sources > California Jurisprudence West’s Annotated Codes: Westlaw > Statutes & Court Rules California Statutes & Court Rules > California Statutes Index CA Jury Instructions: Lexis> Content Type > Jury Instructions > California / Westlaw: Secondary Sources > California Secondary Sources > Judicial Council of California Civil Jury Instructions (CACI) CA Law Commission: direct website http://www.clrc.ca.gov/ Attorney General Opinions: Westlaw> Administrative Decisions & Guidance > California Administrative Decisions & Guidance > California Attorney General Opinions / Lexis: State Materials > California > Administrative Materials, Codes and Regulations > CA Attorney General Opinions CA Code of Regulation: Lexis > California > Administrative Materials, Codes and Regulations / Westlaw: California Regulations > Current version of Barclays Official California Code of Regulations (CCR)
Federal Materials: United States Supreme Court cases, any set Federal Reporter, 1^st – 3^rd Federal Supplement Federal Rules Decisions Tax Court Cases Board of Tax Appeals decisions Federal Digest Supreme Court Digest Annotated edition of US Code United States Statutes at Large Code of Fed Regulations Loose leaf Tax Service	Supreme Court Cases: Westlaw > Cases > U.S. Supreme Court Cases / Lexis: Content Type > Federal > US Supreme Court Cases Federal Reporter, Federal Supplement, and Federal Rules Decisions (all very similar) :Westlaw: Cases > Federal Cases / Lexis: Federal > All Federal Cases Tax Court Cases & Board of Tax Appeals Decision: Westlaw > Cases > Tax Court > Right sidebar: US Tax Court Cases Federal Digest / Supreme Court Digest: General Search Boxes work on both US Annotated Code (USCA) – Westlaw > Statutes & Court Rules United States Code Annotated (USCA) / Lexis: Federal> US Code Service US Code of Federal Regulations – Lexis & Westlaw: Search box: Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Looseleaf Tax Service: Lexis: Search “CCH Standard Federal Tax Reporter”
National Reporter System (1^st to date for all) Atlantic Reporter New York Official Reports Northeastern Rept Northwestern Rept Pacific Rept Southwestern Rept Southern Rept Southeastern Rept	Searchable by case on both Lexis and Westlaw
Text and Treatises Encyclopedia, treatises, or current text for all bar tested courses taught Witkin, Summary of CA Law Witkin, CA Procedure Witkin, CA Criminal Law Witkin, CA Evidence	Witkin on Westlaw: Secondary Sources > California Secondary Sources > California Texts & Treatises > Witkin's California Materials
Law Reviews and Journals	Westlaw: Secondary Sources > Law Reviews and Journals Lexis: Secondary Materials> Law Reviews and Journals 2,200+ Law Journals on HeinOnline
Other Resources: Current Law Index or Index to Legal Periodicals Local county and city ordinances Local Municipal Codes Legislative history – United States Code Congressional and Administrative News (USCCAAN) Local Court Rules	Index to Legal Periodicals on Westlaw only- Secondary Sources > Current Index to Legal Periodicals Local county and city ordinances/ municipal codes –Search by County/City on the web Local Court Rules – Searchable on Google USCCAAN – Westlaw: Legislative History > U.S. Code Congressional & Administrative News
Cite Checking Resources: Shepard’s Citation Service or Westlaw KeyCite	Embedded into Lexis (Shepards) or Westlaw (Keycite)

Lexis + Search Technique Guide
This document lists several terms and connectors in Lexis to make your search more effective, comprehensive and efficient.
Westlaw Edge Search Technique Guide
This document lists several terms and connectors in Westlaw to make your search more effective, comprehensive and efficient.

Beginning Legal Research for 1L's
This guide will provide an overview of legal research and strategy for First-Year Law Students

The Legal Research Survival Manual with Video Modules
This text and the accompanying videos provide a basic introduction to the mysteries of legal research, giving the new legal researcher the tools necessary for success. The title Legal Research Survival Manual is chosen with care. The work does not provide comprehensive coverage of legal materials, and is not designed to replace traditional legal texts. Instead, it is an easy-to-read introduction for students at the very start of their career. It is designed to be an approachable resource to launch them into the first year of law school or as a legal research refresher for those starting their first jobs or internships. The videos can be watched in conjunction with the book or separately.

Video topics include:
Structure of US Court System
How Cases Came to be Published
The Parts of a Judicial Opinion
How to Read a Judicial Opinion
Overview of the Online Systems
Hints for Online Case Searching
Citators and How They Can Save You
Bluebook Citation and You
Legislation—What You Need to Know
Administrative Law and Legislative History
Secondary Sources
Research Strategy
more...less...
Log in using your West Academic STUDY AIDS (subscription.westacademic.com) account.

Study Aid Databases

Aspen Learning Library (Formerly Wolters Kluwer Study Aid Library)
West Academic Study Aids
Dean's Law Dictionary
Free - sign up required. Discussed during orientation.

Specialized Databases

To see all NU Library Databases, go to the A-Z Database List.

Homeland Security Digital Library This link opens in a new window
Content: Material from Federal, State, international, and private sources related to security policy, strategy, and management. The content is primarily current with some historical material.
Purpose: Informs users about current topics related to homeland security and national defense.
Special Features: Informs users about current topics related to homeland security and national defense
International Security & Counter Terrorism Reference Center This link opens in a new window
Content: Contains resources for research on national security. Topics include regional conflicts, civil liberties, criminal justice, disaster & recovery, public health threats, cyber security, risk management, bio-terrorism, and more.
Purpose: Provides users with information and resources relevant to many topics pertaining to international security and terrorism
Special Features: Includes a tool for discovering citing articles, a browsable index of subject terms, and text-to-speech feature for some articles.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Content: Database supporting business and legal research.
Purpose: News, journals, and company profiles and directories for both public and private companies.
Special Features: U.S. Supreme Court decisions dating back to the 1790s, New York Times articles, Cases, Law Reviews, Company & Country Information, and much more.
Westlaw Campus Research This link opens in a new window
Content: Law school students only. Primary and analytical law sources, news, trade publications, company information, and more.
Purpose: Use to search legal cases, codes, and other information.

Castext
Register for an account with your .o365.ncu.edu address
Fastcase
Cases, statutes, court roles, constitutions

HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
Content: Traditional legal materials (reported cases, statutes, government regulations, academic law reviews, commercially produced law journals and magazines, and classic treatises), historical, governmental, and political documents, legislative debates, legislative and executive branch reports, world constitutions, international treaties, and reports and other documents of international organizations.
Purpose: Informs users about a broad range of legal and governmental topics.
Special Features: Users can narrow by topic and subject and may also search particular databases.