Legal Research on the Internet

• Washington State
• Other Jurisdictions
• Federal Materials
• Other Starting Points

Washington State

Legislature
http://www.leg.wa.gov/legislature	Legislature home page
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/	Bill information – committee reports, amendments, digests, daily bill status, topical index, etc. Contains full text of bills from 1991 to those currently before the legislature. Documents back to 1985 are available through the Advanced Search system. Key word searching is available.
http://www.leg.wa.gov/CodeReviser/Pages/session_laws.aspx	Washington Session Laws, 1854-current

Revised Code of Washington (RCW)
http://www.legalwa.org or http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/	Full text of the current Revised Code of Washington
http://www.leg.wa.gov/CodeReviser/RCWArchive/Pages/default.aspx	RCW Archive back to 2002

Washington Administrative Code
http://www.legalwa.org or http://apps.leg.wa.gov/wac/	Full text of the current Washington Administrative Code
http://www.leg.wa.gov/CodeReviser/WACArchive/Pages/default.aspx	WAC Archive back to 2004

Washington State Register
http://www.leg.wa.gov/codereviser/pages/washington_state_register.aspx	Includes proposed, emergency, and adopted rules, executive orders, etc.

Washington Attorney General Opinions
http://www.atg.wa.gov/page.aspx?id=1738	Contains AG opinions back to 1949

Washington Growth Management Hearings Board Decisions
http://www.gmhb.wa.gov/decisions.aspx	Contains Growth Management Hearings Board decisions from 1992 to present.

Washington State Courts
http://www.courts.wa.gov	Comprehensive site for general court information, court rules, and selected forms.
http://www.courts.wa.gov/appellate_trial_courts/supreme/?fa=atc_supreme.style	Reporter of Decisions Style Sheet
http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions	Recent Supreme and Appellate Court slip opinions.
http://www.legalwa.org	Washington Supreme Court and Appellate Court Decisions including Washington Territory Reports (1854 to 1889), Washington Reports, 1st and 2nd series (1889 to present) and Washington Appellate Reports (1969 to present) (Caution: this is an unofficial database that does not mirror the report of the opinions in the official reports.)
http://www.courts.wa.gov/forms	Washington State Court Forms used statewide
http://www.courts.wa.gov/library/index.cfm?fa=library.display&fileID=cityCountyForms	Washington Local Court Forms
http://www.courts.wa.gov/court_dir/	Washington Court Directory
http://www.tvw.org	Public TV: Coverage of State Government, Agency and Supreme Court Hearings
http://www.courts.wa.gov/court_dir/?fa=court_dir.facils	Family Law Facilitator List
http://dw.courts.wa.gov/index.cfm?fa=home.resources	Self Help Resources and Links

Washington State Law Library
http://www.courts.wa.gov/library	Legal research guides, research assistance, catalog and "chat".

Washington State Bar Association
http://www.wsba.org	Includes lawyer directory and resources for the public including a guide to finding legal help, consumer information pamphlets, and procedures for filing a complaint.

Other Jurisdictions

Federal and State
http://www.law.cornell.edu/statutes.html	Federal and State constitutions, statutes and codes.

International, Federal and State
http://www.washlaw.edu	Comprehensive site for links to international, federal and state legal material.

City and County
http://www.mrsc.org	Municipal Research & Service Center (MRSC)
http://www.mrsc.org/codes.aspx	Washington City and County Codes

Federal Materials

http://www.usa.gov	Official website for searching the U.S. Government
http://thomas.loc.gov	Full text of legislation, amendments, committee reports, bill summary and status.
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/	Federal Digital System - online access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government; search, browse, and download.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/	Legal Information Institute, Cornel University Law School

Federal Register
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=FR	Federal Register from 1994 to Present

US Code
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collectionUScode.action?collectionCode=USCODE	U.S. Code
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/	Includes full text of US code. Access by key word search.

Statutes at Large
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=STATUTE	U.S. Statutes at Large, Volumes 65 forward (1951-)
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwsl.html	U.S. Statutes at Large, Volumes 1-18 (1789-1875)

Code of Federal Regulations
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collectionCfr.action?collectionCode=CFR	Annual editions of the Code of Federal Regulations from 1996 to Present
http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text	Browse a list of CFR Titles; search by keyword

Federal Courts
http://www.uscourts.gov	Has links to US Supreme Ct., Ct. of appeals, District Ct. & Bankruptcy Ct. Sites. Includes information on court structure, electronic filings, history, etc.
http://www.pacer.gov/	Public Access to Court Electronic Records (fee-based)

U.S. Supreme Court
http://www.supremecourt.gov/	Official website of the U.S. Supreme Court; access to U.S. Reports bound volumes 502 to present
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/	Decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court; 1990-present, current term, & selected cases; 1937 1975, vol. 300-422 U.S. Reports
http://supcourt.ntis.gov/	Full text of U.S. Supreme Court Decisions issued between 1937 and 1975 (volumes 300 through 422 of U.S. Reports
http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html	Findlaw's searchable database of U.S. Supreme Court decisions from 1893 (U.S. Reports volumes 150-)
http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/supreme_court/resources.html	Search and view full text of Supreme Court Decisions issued from 1893 to 2007

U.S. Court of Appeals
http://www.uscourts.gov/links.html	The Federal Courts links

U.S Court of Appeals 9th Circuit
http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov	The 9th Circuit

Other Starting Points

http://washingtonlawhelp.org/	Legal research site for non-attorneys primarily low income persons
http://lib.law.washington.edu/ref/guides.html	Gallagher Law Library, University of Washington subject guides
http://lawlibguides.seattleu.edu/index.php	Seattle University School of Law Library subject guides
http://www.law.gonzaga.edu/library/research/guides/	Chastek Law Library, Gonzaga University subject guides
http://www.uidaho.edu/law/library/legalresearch/guides	University of Idaho Law Library subject guides
http://lawlib.lclark.edu/research/oregonlaw.php	Boley Law Library, Lewis and Clark Law School, Oregon Legal Research
http://www.law.cornell.edu/	Comprehensive legal research site
http://www.loc.gov/law/public/law.html	Law Library of Congress, International Legal and General Information.
http://www.martindale.com	National lawyer directory