Great Starting Places

Best Single Resource for Lawyers - We are very fortunate that ABA Publishing has recently released Jerry Lawson's excellent new book, "The Complete Internet Handbook for Lawyers" (http://www.abanet.org/lpm/netbook/). As a one-volume guide to the Internet, it can't be beat. I recommend it most highly. The book contains some excellent observations of what to expect in legal research, top ten lists from experts and a wealth of Internet information for the beginner and expert alike. You can buy the book directly from Amazon through this link.

Best Single Resource for Learning About Legal Research Trends and Developments - The Law Librarians' Resource Xchange (http://www.llrx.com) is an unparalleled resource for information about legal research developments and trends.

Some of the Best Legal Research Web Sites

• FindLaw - http://www.findlaw.com - FindLaw is a large directory of legal web sites, organized and categorized, with its own search engine to help you locate legal sites easily. It's often referred to as the "Yahoo" of legal research, in reference to the heavily-used directory/search engine called Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com). If you want just one place to start your search for general legal information, FindLaw is a great choice.

• Catalaw - http://www.catalaw.com - CataLaw is similar to FindLaw and you may find the features of one or the other to be more appealing to you. CataLaw is also an organized and categorized directory of legal web sites. You can find excellent collections of Internet resources on virtually any legal subject matter area.

• The Virtual Chase - http://www.virtualchase.com - Genie Tyburski's excellent collection of materials, articles and resources on techniques, tips and resources for researching legal topics on the Internet also includes her presentations and seminars on legal research topics. Since she's a librarian, she does a great job of cataloguing, organizing and describing web sites. There's also good information about what are the "best" web sites on different topics.

• Law Library Resource Xchange - http://www.llrx.com - Speaking of librarians, LLRX is a great site run by several law librarians. LLRX is a regular newsletter with uniformly excellent articles focusing on research, the Internet and the use of technology in legal research. The back issues contain a wealth of helpful information. Here's a common theme in sites run by law librarians: excellent organization and it's easy to find things.

• Legalonline - http://www.legalonline.com - Occasionally lawyers complain that while they can find web sites on their topic, they can't find the good ones. Bob Ambrogi, one of my favorite writers on Internet topics, regularly rates legal web sites. For example, on a monthly basis, he names "5-star" web sites by categories. He's given two of my sites 5-star ratings, so I think he has a very sharp eye. Seriously, though, he does an excellent job of finding great web sites.

• Jurist: The Law Professors' Network - http://jurist.law.pitt.edu - The law professors haven't been sitting around while everyone else creates authoritative resources. Jurist contains a lot of information relating to legal education and links to a wide variety of web pages created by law professors. These pages might include online courses, publications and papers, research and other academic materials. Better yet, they can give you access to the thinking of leading academics. Some of the leading legal minds are then only an e-mail message away.

• Law News Network - http://www.lawnewsnetwork.com - This site is the combined site of the newly merged American Law Media and National Law Journal groups. Some of you may remember this site as the excellent Law Journal Extra site (http://www.ljx.com). Among other features is an excellent daily e-mail newsletter that gives you the day's legal headlines from a variety of publications. Lots of great editorial content and articles on this site, both practical and legal. Great resource for breaking legal news.

• Lawyers Weekly - http://www.lawyersweekly.com - You have to pay a modest fee for some of the material, but the Lawyers Weekly site is a great resource for opinion summaries, legal news and articles for improving your practice. My legal technology column appears in every other issue. Lawyers Weekly is the parent of Missouri Lawyers Weekly.

• Law.com - http://www.law.com - Law.com has an ambitious goal - it wants to be the portal by which you enter the Internet for anything legal - sort of a one-stop shop on the Internet. You name it, it's got it, including the ability to have your own free law.com e-mail address (e.g., darngoodlawyer@law.com). It's another good source for legal news and commentary.

• Martindale-Hubbell - http://www.martindale.com - Want to find another lawyer? Want to save a trip down to your firm's library? The entire Martindale-Hubbell directory is on the Internet. For free. Find lawyers in other cities, old law school classmates and opposing counsel. The new advanced search features allow you to search for lawyers by practice areas. There are other features to the web site, to be sure, but the lawyer locator is a feature you'll use frequently.

• House of Representatives Internet Law Library - http://law.house.gov - Another good catalog of legal resources with a particular emphasis on federal resources. You can track current legislation and access a huge amount of government and other legal information. This site may be moving soon.

• Georgia State's Meta-Index for US Legal Research - http://gsulaw.gsu.edu/metaindex/ - Another excellent storehouse of links to legal resources. You might even like this site better than FindLaw or CataLaw. In any event, it's a good place to check before giving up on your search.

• Virtual Library - Law - http://www.law.indiana.edu/law/v-lib/lawindex.html - An enormous collection of legal resources maintained by Indiana University.

• My Virtual Reference Desk - http://www.refdesk.com - A complete and very handy collection of all sorts of reference tools on the Internet.

Other Great Legal Resources

• LegalOnline's Best Legal Pages List
• Practical Guide to Internet Research for Litigators
• Legal Research Using the Internet - Great place to start.
• ABA's LawLink (TM) Legal Research Jumpstation
• AllLaw Home Page
• American Law Sources Online
• COUNSEL QUEST, a premier internet legal resource locator
• Lawguru.com - Legal (re)search Page
• LawRunner: A Legal Research Tool
• SearchLaw
• Substantive Law on the World Wide Web
• Versuslaw
• Big Ear: Current Legal Resources on the Net
• Cornell University - Legal Material by Topic - Overview
• American Lawyer Media
• Law - The Mining Company
• Guide to Law Online, Law Library of Congress
• GUIDE to United States Law (Library of Congress)
• Internet Legal Resource Guide
• Katsuey's Legal Research Links
• Lawlinks: Chicago-Kent's Guide to Substantive Legal Resources on the Web
• LAWS.COM -- A Compendium of Law Resources
• Lawyers.com
• Legal Information Institute
• Legal Resources on the Internet -- University of Southern California
• Nolo's Legal Encyclopedia
• SEAMLESS WEBsite - law and legal resources
• Emory Law Library Electronic Reference Desk
• Cornell's Supreme Court Page
• Court Rules Central
• The Federal Court Locator
• FedWorld Information Network Home Page
• Phillips Nizer Internet Library
• THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet

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