Tips for Law School Success

You’ve probably found that LexisNexis and Westlaw can fulfill many of your school-related online legal research needs. When you don’t have access to these sites (during the summer or after graduation), or they don’t have what you’re searching for, the following websites can prove helpful.

• MASSACHUSETTS TRIAL COURT LAW LIBRARIES: With fifteen branches throughout the state, these libraries offer a wide range of free resources - from top-notch "Law About" research guides to free access to Westlaw and Lexis, as well as other helpful databases.
• CASETEXT: Search state and federal cases, statutes, and regulations annotated with insights from the country's leading attorneys, law firms, and academics for free. Some tools may have fees.
• GOOGLE SCHOLAR: Search for state and federal cases and law review articles. Full text is available for cases and some law review articles. Remember to add Suffolk University as the library link under settings to access additional full-text materials.
• CASE LAW ACCESS PROJECT: Harvard Law School provides access to all U.S. official published case law from 1658 to June 2018.
• LEGAL INFORMATION INSTITUTE (LII): The LII is an independently funded project of Cornell Law School. Provides primary legal materials, legal encyclopedias, and the Supreme Court Bulletin. The LII publishes electronic versions of core materials in numerous areas of the law.

After you graduate or when you're doing an internship, clerking, or working at your job, you may not have access to comprehensive databases like Westlaw Edge and Lexis+. These low-cost alternatives are great for finding primary and secondary legal materials.*

• FASTCASE: Includes primary law from all fifty states and comprehensive federal coverage. It also includes cases, statutes, regulations, court rules, and constitutions and provides access to newspaper archives and legal forms. The Massachusetts Bar Association offers free access to Fastcase for all MA Bar Association members.
• SOCIAL LAW LIBRARY DATABASE: Great resource for Massachusetts substantive and administrative law.
• MCLE ONLINE PASS: Includes live MCLE webcasts; unlimited online access to the entire archive of MCLE on-demand webcasts and downloadable mp3 audio programs, and unlimited online access to MCLE's entire collection of over 165 practice manuals.

*All current law students have free remote access to these resources. When you graduate you are welcome to visit the law library and use these resources.