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.*

• DECISIS: The Massachusetts Bar Association offers free access to Decisis for all MA Bar Association members. Decisis uses a world-class citator and streamlined legal research solution with tailored search filters to pull highly relevant results from a massive primary law database. In addition to federal and state case law, codes, regulations and select agency materials, Decisis users also get access to a vast library of forms, dockets, and news. 
• 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.
• SCRIBD: a digital library of law documents Scribd offers instant access to thousands of cases you can read anytime, anywhere. Many of these resources are free. 

*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.