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.
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.
Google Scholar is a search engine that provides links to articles from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, and scholarly articles posted on the web. It also provides links to relevant published books that are found in the Google Books Project.
Many students feel comfortable starting their research using Google Scholar because of its similarity to Google's internet search engine. However, because it is a search engine and not a database, it is important to get to know some of the functionality and limitations of Google Scholar first.
Before you begin your search, you should set up library links. This allows Google Scholar to connect your search results to the holdings at Phillips Library, so that you can easily access the full text of articles made available by our institutional subscriptions.
1. From the Google Scholar Homepage, click on the dropdown menu symbol, the "hamburger" in the upper left. Select Settings.
2. Select Library links on the left side of the page.
3. Enter "Suffolk University".
4. Check the boxes below that mention Suffolk University and the “Open WorldCat” option and click Save.
The link to "SU Full Text" will take you from Google Scholar to the full-text options for an article in Spartan Search. The Open WorldCat link helps connect to any relevant books that Google Scholar finds.
Please note: If you are on campus using SU’s wifi network, you should automatically be linked to library holdings. However, setting up Library Links allow you to see full text links from off campus. To save your settings, you will need to create a Google account.
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 Precision and Lexis+. These low-cost alternatives are great for finding primary and secondary legal materials.
SOCIAL LAW LIBRARY DATABASE*: Great resource for Massachusetts substantive and administrative law.
MCLE ONLINEPASS*: 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.
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.
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 the Social Law Library Database and MCLE OnlinePass. When you graduate you are welcome to visit the law library and use these resources.