Nolo's List of Helpful Legal Websites

At Nolo we know that access to quality online legal information is important. We also know that there's an overwhelming amount of legal information on the internet—some of it good, some of it bad. So we've compiled a guide to some of our favorite (and trustworthy) online resources. The websites listed here can help you find primary law—such as statutes and court cases–as well as area-of-law-specific information from government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and more.

Constitutions, Statutes, Cases, and Regulations

When doing legal research, it's crucial to read the text of the law itself. Luckily, there are a number of places online where you can find federal and state constitutions, statutes, and regulations; court decisions; and local municipal codes. Here are a few of our favorite options.

The Caselaw Access Project
https://case.law

An initiative of Harvard Law School, CAP provides free access to official federal and state cases from 1658 on. You can browse by jurisdiction, perform full-text searches, or search by citation, date, author, or court. New decisions are added to the database at the beginning of each year.

CourtListener
www.courtlistener.com

CourtListener provides access to decisions from more than 2,000 state and federal courts. Also, each case in CourtListener includes "Authorities" and "Cited By" sections with links to related cases. The site allows you to schedule email alerts for developments involving a specific case or legal issue and features a sophisticated search function.

GovInfo
www.govinfo.gov

On this website from the Government Publishing Office, you'll find information from all three branches of the federal government, including the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. Code (statutes), the Code of Federal Regulations, and the Federal Register.

The Law Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/law

The Law Library of Congress is home to the Library of Congress's legal materials and provides free online access to many state and federal resources. For example, you can find links to the official versions of each state's statutes and regulations on the library's website. Librarians have also compiled research guides on many legal topics to help you get started. Select "Researcher Resources" from the homepage to begin exploring these materials.

Municode.com
https://library.municode.com

Use this website to find local city or county ordinances.

United States Supreme Court
www.supremecourt.gov

The official website of the U.S. Supreme Court. Read about past and present justices, learn about cases and issues before the Court, listen to oral arguments, and more. You can also find opinions from 1991 to the present here. (For earlier Supreme Court decisions, go to the Library of Congress's online digital collection of U.S. Reports.)

USA.gov
www.usa.gov

USA.gov is the U.S. government's official web portal. Its goal is to make it easy for the public to access federal government information and services online.

Specialized Legal Websites

While the primary-source-focused websites listed above can get you to the text of the law, you'll often want or need to dig deeper into a specific subject. The following sites can help you find reliable information on a number of legal topics, including criminal law, employment law, and landlord-tenant law.

Consumer Law

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
www.consumerfinance.gov

This government agency provides answers to many common money questions. The CFPB website offers information for consumers about banks, credit cards, mortgages, and debt collection.

National Consumer Law Center
www.nclc.org

This site offers consumer information and advice for low-income people, older people, students, and other vulnerable groups.

Responsive Law
www.responsivelaw.org

Responsive Law, or Consumers for a Responsive Legal System, works to improve access and accountability in America's civil legal system. Responsive Law tracks legal reform commentary, provides information to help consumers manage their lawyers, and maintains a consumer law blog.

Copyright, Patents, and Trademarks

U.S. Copyright Office
www.copyright.gov

This website provides access to U.S. copyright laws and regulations, allows you to search copyright records, and offers guidance on how to register your own work.

Stanford University's Copyright and Fair Use Site
https://fairuse.stanford.edu/

This site provides links to relevant laws and regulations, but it's also useful for tracking current legal developments through news feeds, blog posts, and charts.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
www.uspto.gov

The USPTO offers a rich online repository of patent and trademark information. Here you can access the relevant laws, learn the basics of filing patent and trademark applications, and search for existing patents and trademarks.

Criminal Law

Collateral Consequences Resource Center
https://ccresourcecenter.org

CCRC offers extensive information and tracks legal developments on criminal record sealing and expungement, restoration of rights, and laws on criminal records and employment.

National Archive of Criminal Justice Data
www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/pages/NACJD/

NACJD, a project from the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, hosts and preserves a wealth of criminal justice data from a range of government agencies, private organizations, and scholarly publications.

Employment Law

U.S. Department of Labor
www.dol.gov

The DOL posts lots of information useful to both employers and employees, including resources for veterans, youth workers, and people with disabilities. In addition, the DOL has compiled state-specific laws on a range of employment-related topics, including required meal and rest breaks, minimum wages, and child labor.

Workplace Fairness
www.workplacefairness.org

This nonprofit organization provides free information on a variety of workplace issues, with a focus on employee rights.

Environmental Law

The Center for International Environmental Law
www.ciel.org

CIEL focuses on using international law and institutions to protect the environment. On CIEL's website you'll find research papers and publications by topic and year, as well as reports on treaty negotiations and the latest environment-related news from around the world.

Environmental Law Institute
www.eli.org

Check ELI's website for recent news related to environmental law, as well as reports and surveys on state-by-state laws and regulations on topics such as mold and radon.

International Law

GlobaLex
www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex

GlobaLex, run by the New York University School of Law, is dedicated to international and foreign law. Click on a country name to find information about its government structure and court system and to get useful links.

The United Nations
www.un.org

On the official site of the United Nations, you can find information about peace and security issues, human rights, humanitarian efforts, and international law.

Landlord-Tenant Law

The National Apartment Association
www.naahq.org

The NAA website is geared mainly toward landlords, but it also has resources tenants will find helpful. The organization tracks legislation and provides information on a range of topics related to renting and rental housing.

Law For Kids

Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids
https://bensguide.gpo.gov/

Produced by the U.S. Government Publishing Office, this website teaches kids how our government works and provides links to other government websites for kids.

Legal Help

These websites can help connect you with low-cost legal assistance.

LawHelp.org
www.lawhelp.org

LawHelp provides state-by-state links to local legal aid programs ready to help low- and moderate-income Americans with civil law issues and immigration.

Legal Services Corporation
www.LSC.gov

LSC is a federally funded nonprofit corporation that provides grants to local legal aid programs in all 50 states. On LSC's website, you'll find links to local resources and lots of helpful information about the law.