Find federal, California, and San Francisco primary law — court opinions, codes & statutes, regulations — for free! And, get information on low-cost options for legal research.
Opinions from 2009 to the present. Links to .pdf files of decisions that appear in the official U.S. Reports. Decisions that have not yet been published are marked as drafts.
Supreme Court opinions as printed in the official United States Reports. Coverage begins with Volume 1, up to the most recent bound copy. Does not include slip opinions or most recent decisions.
Browsable by volume, authoring justice, or by major case topic.
Full .pdf versions of the decisions are available to download.
Select "Case Law" before you search. Google Scholar has all Supreme Court opinions, from 1791 to the present (with selected coverage of pre-1790 decisions). Federal court of appeals and federal district court opinions from about 1925 to the present. Once you open a decision, you can use the "How Cited" link to see other decisions that have cited the one being viewed. (The texts of the cases are drawn from various sources, including Justia and Cornell's Legal Information Institute.)
The Caselaw Access Project, a project of Harvard's Library Innovation Lab, is making all U.S. case law freely available online. You can run keyword or advanced searches or browse individual volumes. Coverage include Federal and State materials, see the site for coverage information
Free Law Project's online archive of legal opinions, filings, and judge data. Court Listener's opinion pages have a "Cited By" feature that provides links to other available citing opinions, an "Authorities" list with links to the opinions cited, and "Related Opinions" that cover similar topics.
Cases and Codes database includes both federal and state cases. Coverage varies depending on the court. Search by keyword, citation or advanced searching. The Opinion Summaries Archive provides field (including legal topic and industry) and full-text searching for U.S. Supreme Court, circuit courts, and selected district and state court opinions.
Includes both federal and state cases. Coverage varies depending on the court. You can search by keyword or citation. Results include a .pdf of the decision and a case summary.
A collaborative effort between the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) and the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AOUSC) to provide public access to opinions from selected United States appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts. Coverage varies by court.
This provides access to opinions from 2005 to the present. Materials retrieved can be downloaded using the PACER system. Using PACER has costs, but in many cases, the fees can be waived. Click >this link<< to find out more information about PACER costs.
Official site, with court information, documents from cases of interest, FAQs, and local rules. Materials retrieved can be downloaded using the PACER system. Using PACER has costs, but in many cases, the fees can be waived. Click >this link<< to find out more information about PACER costs and creating your own account.
The Caselaw Access Project, a project of Harvard's Library Innovation Lab, is making all U.S. case law freely available online. You can run keyword or advanced searches or browse individual volumes. Coverage include Federal and State materials, see the site for coverage information
Free Law Project's online archive of legal opinions, filings, and judge data. Court Listener's opinion pages have a "Cited By" feature that provides links to other available citing opinions, an "Authorities" list with links to the opinions cited, and "Related Opinions" that cover similar topics.
Cases and Codes database includes both federal and state cases. Coverage varies depending on the court. Search by keyword, citation or advanced searching. The Opinion Summaries Archive provides field (including legal topic and industry) and full-text searching for U.S. Supreme Court, circuit courts, and selected district and state court opinions.
Includes both federal and state cases. Coverage varies depending on the court. You can search by keyword or citation. Results include a .pdf of the decision and a case summary.
Federal Statutes / Legislation
Please Note: While there is free access to the U.S. Code, for purposes of cite checking for law review these sources are not authoritative and information must be verified by referring to the print version available in the Zief Law Library.
A browsable and searchable version of the U.S. Code. [As of April 11, 2016, the updated text was current as of about July 2015 (up to Public Law 114-38). For further updates, consult the U.S. Code Classification Tables.]
From the House of Representatives, the Office of the Law Revision Counsel provides a searchable current version of the U.S. Code. It also includes a useful Popular Name Tool.
It provides the full text of the U.S. Code, searchable by title and section number. It also includes an alphabetically organized Popular Name Table. The information is generally as current as the latest additions published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel.
A non-governmental website, it is a free research tool that publishes the status of federal legislation and information about elected representatives and senators in Congress, including voting records. It also creates original research on legislation. Users can create alerts to update them on the status of pending legislation.
In-force federal rules and regulations. Based on the current print version. The Code of CFR annual edition is published on a staggered basis. For searching, use the GovInfo Advanced Search feature. To update, use: List of CFR Sections Affected. (From the Government Publishing Office; covers 1996 to the present.)
The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR) is a continuously updated online version of the CFR. It is not an official legal edition of the CFR. It is the product of the National Archives and Records Administration's Office of the Federal Register (OFR) and the Government Printing Office.)
Daily publication of new and proposed federal regulations, presidential executive orders, and important notices from federal agencies. To find regulations, browse, or use the GovInfo Advanced Search feature. (From the Government Publishing Office; Complete digital collection, covering vol. 1 (1936) to the present.)
Unofficial but very user-friendly version of the Federal Register. produced by the National Archives. Features include: flexible "Search" function; filtering and browsing by topic, agency, date, type of notice or regulation. Links to official PDF versions of regulations. Also includes an online index. Searchable from1994 to the present, older documents can be retrieved using a FR citation.
A product of the General Services Administration's Proposed regulations, it is available for review and comment. (It also includes regulatory agendas, final rules, and comments texts.) Researchers can use the Docket Subscription service to receive email notifications when documents have been added, modified, or withdrawn from a docket.
New and proposed federal regulations, executive orders, administrative orders, notices & proclamation. You can search, browse by date and agency, and subscribe to automatic updates.
