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Free & Low Cost Legal Research

Introduction

The major legal research databases can be prohibitively expensive for some researchers. There are, however, a number of online alternatives that are either free or less expensive than Lexis/Nexis and Westlaw.

The first part of this guide provides an overview and links to different types of free materials and the second part summarizes the features and costs of less expensive databases.

Free Sources of Legal Materials

There are several databases which provide access to primary source materials on their own sites, without any charge to the user. These sites vary in terms of the types of materials collected, the scope of their coverage, and their search options. We have created a table for each type of material which includes the major online sources and their coverage.

Because the availability of state legal materials varies so widely, we have only included descriptions of the federal materials available for free online.
Please consult our state research guides for information about individual states.

Secondary Sources

While most of the free legal material available online is primary law, there are a few sources of secondary materials, and we have identified and described some of the best sites we have found. While these sources may not be authoritative, they can be useful in providing analysis, opinion, or explanation of the law, as well as covering recent legal developments.

• ABA Journal
  The ABA has made this legal news magazine available for free online. Site contains the current issue and archived issues since 2004.
• Google Scholar
  This search engine employs the Google algorithm to find relevant scholarly articles using keyword searches. Google Scholar searches both full text articles and abstracts that are available for free online, so users should be aware that not all results will lead to full articles.
• Law.com Dictionary
  While neither as extensive nor authoritative as Black's Law Dictionary, this site does provide basic definitions to thousands of legal terms and concepts. Users can search for terms or browse alphabetically.
• Legal Information Institute (Cornell University Law School)
  In addition to a wealth of primary sources, the Legal Information Institute (LII) also contains some useful secondary materials, especially the "Law About..." pages. These pages provide brief overviews of dozens of legal topics, arranged alphabetically. While not as extensive as a traditional legal encyclopedia, these pages do offer introductions to some of the most important concepts in these areas of law, along with citations to principal sources of primary law.
• Oyez.org
  This site collects information related to the U.S. Supreme Court. While it includes some information about past and present justices and the Court's cases, its most notable content is a collection of audio recordings of oral arguments. All arguments from 1981 to the present are included, as well as those from selected earlier cases.

Case Law

There is an abundance of free case law available online. Unfortunately, many of the editorial enhancements and finding aids that legal researchers are accustomed to are not available through these free sources. For example, these sources do not provide digests or headnotes, which organize cases by points of law. Instead, these sources utilize browsing and keyword searching as the principal means of finding relevant cases. Researchers should be aware of these limitations and understand that keyword searching and browsing are not necessarily the best methods to find cases.

For guidance on the significance of case law and methods for finding relevant cases, please see our Case Law Research Guide.