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Legal Research

: Ross-Blakley Law Library Blog

Free Sources for Federal Regulations and Statutes

By Beth DiFelice

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Law students – you won’t always have “free” access to Westlaw and Lexis, so it’s a good idea to know a bit about free web sites for legal research. What should you use if you’re looking for federal regulations and statutes? The best site for federal regulations is the eCFR from the Government Printing Office at http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/. It is very current — as current, if not more current, than Westlaw and Lexis!!! This site gives you plenty of options for finding regulations. Make sure that you’re not using the CFR at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr — this one isn’t current. The eCFR has the currency date in red in the middle of the screen, so you’ll know that you’re using the right one.

My favorite free site for the United States Code is the one at Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute at http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/. One thing to keep in mind when using free sites for federal statutes is that NONE of the free sites are current – they’re always 2-3 years behind. So if you use one of these free sites, you have to remember to update by looking for public laws that amend your statutes. The reason I like Cornell’s site is that they make updating relatively easy. When you find your statute, just click on “How current is this?” and follow the instructions.

Full post as published by Ross-Blakley Law Library Blog on May 06, 2009 (boomark / email).