LibGuides: Free Sites for Legal Research : Secondary Sources: Articles, Blawgs, ...

Villanova Law Journals

Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Journals This link opens in a new window
Archive of Villanova Law journals issues back to inception.

Villanova Law Review
Links to current and forthcoming articles, online articles, and more.
Villanova Environmental Law Journal
Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal
Recent articles, blog posts and news from the journal and the Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal.

Blawgs

ABA Blawg Directory
Not updated after 2019. Search legal blogs by topic, region, author type or view the list of the top 100 Blawgs.
Legal Blawg Archive
Collection of legal blogs compiled by the Library of Congress. Coverage from 2007 to present. Search by keyword, subject, name or title.
Blawg Directory
Directory of legal blogs compiled by Justia.com. Search by practice area, region (including international) or by law school affiliation.

Legal Encyclopedias & Dictionaries

WEX Legal Encyclopedia

provided by Cornell's Legal Information Institute.
Browse by subject or search by keyword
http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/wex_articles

Black's Law Dictionary (2nd) & Ballantine's Law Dictionary

provided by OpenJurist.org
Browse by word
provides defintions from both sources for each word
http://openjurist.org/law-dictionary

Legal News, Commentary & Analysis

Congressional Research Service Reports This link opens in a new window
CRS reports are well researched, succinct and highly respected. Other CRS report resources, especially for older reports, are noted in the Federal Legislative History guide, on the Compiled Histories tab: http://libguides.law.villanova.edu/federalegislativehistory/fedcompiledhistories
Findlaw for Legal Professionals This link opens in a new window
Search for articles, expert witnesses, free forms and more
Jurist.org This link opens in a new window
legal news & commentary from professors and attorneys

LLRX (law and technology resources)
See "Archives" tab for older issues
LexisNexis Legal Newsroom--Pennsylvania
Many of the "Top Legal News Headlines" link require a subscription to Mealey's Litigation Reports or other underlying publications but the articles linked in the "Latest Commentary & Analysis section" are free. Can also browse articles by Topic using the Select a Topic drop down menu.
The Daily Docket a newsletter from Reuters and Westlaw
Free newsletter, email sign-up required. Link to sample at the sign-up page.

Directories

ABA-Approved Law Schools This link opens in a new window
In alphabetical order.

Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, 1789-present
From the Federal Judicial Center. Search by name or use the "Research Categories" link to search by court name, court type, race, gender, appointing president etc.
Expert Directories
See the "Experts" tab on the Resources for Litigators guide.
Federal Judges
From Openjurist.org. Mostly historical. Brief biographical information.
Municipal Statistics--Local Government Official Information
From the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development. Search for officials by job title or municipality. Also provides access to county financial and tax information as well as demographic information.
Pennsylvania Judicial Profiles
From the Unified Judicial System. Select court to view list of judges & their biographical information including term years.
US Law Schools
From OpenJurist
US State & Federal Courts
From Openjurist.org. Search by Circuit, State or Court Type. Also includes Federal Public Defender and Probation department information.

Search for Free Law Review & Bar Journal Articles

Free Full-Text Online Law Journal Search from ABA's Legal Technology Resource Center This link opens in a new window
Searches full-text of over 400 law reviews and journals

Index to the Pennsylvania Bar Association Quarterly
Covers 1929 to present

Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Search across the web for scholarly articles and books.
Law Commons (Bepress) This link opens in a new window
Search for law reviews provided for free by their law schools. Search by institution name or subject area or search across materials by keyword.

Law Journals: Submission and Ranking Information
Find law reviews by subject; review rankings by various factors, and browse comprehensive list of journals. From Washington & Lee School of Law.

SSRN (Social Science Research Network) This link opens in a new window
Search or browse by topic area for scholarly papers, often posted before accepted for publication.

U.S. Law Reviews Websites and E-Journals from American Law Sources Online
List indicates in bold those journals with free online access. Journal list includes Journal title and Bluebook abbreviation.

Find Forms & Sample Documents

Below is a list of free forms resources. Additional forms are available in print and in some online databases at the Villanova Law Library. See the Forms & Sample Documents research guide for search tips and resources. BNA Materials by Subject and PLI Plus databases may be accessed by visitors via the public computer terminal next to the library Reference Desk.

Administrative Office of the United States Courts This link opens in a new window
Organized by Category (civil, attorney forms, bankruptcy etc.) and by form number.
Justia Forms This link opens in a new window
Organized by Jurisdiction, Topic & Form Title
Philadelphia County Forms This link opens in a new window
Civil, Criminal & Municipal Courts
Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania This link opens in a new window
alphabetical by topic

Have a journal cite? Use a journal finder to determine what databases to use.

If you have a citation to an article or want to search for articles from a particular journal for a particular time period, use a journal finder. Note that each journal finder is specific to the databases of the home site. Contact the home site library for information about on-site and off-site access.

Falvey Journal Finder This link opens in a new window
Shows databases accessible to Villanova ID holders or visitors on-site. Note: this does NOT include all the databases available at the Villanova Law School Library.

Free Library of Philadelphia Journal Finder
Free cardholder login required. Then select TDNet from the Database list.

Georgetown Journal Finder This link opens in a new window
Click on “Journal” option near the search box and enter the title of the journal to see what online platforms may have it, though it may not be a PDF/paginated the same as the as the print version. Will indicate if it is available on Westlaw, Lexis, Bloomberg etc or through a non-legal database such as ProQuest, EBSCO and others. Log into the legal platforms with your Villanova logins or go to Falvey Library's A-Z database list to see if we have access to that resource, then run a search in that database for article title.