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Admiralty & Maritime Law: Secondary Sources

Resources for researching the admiralty and maritime law of the United States.

American Law Reports

American Law Reports:  Each print volume of American Law Reports (A.L.R.) American Law Reports Federal (A.L.R. Fed.), and American Law Reports International feature numerous annotations (or articles) that focus closely on a specific legal issue, copiously supported by reference to case authority.  American Law Reports are available on Westlaw and Lexis Advance.  Search in the ALR databases for admiralty matters using the search methods appropriate to the system you select.

Practice Manuals & Guides

Practice Manuals and Guides:  Practice manuals and guides may be used to aid the researcher’s understanding of the practical application of admiralty statutes, regulations, and case law:

Available in Westlaw:

Federal Practice and Procedure

Available in Lexis Advance:

Moore’s Federal Practice

Practice Forms:  Model legal forms are helpful aids when drafting documents such as motions, pleadings, contracts for sales or services, and so on:

Available in Westlaw:

Admiralty & Maritime Form Finder

American Jurisprudence Legal Forms 2d

American Jurisprudence Pleading and Practice Forms Annotated

Federal Procedural Forms

West’s Federal Forms

Available In Lexis Advance:

Bender’s Federal Practice Forms

Dunlap-Hanna, Pennsylvania Forms

Legal Encyclopedia

Legal Encyclopedia:  Legal encyclopedias provide a concise introduction to the full scope of the law, and provide numerous citations to cases and scholarly legal works that support their discussions of various issues.  Search the following legal encyclopedia databases for admiralty and maritime information, and for related matters in particular cases:

Available in Westlaw:   

American Jurisprudence 2d

Corpus Juris Secundum

Available in Lexis Advance:

American Jurisprudence 2d

Law Reviews & Journals

Law Reviews and Journals:  Research law reviews and law journals on admiralty law issues with these resources:

 

HeinOnLine Law Journal Library

 

LegalTrac online journal index (limited full-text available)

 

Westlaw:

 

Law Reviews and Journals

 

Lexis Advance:

 

Law Reviews & Journals

 

Some admiralty and maritime law journals available in print at Villanova:

Tulane Maritime Law Journal (K13 .A67)

Journal of Maritime Law and Commerce (K10 .O8482)

University of San Francisco Maritime Law Journal (K25 .N737)

Check the Library’s OPAC for more print journals.

Legal Dictionaries

Legal Dictionaries:  Use legal dictionaries to define unfamiliar legal terms:

Available in WestlawNext:

Black’s Law Dictionary

Available in Lexis Advance:

Ballentine’s Law Dictionary, 3rd Edition

Treatises

Treatises:  Find treatises on Admiralty Law using the Law Library’s (or another library’s) online public access catalog (OPAC), or use the WORLDCAT database available to law students through Falvey Library, Villanova's main campus library.  Some suggested treatises on admiralty law available electronically are available as follows:

Westlaw:

Law of Seamen

Law of Maritime Personal Injuries

Lexis Advance:

Benedict on Admiralty

Goods in Transit (and Forms from Goods in Transit)

Admiralty Emerging Issues