Listing of Villanova Law and selected databases from Falvey Library as well as relevant open source databases. Includes description and access information for each.
Most law library databases listed here are available via IP authentication, except where otherwise noted. Databases are available off-campus to law school faculty, staff, and students. You may access these databases through our secure proxy server by logging in with your main campus email username and password. Some databases require separate passwords such as Lexis, Westlaw, Bloomberg.
By accessing these resources, you agree to the following:
These resources are for non-commercial, educational use only;
You recognize the limitations of generative AI technology and agree that responsible use of these resources requires critical thinking as well as independent analysis and research;
You agree to the terms of Villanova University’s requirements and guidance on generative artificial intelligence set forth in the Code of Academic Integrity and guidelines for students, incorporated herein by reference;
You acknowledge that the use of generative AI technology poses ethical concerns due to the risk of revealing confidential or private information. To mitigate this risk, you will refrain from uploading sensitive data, including Villanova University data;
You will not upload copyrighted, licensed, or proprietary materials to any third-party technology or any artificial intelligence, algorithms, or models, including but not limited to, for purposes of developing or training any artificial intelligence, algorithms, or models; and
You will not publish any research findings or conclusions about the performance, accuracy, or other technical details about a resource without the vendor’s express written consent.
Database Access Agreement
By accessing these resources, you agree to the following:
These resources are for non-commercial, educational use only;
You recognize the limitations of generative AI technology and agree that responsible use of these resources requires critical thinking as well as independent analysis and research;
You agree to the terms of Villanova University’s requirements and guidance on generative artificial intelligence set forth in the Code of Academic Integrity and guidelines for students, incorporated herein by reference;
You acknowledge that the use of generative AI technology poses ethical concerns due to the risk of revealing confidential or private information. To mitigate this risk, you will refrain from uploading sensitive data, including Villanova University data;
You will not upload copyrighted, licensed, or proprietary materials to any third-party technology or any artificial intelligence, algorithms, or models, including but not limited to, for purposes of developing or training any artificial intelligence, algorithms, or models; and
You will not publish any research findings or conclusions about the performance, accuracy, or other technical details about a resource without the vendor’s express written consent.
The law library has a limited user subscription to AILALink, an online research platform created and maintained by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). AILALink includes immigration statutes and regulations, case law, agency decisions and guidance documents, government manuals and AILA-produced reports and materials. It also provides access to AILA's secondary sources including Kurzban's Immigration Law Source Book and the AILA's Asylum Primer among many others. For more information or to request access, please contact reference@law.villanova.edu
ALM publication provided via our law.com subscription and offers firm and attorney rankings and other legal news stories and analysis. Click on the "List Sites" button in the bottom right corner of the law.com homepage to access this publication.
Access to study aids including the Examples and Explanations series, Glannon Guides, Emmanuel Law Outlines and more including podcasts and videos. Read online or download and print.
Online version of many Bureau of National Affairs publications in a variety of subject areas. These resources are now solely available via BloombergLaw.com. Alerts and BNA Reports email subscriptions can also be created - see News & Analysis tab for full list of topics. To see a comparison of BNA publications to their Bloomberg equivalents, check this chart:
Provides dockets and case documents taken directly from PACER, numerous example contracts and other transactional materials as well as state and federal cases, regulations, and statutes. Also links to BNA Portfolios and BNA Law Reports for news and current awareness items. Law Students, faculty and staff can sign up for an account at: https://profile.bloombergindustry.com/bloomberglaw-activate/ using your official law school email address (@law.villanova.edu, not the main campus @villanova.edu address).
Interactive tutorials covering various areas of law. Provided by the Center for Computer Assisted Legal Instructor but created by professors and law librarians nationwide. Villanova Law students and faculty should contact Lori Corso (lori.corso@law.villanova.edu) to request access.
The Chancery Daily is an independent news source summarizing corporate and commercial litigation matters pending in Delaware's Chancery Court, the Delaware Supreme Court, and the Delaware Superior Court's Complex Commercial Litigation Division. Law students and faculty can sign up for a free subscription to these summaries using their @law email address.
Thomson Reuters database providing tax primary sources and analysis materials from Warren, Gorham, and Lamont. Students can self-register for an account by going to: http://ezp1.villanova.edu/login?url=https://cpreg.thomsonreuters.com/. Your password can then be used on and off campus.
Congress.gov, a website created by the Library of Congress, provides access to legislation from the current session of Congress along with information about federal legislation from 1973 onward. The site contains various bill versions, amendments, actions taken on bills, committee reports and other legislative information. It also provides links to the Congressional Record, House and Senate Committees, and contact information for members of Congress.
Decisis is a legal research database that can be used to research cases, statutes, regulations, and agency decisions. Access to Decisis is provided free to members of the Pennsylvania Bar and other state bar associations. Students can sign up for a free student membership to the PA Bar.
PA Student Bar Membership Link: https://www.pabar.org/site/Law-Student-Signup/Law-Student-Application
A collection of legal encyclopedias including:
Encyclopedia of Comparative Law
Encyclopedia of Law & Economics
Encyclopedia on the Economics of Competition, Regulation and Antitrust
Encyclopedia of Corporate Governance
Encyclopedia of Labour Studies
Private International Law
Fastcase is a legal research service that provides access to primary law from all 50 states as well as federal statutes, regulations, court rules and the constitution. Federal cases from the following federal reporter volumes to the present are also available: 1 U.S. 1, 1 F.2d 1, 1 F. Supp. 1 and 1 B.R. 1. Fastcase also offers a newspaper archive, adminstrative opinions and orders, legal forms and federal dockets (via Justia.com). View a list of all materials covered here.
Some state, city and county bar associations as well as other attorney associations offer Fastcase as membership benefit (including the New York, the D.C. Bar and the Jenkins Law Library.)
Fastcase and vLex have merged and the Fastcase platform will be phased out in 2025 and replaced with vLex. All users of Fastcase will then be able to access vLex. For more information you can visit their website.
"Acclaimed by librarians, academics, and researchers alike, the Foreign Law Guide (FLG) is an essential database offering relevant information on sources of foreign law, including complete bibliographic citations to legislation, the existence of English translations and selected references to secondary sources in one virtual destination. Broad in content and global in scope, the FLG is an indispensable resource for comparative law research and a fundamental tool for developing a foreign and comparative law collection. Approximately 190 jurisdictions are systemically covered and updated by a global team of experts."
"Provides researchers with instant, full-text access to foreign, comparative, and international legal literature. This collection gathers together over 2,700 titles across nearly 3,500 individual volumes, totaling 1.4 million pages, that address issues in the realms of foreign, comparative, Islamic, Jewish, and even Roman and ancient law. The vast majority of the titles—over 2,000—concentrate on international law, while more than 800 titles devoted to foreign law address legal systems in specific countries."
This database complements the collection of treatises found in "The Making of Modern Law: Foreign, Comparative, and International Law, 1600–1926" and provides through monograph publications an interpretive analysis of various legal codes, the "primary sources" of law. Jurisdictions include Great Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, as well as other countries in Northern and Eastern Europe.
Contains the world's most comprehensive online collection of records and briefs brought before the nation's highest court by leading legal practitioners—many who later became judges and associates of the Supreme Court itself. It includes transcripts, applications for review, motions, petitions, supplements, and other official papers of the most-studied and talked-about cases, including many that resulted in landmark decisions. This collection serves the needs of students and researchers in American legal history, politics, society, and government, as well as practicing attorneys.
Free online access to judicial, statutory, and regulatory information from the U.S. Government Printing Office. Browse by title, category of document, date, committee or author of the publication. Previously known as FDSys/GPOAccess.
PDF links to view print facsimiles available for most material. Use the Search button to get to Citation search for easy access.
Harvey AI is an artificial intelligence platform developed for use in the legal industry. It utilizes natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning to support tasks such as document drafting, legal research, and case analysis.
Access to Harvey is limited to faculty, staff, and law students in their second and third year. Faculty who would like access should reach out to their library liaison. Students and staff should email the law library at reference@law.villanova.edu.
Extensive digital library collection including PDF full text of journal articles, federal statutes, CFR regulations, and legislative and international materials. Hein also has research guides describing each of the collections and offering search tips and other information for users.
Hein Research Guide Link: https://libguides.heinonline.org/?b=g&d=a
The peer-reviewed monographs of the International Encyclopaedia of Laws (IELs), provide practical information and valuable insights into both national and international legal frameworks in 11 practice areas, written by over 1,200 leading experts from all over the world.
Include practice areas are: Commercial & Economic Law, Competition Law, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Corporations & Partnerships, Environmental Law, Intellectual Property, Intergovernmental Organizations, Medical Law, Private International Law, and Sports Law.
Law360 is an online legal news outlet providing analysis about legal issues and cases which are organized by practice area and jurisdiction. Case articles offer full docket numbers, case filing dates and other case citation information.
Users can sign up for email newsletters with links to articles on particular practice areas or state jurisdictions. On-campus access is provided to students, staff, faculty and visitors.
Off-campus access is available only to faculty (contact your library liaison to request an account).
Students (or faculty without an account) can search for and access individual Law360 articles on Lexis.
Legal news site produced by American Lawyer Media. Access articles about the legal industry as well as specific practice areas including Corporate & Securities, Class Actions, Appellate practice, Labor & Employment and IP. Also features large list of industry rankings and surveys such as the Top 100 Law Firms, The National Law Journal's Top 500 Firms and the Summer Associates Survey. Offers Legal Terms & Definitions dictionary.
Free collection of law review articles culled from law schools using Digital Commons institutional repositories. Articles are grouped by practice area or conduct a keyword search across all articles. Databases are also available for other disciplines (Business, Medicine, Economics etc.) via the larger Digital Commons Network.
View contact information, corporate hierarchies and other information for law and lobbying firms, courts, companies, Congress, federal and state agencies and news/media outlets. Includes information not found in other resources. Can also search by practice area and location.
Faculty or Staff can have an account that allows for greater customization and email newsletters. Please reach out to a law librarian or your library liaison for more information.
Note: federal links take you to PACER which requires you to set up a paid account. State links vary but most will take you to docket databases provided by the individual courts themselves.
Online version of the daily Philadelphia legal newspaper. Offers columns on legal issues, case analysis, verdicts, legal notices and job postings. Current week's worth of issues available along with some archived columns from previous months. Also available on Lexis.
Lex Machina is a legal analytics tool used to gain insights into the behavior of judges, attorneys, parties, and both state and federal courts. It includes data from the USPTO, International Trade Commission, and bankruptcy courts. Track what kinds of cases are being heard by jurisdiction or find out how a judge usually rules on motions to dismiss.
You will need to use your law school email address and then your lexis credentials to access.
Online access to fulltext journal articles, state and federal primary and secondary sources, forms, news resources and public records data. Available only to law students and law faculty, others should use Nexis Uni instead.
The Lexis Digital Library gives you online and mobile access to both text and audiobook Study Aids to supplement your class and bar exam prep. With Lexis Digital Library you can add notes and highlights to the ebooks and get definitions for legal terms within the books. Create your own virtual "bookshelf" to access your most-used titles quickly. Includes the Understanding Series and the Questions & Answers Series.
The Max Planck Encyclopedias of International Law are a comprehensive resource containing peer-reviewed articles on every aspect of international law. This definitive reference work contains both the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law and the Max Planck Encyclopedia of International Procedural Law.
NYTimes provides Villanova users with single sign-on (SSO) access. New users scroll to the bottom of the login page and choose “Continue with work or school single sign-on”.
If a user already has a NYT account they will need to connect their account to the SSO. Returning users should login at nytimes.com with their account email and password, navigate to Account Settings -> Email and Settings and choose to connect a work and school account. Once the account is connected, they can proceed by choosing “Continue with work or school single sign-on” on the login page.
Users must use their @villanova.edu address for SSO. You cannot use your @law.villanova.edu email address!
Provides full-text access to national and international newspaper and magazine articles and news transcripts, business, company, and industry information in the U.S. and abroad, and legal documents, including U.S. Federal and State court cases, and law reviews. Coverage varies
NOTE: If you have full access to Lexis Advance through the law school, use that instead of Nexis Uni
The Pennsylvania Bar Institute is the Pennsylvania Bar's home for Continuing Legal Education. This website hosts livestreams, webinars, videos, and print materials on current and practical legal topics for Pennsylvania lawyers. It is also free for law students.
All PBI courses as well as the PBI ProPass are FREE for all law students. Interested students can contact PBI’s Customer Experience team via email at info@pbi.org or call 1-800-932-4637 Monday through Friday between 8:30 am to 5:00 pm.
Search or Browse Pennsylvania regulations in the Pennsylvania Code. Also includes Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rules of Evidence, and more.
The Philadelphia Business Journal provides full text access to the Philadelphia Business Journal and their Book of Lists with a 10-year archive of content.
Subscription is provided by main campus Falvey Library. Register with your Villanova email address (xxx@villanova.edu), not your law school email account, and create a password. Accounts will be purged from time to time. When they are, reregistration will be needed.
Collection of resources prepared for and by practitioners. Materials include treatises, CLE course books and program transcripts, Answer Books and sample forms.
Note: To access the "My Folders" & "My Searches" features, you must register as a new user using the Register link at the top of the database home page from an on-campus computer or using the Villanova Law wireless internet connection. Once you've created an account, you can then view your search history and list of folders from off-campus but you can only access the full-text of items contained in those folders while on-campus. Please contact the Library for assistance or view the Online Tutorial.
Provides compiled histories, bills, committee hearings, congressional House & Senate reports, other committee publications and the Congressional Record. Records may not offer full-text for all statutes and not all documents are available for each statute.Primarily used for comprehensive index and abstracts - identifying documents that are part of a statute's legislative history.
Similar to ProQuest Congressional, ProQuest Legislative Insight is the recommended starting point for compiled legislative histories of bills that became law. Start with Congressional when researching legislative actions that did not become law or when that is unknown. Access to some documents is limited; check both platforms and contact reference@law.villanova.edu with questions.
Use this source to identify statistics reported by U.S. federal, state, business, and research institutions. Provides indexing and abstracting (with select full text from 2007).
An open-access platform for sharing early-stage research across disciplines including social sciences, law, life sciences, and more. It allows researchers to upload and disseminate working papers and preprints globally.
TaxNotes.com offers access to Tax Notes Today, a daily online source for coverage of federal tax news and analysis. Users can sign up for email alerts for a variety of newsletters or create their own customized saved search alerts
Register for an Account: students and faculty must first create an account on-campus (or if unable to come to campus, email reference@law.villanova.edu to have one created for you remotely) (Directions for self-registration below)
Directions for creating account:
1) Please go to www.taxnotes.com, and click SIGN IN at the top left.
2) In the username field, please enter your law school e-mail address. Click Next.
3) On the next screen, please click on the blue “Register Here” link.
4) You’ll be taken to a Profile page. Enter your name and law school e-mail address.
5) Choose a password and enter it.
6) When you’ve finished the Profile, click SAVE CHANGES.
7) You’ll go to the Tax Notes webpage, where you can sign in with your username (your lawschool e-mail address) and the password you chose.
Newsletter published by the National Law Journal which offers commentary and other information about the cases and lawyers who appear before the Supreme Court. Provided via our law.com subscription.
The United Nations is the depositary of more than 560 multilateral treaties which cover a broad range of subject matters such as human rights, disarmament and protection of the environment.
Online version of many Wolters Kluwer titles on securities, intellectual property, and cybersecurity.
First-time users should create an account at the VitalLaw Self-Registration site using their law school email address. Students are encouraged to create an account while on-campus for the best experience and then the site can be accessed from any device or location using that new user name and password.
Recently added Corporate Governance and Cybersecurity Privacy titles.
Financial and corporate news source. Can also access WSJ.com after activating free access from Falvey Library (Villanova students, faculty and staff only): Registration is required to access the WSJ.com website via computer, mobile device or tablet. Register at www.wsj.com/Villanova with your Villanova credentials, accept the terms of use, and thereafter access with your individual sign-on. For assistance, email support@wsj.com or call 1-800-journal.
Legal research platform that provides full-text secondary sources as well as state and federal cases, statutes, and regulations. Also offers Practical Law materials, directories, dockets, motions & briefs and other legal materials.
