Legal Research for Non-Lawyers

This guide provides advice for non-lawyers on researching the law, using the Nexis Uni database (available anywhere on the UCLA campus) and free resources. 

The UCLA Law Library is an academic library that is focused on academic legal research and training future attorneys. This guide is primarily targeted at UCLA students, faculty, and staff outside of the law school who are performing academic legal research or considering law school.

However, it may also be helpful for members of the public and the UCLA community who are researching personal legal issues. If you're attempting to resolve a personal legal issue, we encourage you to seek additional support, using the links in the "Getting Legal Help" box in the sidebar. 

Attorneys divide the law into two types of sources:

• Secondary sources are books and articles about the law.
• Primary sources are laws made by governments such as:
  • The Constitution of the United States and of each state. 
  • Statutes passed by the U.S. Congress and each state's legislature.
  • Regulations passed by federal and state agencies to add detail to statutes.
  • Cases decided by the federal and state court systems..

Agencies also issue administrative decisions, which are similar to cases but made by agency bodies, and guidance documents such as manuals, opinion letters, and handbooks, which provide even more detail than regulations.

Legal sources are further divided into:

• Mandatory (binding) sources that must be followed by individuals, companies, and the courts.
• Persuasive sources that can be cited in legal arguments but do not have to be followed.

To be mandatory, a source must be:

• A primary source. Secondary sources are only ever persuasive.
• From your jurisdiction- i.e. from the federal government and the government of your state.
• If a case, published and, generally, from a higher court in your jurisdiction. This rule is discussed in more depth under the Evaluating Cases tab.

There are many places that you can locate legal sources:

• Most attorneys use expensive databases called Lexis and Westlaw, which provide access to large collections of secondary sources and primary sources. Additionally, these databases supplement primary sources with citators, annotations, and headnotes. These tools flag possible problems with a source (e.g. a case that has been overturned or a statute that has been struck down) and allow you to find similar sources.
• If you do not have access to Lexis or Westlaw, a good alternative is Nexis Uni, a budget version of Lexis. Nexis Uni provides access to a small selection of the most significant secondary sources available on Lexis. Additionally, it provides access to a large collection of primary sources, with citators, annotations, and headnotes, like the ones that you would find on Lexis. 
• The federal government and most of the states post copies of their statutes, regulations, and cases online. States often contract with Westlaw and Lexis to provide free versions of their laws, without the added tools provided by the paid Westlaw, Lexis, or Nexis Uni databases.
• Some third-parties (such as the Cornell Legal Information Institute or CLII) gather freely available information and make it easier to browse and search. Again, however, they usually don't include the citators, annotations, or headnotes you'd find on Westlaw, Lexis, or Nexis Uni. 

For additional details on accessing and using legal sources, please see the tabs on the left.