Law and Legal Research

This guide highlights resources for finding answers to basic legal questions and research queries.

Fastcase is a comprehensive, nationwide law library, including case law, statutes, regulations, court rules, constitutions, and law review articles.  Visit the Fastcase help feature for tutorials and other tips for effective searching. Only available at Boston Public Library.

HeinOnline contains more than 140 million pages and 125,000 titles of legal history and government documents in a fully searchable, image-based format. Only available at Central Library.

Thousands of legal forms with more forms being added daily. Official, State Specific, Federal, Business, Personal, Real Estate, and General forms covering hundreds of legal subjects and issues. Includes an Attorney Database organized by practice area.

The Social Law Library in Boston has made a subset of its legal research databases available to public library patrons in Massachusetts. These databases focus on legal topics relevant to Massachusetts, both state and federal. Please ask a BPL librarian for access to this resource. Only available at Boston Public Library.

Full text of the Congressional Record (1873-1997), Congressional Globe (1833-1873), Register of Debates (1824-1837), and Annals of Congress (1789-1824), representing the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress.