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Basics of Legal Research

Cases, Statutes, and Regulations

Law can come from many sources. In the United States, applicable law may come from the legislative, executive, or judicial branch of the federal government, a state government, or a local government. Below, you will find links to the two most important areas of law for Texans - Texas Law and Federal Law.

Texas Law

  • Texas Constitution and Statutes - Search and browse a database of the Texas constitution, Texas codes, and other statutes from the Texas legislature. This webpage also contains links to other helpful resources, including the Texas Law Timeline from the Legislative Reference Library of Texas.

  • Texas Register and Texas Administrative Code - Current and back issues (beginning with the first issue published in 1976) of the Texas Register, a journal of Texas executive branch activities, notices, and other published documentation. Also, a searchable version of the Texas Administrative Code, a compilation of codified rules from Texas administrative agencies.

  • Texas Judicial Branch - Compilation of information about appellate courts throughout the State of Texas, including a Case Search tool that allows users to search recent appellate cases by cause number, party name, and additional criteria. The Case Search feature also includes a Document Search tool that allows users to search through the full text of recently filed opinions, briefs, and other documents.

  • Legislative Reference Library of Texas - Extensive collection of Texas legislative materials, including the Legislative Archive System, which supports search by bill number, session law chapter number, author, subject, or caption keyword for bills introduced in the Texas Legislature from 1884 to present.

  • Historical Texas Statutes - Collection of digitized Texas Statutes from 1879 to 1960. Read and search through statutes in your browser or download in PDF format.

  • Google Scholar - Database of state and federal case law with coverage for most courts from 1950. Searchable by citation or keyword using Google's familiar search box. Citations within cases are linked to available sources.

Federal Law

  • FDSys (Federal Digital System) - Searchable database of federal publications, including authenticated digital statutes from the United States Code; administrative rules and notices from the Code of Federal Regulations and Federal Register; a compilation of presidential documents; and opinions from several U.S. circuit, district, and bankruptcy courts. For a complete list of available documents, visit the FDSys Collection page.

  • Supreme Court of the United States - A wealth of information about our nation's highest Court, this website contains opinions, including the Court's latest slip opinions, a calendar of the current docket, audio and transcripts of recent oral arguments, and general information about the Court, its history, and the Justices.

  • United States Courts - Portal for information and resources concerning U.S. courts. This site includes links to individual court webpages where individual courts publish opinions and local rules, a court locator, court rules, statistics, and a limited number of official forms for federal and bankruptcy courts.

Additional Resources

  • Legal Information Institute (Cornell University Law School) - Collection of federal legal materials, including U.S. Constitution, U.S. Code, and U.S. Supreme Court opinions, as well as links to legal materials for all 50 states. This site also contains a collection of articles on a variety of legal topics and a nationwide directory of attorneys organized by practice area.

  • Texas.gov - Information portal for the State of Texas. Search websites and documents for the Texas legislature, administrative agencies, courts, and local governments.

  • USA.gov - Information portal for the federal government. Search websites for Congress, the President, federal agencies, federal courts, and many other government entities throughout the country with a single query.

  • Fifth Circuit Houston Satellite Library - Open to the public, the Fifth Circuit Library System's Houston Satellite Library is a valuable resource for researching federal legal issues.

Harris County Legal Research

Regulations and Ordinances

Courts and Court Documents

Additional Resources

Research from Home

The Hainsworth Law Library provides some remote access to databases and eBook collections. See the links below or visit our Remote Database Access webpage for instructions on how to gain remote access to select resources.

The Texas State Law Library provides digital library cards which are issued during business hours. Their digital collection is extensive. Additionally, a State Law Library digital account will provide you with free access to Fastcase, a legal research tool akin to Westlaw.

Free Legal Databases and Legal Research Tools. To be successful in today's legal environment, researchers need access to extensive legal databases. The Harris County Robert W. Hainsworth Law Library offers free access to several leading databases. Additionally, you can find accurate, authoritative information online using the links below.

  • Texas State Law Library Electronic Databases - Free remote access to several legal databases, including Gale Legal Forms, Fastcase, and HeinOnline. New users must register for a Texas State Law Library card before using the databases.

  • Casemaker/Fastcase - Free remote access for members of the State Bar of Texas. Both databases support searches of state and federal cases and statutes by citation or keyword. New users will be required to register with their bar number.

  • Legal Information Institute (Cornell University Law School) - Collection of federal legal materials, including U.S. Constitution, U.S. Code, and U.S. Supreme Court opinions, as well as links to legal materials for all 50 states. This site also contains a collection of articles on a variety of legal topics and a nationwide directory of attorneys organized by practice area.

  • Google Scholar - State and federal case law with coverage for most courts from 1950. Searchable by citation or keyword using Google's familiar search box. Citations within cases link to available sources.

  • Trialdex - A comprehensive resource for finding and comparing federal and state jury instructions. Provides a searchable collection of all official or quasi-official federal civil and criminal instructions and annotations, along with an index of 20,000 legal terms, statutes, regulations, and Supreme Court cases referenced in jury instructions

  • Legislative History

    • Legislative Reference Library of Texas - Extensive collection of Texas legislative materials, including the Legislative Archive System, which supports search by bill number, session law chapter number, author, subject, or caption keyword for bills introduced in the Texas Legislature from 1884 to present.

    • Congress.gov - Searchable database maintained by the Library of Congress of legislative documents from current and past Congressional sessions.