The Harris County Law Library subscribes to Lexis Advance, providing on-site access to a wealth of legal information resources, including cases, statutes, regulations, and other primary source materials. Several secondary sources are also available including treatises, legal encyclopedias, form books, commentaries, legal reference sources, and, most notably, Texas Pattern Jury Instructions for civil and criminal cases.
To access the jury charges, simply log on to Lexis Advance using our computers. Select State materials, and specify Texas as your state of interest. On the page that follows, you will see an inventory of Texas legal materials. Scroll down past the primary sources and legal treatises to locate the link for Jury Instructions. Select Civil or Criminal to view the titles available for each practice area.
Civil
- Business, Consumer, Insurance, & Employment, current through 2014
- Family & Probate, current through 2016
- General Negligence, Intentional Personal Torts, & Workers' Compensation, current through 2014
- Malpractice, Premises, & Products, current through 2014
Criminal
- Defenses, current through 2015
- Intoxication & Controlled Substances, current through 2013
- Crimes Against Persons, current through 2011
- Property Crimes, current through 2012
- General, Evidentiary, & Ancillary Instructions, current through 2015
- Preparatory Crimes, current through 2014
All of this content is compiled by the State Bar Committee on Pattern Jury Charges, and all is current through the most recent year of publication for each title. Along with the jury instructions are several value-added features: a discussion of the legal issues to consider in drafting jury charges, a complete general charge, and special instructions for the topics listed above. Also included is an outline that "explicitly states the relevant statutes and legal definitions and then applies the law to the facts in common sense language."
If you prefer to use these titles in print, the library does own hard copies which can be requested at the reference desk for use in the library. Please stop by for a visit, and be sure to explore all that Lexis Advance has to offer.