Online 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.
Free Legal Databases
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.