Getting Started: PA & Philadelphia Legal Research on the Internet

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Getting Started: PA & Philadelphia Legal Research on the Internet

Legal research can be very difficult, even for someone who knows the law. Jenkins Law Library would like to help you get started with your research.

Because we are not lawyers, we cannot give you answers to your legal questions. In fact, we will tell you that you should consult an attorney if you have a legal problem. (If you've decided that you want to hire an attorney and need to find one, check out www.philabar.org and www.martindale.com/locator/home.html).

However we know that hiring an attorney may not always be feasible, or that you may wish to do some initial research on your own. The best place to conduct legal research is in a law library like Jenkins Law Library. (This is especially true for specific legal procedures such as name change, divorce, or custody issues.) Check out our hours or try some other law libraries in Pennsylvania.

There are many ways to research a legal topic. In a law library, you can start with a legal encyclopedia or treatise that will summarize the law for you and provide references to the relevant statutes, administrative regulations, court cases, etc.

Still want to do your own legal research on the Internet? Those materials are not available on the Internet yet. However, most of the statutes, administrative regulations, and court cases themselves are available on the Internet. If you can’t visit a law library, the Internet offers some good alternatives.

Resources on the Internet:
Looking for a Pennsylvania law? Although there is presently no official site for all Pennsylvania statutes on the Internet, the Pennsylvania General Assembly has posted the PA Consolidated Statutes on their website. For a complete codification of the Pennsylvania laws, consult Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes Annotated at a law library or for a fee @ www.lexis.com or www.westlaw.com.

Before Pennsylvania laws are published in the statutes, they can be found as bills in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. There is an official site for Pennsylvania House and Senate Bills from 1969 to the present that allows for subject searching.

www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/session.cfm

If you need Pennsylvania cases, the appellate courts have Web sites where you can find cases listed by date. These cases are slip opinions that do not have reporter citations.

Supreme Court, 11/96:
www.aopc.org/OpPosting/index/SupremeOpindex.asp

Superior Court, 12/97
www.aopc.org/OpPosting/index/SuperiorOpindex.asp

Commonwealth Court, 1/97:
www.aopc.org/OpPosting/index/CwealthOpindex.asp

To search for opinions issued by the three Pennsylvania appellate courts by short caption (description), author and date, go to Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System at www.courts.state.pa.us/indexsearch.asp. To search by word or phrase visit www.courts.state.pa.us/search/aopcopinionquery.asp

For information on Pennsylvania and its government agencies check out www.state.pa.us/.

Detailed information on all branches of Pennsylvania government is published in the Pennsylvania Manual, which can be found at http://www.dgs.state.pa.us/pamanual/site/default.asp.

Rules and regulations from Pennsylvania agencies are published in the Pennsylvania Code. A subject search of the official version of the Code can be done at www.pacode.com.

To update the Pennsylvania Code or find proposed agency rules and regulations back to 1996, use the Pennsylvania Bulletin at www.pabulletin.com.

For Pennsylvania tax information and forms go to www.revenue.state.pa.us.

Philadelphia law can be found in the Philadelphia Code. The official and most current version of the Code is published online by American Legal Publishing Corporation.

For comprehensive information about Philadelphia departments and agencies go to www.phila.gov.

The Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas is a trial level court. At the trial level in Pennsylvania not all cases are published. In Philadelphia, select opinions from the Court of Common Pleas can be searched by party name, date issued or judge’s name at courts.phila.gov/opinions.html.

If you are trying to find information about a civil case filed in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, you can do a civil docket search by name or case ID number from 1980 to present at courts.phila.gov.

Information and programs for the courts contained in the First Judicial District (Philadelphia) including new orders and regulations, and jury duty information is at courts.phila.gov.

If the above Internet sites have not proven useful for your needs, try a general legal Web site like:

www.findlaw.com
pub.findlaw.com (for the non-legal professional)

Or try one of the fee-based legal research Web sites where you can conduct legal research by either subscribing or using a credit card:

www.palawlibrary.com
www.lexis.com or www.lexisone.com (free searching on a scaled down version)
www.westlaw.com
www.loislaw.com
www.versuslaw.com

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