translate
Blog

Check Out Our Research Guides to Help Start Your Legal Research Journey

Legal research can be challenging, especially when you don't know where to start. The librarians at Jenkins have created 66 research guides to help those who need guidance with their legal research. These guides highlight free online resources (when available), databases available 24/7 to Jenkins members, and the legal subscription databases Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law (available in the library - now open by appointment).

A number of our guides focus on the very basics of legal research, including how to find primary legal materials like statutes, regulations, court rules, and case law.

We have guides specific to Pennsylvania courts:

And Federal courts:

Once you know how to find primary legal materials, it is a good idea to know the key secondary materials and how to find them. These resources typically include large treatise and form sets. They usually provide an overview of the law in a particular area and may offer practical tips. Jenkins has three guides that list some of the key secondary materials for practice in Pennsylvania and Federal courts:

Trial practice can be a unique experience, and we have guides to help with some of the basics of trial practice and preparation:

Some areas of the law can be quite specialized, and we've developed topic specific research guides to help those practicing in some of these areas:

These are just some of the research guides we have created at Jenkins. Find these and all our guides on our website: https://www.jenkinslaw.org/research/guides.

More from the blog

Jenkins recently updated its Philadelphia City Solicitor Opinions database with additional opinions, expanding coverage through 2019. The Philadelphia City Solicitor Opinions database contains exclusive coverage of over 2,300 full-text, searchable opinions issued by the Philadelphia City Solicitor...
Understanding the historical context of a Congressional term can bring a greater understanding of how the legislation was impacted by economic conditions, major world events, Landmark Supreme Court cases, and partisan divisions and leadership. The Congress in Context feature on ProQuest...
The Library of Congress continues to provide access to the Constitution Annotated , which is an amazing resource created to help individuals brush up on their history and understanding of the U.S. Constitution. This resource provides interpretation and analysis for each article and amendment of the...