FEDERAL LEGAL MATERIALS ON THE WEB

This guide is for practicing attorneys, in particular those practicing in North and South Carolina, searching for current federal legal information on the World Wide Web.It is not intended for the legal scholar, because it focuses on current practice materials, not historical information or documents.

CONGRESSIONAL INFORMATION

http://thomas.loc.gov/

A comprehensive site on Congressional information.The site includes links to Congressional committees
and committee reports as well as information on the status of bills in Congress and the latest issue of the
Congressional Record.An excellent site for attorneys seeking current information on the activities of
the U.S. Congress.

• Congressional Bill Summary and Status

• Congressional Record

Public Laws

http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/nara005.html

A searchable database of the laws enacted in the current Congress.Search by subject, public law number
or keyword.Make sure to review the Helpful Hints link before searching.

U.S. House of Representatives

http://www.house.gov/

The official web page of the House, useful to find contact information on Congressional Representatives
and House committees.

U.S. Senate

http://www.senate.gov/

The official web page of the Senate, useful to find contact information on Senators and Senate committees.

COURTS AND JUDICIAL OPINIONS

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/

This site contains the Court’s docket and recent orders of the Supreme Court.Opinions are listed by
case title.

U.S Supreme Court opinions

http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/

A searchable database of U.S. Supreme Court opinions since 1990 maintained by the Cornell University
School of Law.Search by year, party name or topic.A free current awareness service is offered
via email.

U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal

http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/courts/4th.html

A searchable database of cases back to 1995.Can search by date, docket number, party name or keyword
(Boolean searching).

U.S. District Court – South Carolina

http://www.scd.uscourts.gov/

The official court website contains legal opinions since 1994 searchable by party name (look under Reference)
and copies of the Local Court Rules (look under Publications).

U.S. District Court – Western District of North Carolina

http://www.ncwd.uscourts.gov/

Contains legal opinions searchable by judge or keyword.The site stresses that these electronic records are
NOT official court records.Local Rules and local court forms are also available.

U.S. District Court – Middle District of North Carolina

http://www.ncmd.uscourts.gov/

Includes selected opinions (too few for even quick research), Local Court Rules and general court information.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court – Western District of N.C.

http://www.ncwb.uscourts.gov/

Contains selected opinions, complete docket information including scanned images of filed documents, Local
Court Rules, and official court forms.Very useful site for the bankruptcylawyer with cases in the
Western District of N.C.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court – Middle District of North Carolina

http://www.ncmb.uscourts.gov/

Contains Local Court Rules, court forms, and court schedule.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court – Eastern District of North Carolina

http://www.nceb.uscourts.gov/

Contains Local Court Rules, court information and PACER access.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court – South Carolina

http://www.scb.uscourts.gov/

Opinions are available by name of judge.Local Court Rules available.

Scanned images of filed documents are available after downloading software from the site.

EXECUTIVE LEGAL INFORMATION

http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/nara001.html

Contains U.S. Government Manuals back to 1997.Articles can be retrieved on agencies in text or PDF
format.Can also search by keyword by clicking on “U.S. Government Manual Online via GPO Access.”

Code of Federal Regulations

http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/index.html

Contains C.F.R. editions back to 1995.Browse by Title and section for C.F.R. editions back to 1996.
Searchable by keyword or C.F.R. section.Contains search links to the Federal Register and the List
of CFR Sections Affected.Review the search information carefully to ensure you will retrieve current, valid
regulations.

Federal Register

http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140l.html

The current day’s issue of the Federal Register is available online.Review the current table of contents and
click on a particular item to review the text.Back issues beginning in 1998 are browsable.The
Federal Register is searchable back to 1994 on the Multi-Database Search Page.

http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aaces002.html

Executive Orders

http://www.nara.gov/fedreg/eo.html

Executive Orders are organized by the name of the President who issued the order.Executive orders are
published in the Federal Register and are searchable by using the Multi-Database search Page noted above.

SELECTED FEDERAL AGENCY WEB SITES

http://www.bog.frb.fed.us/

One of the principal government regulators of the banking industry.Click on “Regulations and Supervision”
to obtain copies of the Federal Reserve Regulations published in the Federal Register.Bank reporting forms
are available by subject and form number on the “Reporting Forms” button.

Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Dept of the Treasury

http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/

A useful and user friendly (yes, this is the IRS) site for tax information.Click on “Forms and Pubs” at the
bottom of the home page to retrieve current and historical tax forms.

U.S. Department of Justice Legal Documents

http://www.usdoj.gov/05publications/05_2.html

Contains briefs, rules, and policy documents on legal matters handled by the federal government’s lawyers.

Social Security Administration

http://www.ssa.gov/SSA_Home.html

Information on one of the largest federal government programs includes forms, FAQ’s, and information
on appeals.

Securities and Exchange Commission

http://www.sec.gov/

Contains general information on securities regulation.Text of selected regulations is available under SEC
Digests and Statements.

EDGAR

http://www.sec.gov/edgarhp.htm

An electronic database that contains most of the filings with SEC required by law (such as 10-K’s).
Read “Important Information about Edgar” to learn what SEC filings are NOT on Edgar.

U.S. Department of State

Treaties in Force

http://www.state.gov/www/global/legal_affairs/tifindex.html

A lengthy list in PDF format of the treaties to which the United States is a party.

Beware – a slow download.

LAW LIBRARIES -

Academic law libraries frequently maintain Web pages with links to legal reference materials.Below are links to the reference pages of federal legal materials maintained by a selected group of academic law libraries.Because this page is directed towards legal practitioners in North and South Carolina, the law libraries selected are located in the southeastern United States.

University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC

http://www.law.sc.edu/refdesk1.htm

Duke University, Durham, NC

http://www.law.duke.edu/lib

Look under “Legal Resources,” then “Federal,” to find links to federal case law, statutes, and regulations.

Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC

http://www.law.wfu.edu/library/lawresch/lrbysub.htm

Click on “Federal Agency Sites,” Federal Court Sites” and “Federal Legislative Sites” for links to federal
legal materials.

University of Georgia, Athens, GA

http://www.lawsch.uga.edu/lawlib/research/fedlaw.html

Links to federal case law (including individual circuit court links), federal statutes and federal regulations.

Emory University, Atlanta, GA

http://www.law.emory.edu/LAW/refdesk/country/us/fedlaw.html

Comprehensive list of links to federal legal materials.Includes links to Local Rules of selected U.S.
District Courts and U.S. Bankruptcy Courts.

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC

http://library.law.unc.edu/lawlinks/fedexec.shtml

Links to federal regulations, executive orders, all cabinet-level departments, and selected federal
independent agencies.

http://library.law.unc.edu/lawlinks/usleg.shtml

Links to federal statutes, bills, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, and selected reports from the
Congressional Research Service.

FOUNDATIONAL LEGAL DOCUMENTS

http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.overview.html

http://www.law.emory.edu/FEDERAL/usconst.html

Declaration of Independence

http://www.law.emory.edu/FEDERAL/independ/declar.html

Prepared by Duncan Alford

mailto:jdalford@rhtc.net
October 2000