Legal Information: A PCL Pathfinder

Whether researching a legal topic for a paper or in need of legal assistance, the resources below will assist all researchers with finding basic legal sources of information. From finding forms to Supreme Court rulings, the listings below will prove useful for locating information about the legal systems of the Federal government, legal education, the legal profession, and procedural and contact information.

101 Law Forms for Personal Use, 3rd ed. by Ralph E. Warner and Robin Leonard. Berkeley, CA: Nolo Press, 2002. ISBN: 0873378466.
Includes sample forms including delegating authority to care for children, pets and property, basic estate planning, renting residential real estate, borrowing or lending money, and much more.
347.7355 WAR

Black's Law Dictionary, 7th ed. edited by Bryan A. Garner. St. Paul: West Group, 1999. ISBN: 0314241302.
Comprehensive legal dictionary.
340.03 BLA

Encyclopedia of the U.S. Supreme Court edited by Thomas T. Lewis and Richard L. Wilson. 3 vols. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 2001. ISBN: 0893560979.
Essays on Supreme Court decisions; historical overviews of how the Court has treated important issues; specific historical events and eras; court administration and structure; legal terms; judicial interpretation of state and federal laws; and biographies of Supreme Court justices.
We do not own this title. You may find it in the Waldo Library at WMU in their Reference collection.

Fundamentals of Legal Research, 8th ed. by Roy M. Mersky and Donald J. Dunn. New York: Foundation Press, 2002. ISBN: 158778064X.
Discussion of legal research materials and research strategy and process.
We do not own this title. You may find it in the Waldo Library at WMU.

Living wills simplified / by Daniel Sitarz.-- 1st ed.-- Carbondale, Ill ; Lanham, MD : Nova Pub. Co : Distributed by National Book Network, c2002.
346.05 SIT

Martindale-Hubbell Law Digest (current title: Martindale-Hubbell International Law Digest ). Summit, NJ: Martindale-Hubbell, 1991– . Annual. ISSN: 10889779
Provides a quick and concise summary of the law on various legal topics for each of the 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Includes citations to statutes and other legal authority. Also includes English-language summaries of the laws of 80 countries, including new sections on Vietnam, the Slovak Republic, the Republic of Latvia, and the Island of Guernsey.
We do not own this title. You may find it in the Kalamazoo Public Library and the Waldo Library at WMU.

The Michigan divorce book : a guide to doing an uncontested divorce without an attorney : without minor children / by Michael Maran.-- 6th ed.-- East Lansing, Mich : Grand River Press, 2004, c1986.
346.016 MAR

The Michigan divorce book : a guide to doing an uncontested divorce without an attorney : with minor children / by Michael Maran.-- 6th ed.-- East Lansing, Mich : Grand River Press, 2004, c1986.
346.016 MAR

Michigan law for everyone : plus law dictionary / by Sherry A. Wells.-- 5th ed.-- Royal Oak, MI : LAWells Pub. Division, Law for Laypersons, c2002.
349.774 WEL

The Most Valuable Personal Legal Forms You'll Ever Need by Mark Warda and James C. Ray. Naperville, IL: Sphinx, 2001. ISBN: 1572481307.
Forms include deeds, living wills, promissory notes, wills, power of attorney, and living trusts.
347.7355 WAR

National Survey of State Laws, 4th ed. Detroit: Gale Research, 2003. ISBN: 0787656941.
Compares state laws in 46 subject areas such as business and consumer laws, prayer in public schools, marital property, and homestead.
We do not own this title. You may find it in the Kalamazoo Public Library in their Reference Collection and the Waldo Library at WMU.

Personal Forms on File, 2004 ed. 2 vols. New York: Forms On File, 2004. ISBN: 0816055882.
Includes personal forms in areas such as financial aid, education, financial and personal property, health and social services benefits, legal military and veterans' affairs, and real estate and rental.
REF 640 PER

Thomas: Legislative Information on the Internet
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas2.html
Contains the full-text of U.S. public laws, bill texts, committee reports, and other legislative information maintained by the Library of Congress.

West's Encyclopedia of American Law. 12 vols.
Coverage of 5,000 legal topics and biographies of people who have played a part in American law. Also includes definitions of legal terms.
We do not own this title. You may find it in the Portage District Library and the Waldo Library at WMU in their reference collections.

Legal Researcher's Desk Reference. Teaneck, NJ: Infosources, 1990– . Biennial. ISSN: 10503056.
Directory and quick reference source that includes Web and e-mail addresses.
We do not own this title. You may find it in the Waldo Library at WMU.

Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory. New York: Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, 1931– . Annual. ISSN: 01910221. Available at www.martindale.com.
Directory of law firms and attorneys with brief biographical information on practicing lawyers.
We do not own this title. You may find it in the Kalamazoo Public Library and the Waldo Library at WMU in their reference collections.

National Center for State Courts—Court Web Sites
www.ncsconline.org/D_KIS/info_court_web_sites.html
A directory of links to state, federal, and international court Web sites.

Official Guide to ABA Approved Law Schools
Available at http://officialguide.lsac.org/
Includes statistics such as enrollment, tuition and expenses, faculty, curriculum and bar passages rates. Law school Web addresses are also provided.

Want's Federal-State Court Directory. Washington, DC: WANT, 1984– . Annual. ISSN: 07421095.
A directory including information on the organization, structure, and jurisdiction of Federal, State, and U.S. territory courts.
We do not own this title. You may find it in the Waldo Library at WMU in the Reference collection.

West Legal Directory
http://lawyers.findlaw.com
The West Legal Directory on FindLaw's “Find a Lawyer” page allows users to search for attorneys and law firms in the United States and abroad, by name, geographic location and area/type of practice.

Court Rules, Forms, and Dockets
www.llrx.com/courtrules/
Over 1,400 sources for state and federal court rules, forms, and dockets. You can browse to find the resource that you need or search by keyword.

Findlaw Court Forms
http://forms.lp.findlaw.com
Includes court forms for federal appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts. The state forms collection contains court forms for state courts.

FindLaw
www.findlaw.com
Indexes of Internet legal resources.

Legal Engine
http://www.legalengine.com/
A search engine for law, legal forms, etc. in the United States.

Legal Information Institute
www.law.cornell.edu
Developed by Cornell Law School, this Web site includes links to resources in the field of law.

LegalTrac via MeL Databases
LegalTrac® provides indexing for more than 1,400 titles including major law reviews, legal newspapers, bar association journals and international legal journals. LegalTrac® also contains law-related articles from over 1,000 additional business and general interest titles.

Code of ordinances, city of Parchment, Michigan / Published by order of the City Commission.-- Tallahassee, Fl : Municipal Code Corporation, 2002.
REF 348.774 COD 2002

Cooper Township zoning ordinance.-- Cooper Township, Mich : Cooper Township Board, 2002.
REF 348.774 COM 2002

Compilation of ordinances, Township of Cooper, State of Michigan.-- Tallahassee, Fl : Municipal Code Corporation, 1992.
REF 348.774 COM 1992

Kalamazoo Public Library - Law Library
http://kpl.gov/law-library/
Funded through a cooperative effort of the Kalamazoo Public Library and the County of Kalamazoo, the Raymond W. Fox Law Library has resources for both the attorney and layperson.

Waldo Library - Western Michigan University
http://www.wmich.edu/library
The library has a large collection of legal resources, and is a government documents repository.

Business Resources
Finding Forms