General Research Databases | U.S. Primary Law Resources | Book Finders | Journals, Newspapers & Indexes
Non-Legal Databases | Subject-Specific Databases | Treaties & International/Foreign Law
Accessing the Databases
Unless otherwise indicated, the databases linked on this page are available only to current CUNY students, faculty and staff. For home access to non-Lexis or Westlaw databases you must obtain a library barcode number and enter it when prompted. If you are having trouble accessing any of the databases, see our database access help page for more information.
Finding Journals by Title
Use the Electronic Journal Finder if you are looking for a particular journal in full-text and want to know it it's available in an electronic database that CUNY School of Law has access to. If you do not find a particular journal, or you have trouble accessing a journal link that appears in the results list, please contact one of our librarians.
Copyright Questions
CUNY has a Web site called ©opyright@CUNY, providing extensive information on copyright compliance to all CUNY faculty, staff and students.
General Research Databases
|
Bloomberg Law |
LexisNexis for Law Schools |
Westlaw |
|
|
Alternate links if the Lexis Law School page is not available: |
Alternate links if the Westlaw Law School page is not available: |
|
Additional Bloomberg Law Links: |
Additional Lexis links:
|
Additional Westlaw links:
|
Bloomberg BNA - this is separate from the Bloomberg Law database listed above
This link provides a list of all the Bloomberg BNA databases we have access to through the "Premier" package that our library subscribes to. Some of these databases have also been selected for inclusion in the Subject-Specific category our Legal Databases page. Bloomberg BNA user's guides are available for some databases.
HeinOnline
Initially known for its large archive of law reviews, this constantly expanding collection of resources now also includes many historical federal primary source materials.
U.S. Primary Law Resources
Congressional Publications, including U.S. Serial Set - ProQuest Congressional
This is the most comprehensive online resource we have available for finding and downloading congressional documents. Full-text documents are available in most years for House & Senate Reports (1789 - present), House & Senate Documents (1789 - present), Legislative Histories (1969 - present) and the U.S. Serial Set (1789 - present). The collection also includes indexes for Committee Hearings (1789 - present) and Committee Prints & Misc. Publications (1817 - present), with limited full-text available for those documents as well. If you find a reference to a document that is not available in full-text, please see one of our reference librarians for help in obtaining it through other means. Using the advanced search function allows you to search for the documents mentioned above in combination or individually. Additional areas of the collection include the full-text of U.S. Public Laws and Bills (1987 - present), GAO reports (2004 - present), the C.F.R. (1981 - present), the Federal Register (1980 - present) and more. There is also a section with information about members of Congress that includes voting records and identification of campaign contributors.
CQ Researcher
Contains reports written by Congressional Quarterly's editors about current issues in society affecting legislation in Congress. In depth analysis of both sides of each issue is presented. Reports go back to 1991 and may be searched or browsed by subject/date. When viewing reports, the "CiteNow!" link includes an option to display the Bluebook citation for the report.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online
This is not a legal database, but it contains a substantial section on law in the British empire during the 1700s. This includes law in the American colonies before the United States declared its independence, as well as information about the revolution. To see a more detailed description of what is contained in the law section of this database, select "help" and then use the product description link on that page.
Federal Register Library / Code of Federal Regulations - HeinOnline
Provides access to the Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations from inception to within a few months of the current date.
LLMC Digital
According to the publisher's description, this is a "comprehensive source for identifying thousands of articles, books, government documents, loose-leaf services, court opinions and Internet sites that compare state laws on hundreds of subjects." Includes over 18,000 bibliographic records. When material in the record is available on HeinOnline or through other selected Internet sources, a link is provided.
PACER
PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) provides access to case and docket information for federal district, bankruptcy and appellate courts, including electronic filings for most courts on the system. Current CUNY School of Law students and faculty should see a Reference Librarian for access to this service. PACER provides a free training site where you can learn to use the service in advance and get a better idea of what is available.
Legislative Insight - Proquest
Legislative Insight currently includes legislative histories for over 18,000 laws from 1929 – present and includes searchable full-text pdfs of hearings, reports, prints, earlier versions of bills, and other documents associated with each law. Also included are excerpts from the Congressional Record referencing each bill, Presidential signing statements, related CRS reports and more. More information.
State Attorney General Reports & Opinions - HeinOnline
Includes all 50 states plus Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Coverage goes back to inception for many states (including NY), and content is being added to eventually provide coverage back to inception for all states. More information is available in the publisher's pdf brochure <pdf>.
Subject Compilations of State Laws, 1960 - current - HeinOnline
According to the publisher's description, this is a "comprehensive source for identifying thousands of articles, books, government documents, loose-leaf services, court opinions and Internet sites that compare state laws on hundreds of subjects." Includes over 18,000 bibliographic records. When material in the record is available on HeinOnline or through other selected Internet sources, a link is provided.
U.S. Attorney General Opinions - HeinOnline
Includes official opinions from 1871-1982, annual reports from 1870-2005, and opinions of the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice from 1977-1996. Also includes various historical documents, such as the Opinions of the Confederate Attorneys General 1861-1865.
U.S. Congressional Documents - HeinOnline
Coverage includes the U.S. Statutes and Large as well as the Congressional Record and its predecessor publications containing the debates of Congress going back to the earliest volumes.
U.S. Federal Agency Documents, Decisions, and Appeals - HeinOnline
A growing collection of federal agency decisions from the Board of Immigration Appeals, National Labor Relations Board, Federal Trade Commission, Securities & Exchange Commission and many others.
U.S. Federal Legislative History Library - HeinOnline
The "U.S. Federal Legislative History Title Collection" includes full-text legislative histories for a small group of laws selected based on historical significance, The "Sources of Compiled Legislative History Database" provides citations to books, journal articles and other sources that have compiled legislative histories for other laws. Additional documents provide guidance on how to compile your own legislative history.
U.S. Presidential Library - HeinOnline
A collection of various historical Presidential documents, executive orders, inauguration speeches, etc. Includes the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents from inception to within a few months of the current date.
U.S. Supreme Court Library - HeinOnline
Includes U.S. Reports from inception to within the past year and related publications.
U.S. Supreme Court Records & Briefs, 1832 - 1978 - Gale
Extensive historical archive containing nearly 11 million pages of records, according to the publisher. Part of Gale's "The Making of Modern Law" collection. More information <pdf>. Researchers looking for more recent Supreme Court records and briefs should continue to use the “U.S. Supreme Court Briefs” source on Lexis or the SCT-BRIEF-ALL database on Westlaw. Coverage on Lexis and Westlaw varies for different types of Supreme Court documents, so be sure to consult the database scope note and/or ask a librarian if you’re having trouble finding something.
More Sources of Government Documents and Information
See our Federal Law and Government page.
Book Finders
Books in Print
Find all books currently in print. Includes e-books and other formats. Use the "advanced search" function for more specificity when needed.
CUNY+Plus Online Catalog
If you click on this link from a computer on the law school's network, you should enter the law school's catalog by default (indicated at the top of the search screen). Accessing the catalog from outside the law school will default to the general catalog containing the holdings of all CUNY libraries, or to a different individual CUNY library if you are on their campus network. Use the links on the search page to select any individual CUNY library you wish, or all libraries at once.
Ebrary
An electronic book collection containing over 46,000 titles that can be full-text searched. The ebrary titles cover a wide range of subject areas, including some law and law-related topics. Many of these are recently published books. Ebrary book links also appear in our CUNY+ Online Catalog.
Google Books
Google has been adding the text of millions of books and magazines to its database. Using this Google Books link limits your search to just the books and magazines. The advanced search option gives you more specific options to search for words in a title, subject, etc. Books and magazines that are out of copyright can be read or downloaded in full. Extensive previews are available for many of the books that are still in copyright, and links to libraries and bookstores where they may be borrowed or purchased are included. Google also provides options for creating your own virtual library using this site. Free online resource.
Law Library Online Catalogs - WashLaw
Provides direct links to law library catalog search pages. Mostly U.S. law schools, but includes some other types of law libraries and a few Canadian law libraries as well.
Legal Classics Library - HeinOnline
From the provider: "The HeinOnline Legal Classics Library offers more than 1,200 works from some of the greatest legal minds in history, including Joseph Story, Louis Brandeis, Benjamin N. Cardozo and Edwardo Coke. In addition to many "classics", this collection includes rare items that are found in only a handful of libraries around the world. The collection focuses on constitutional law, political science, and other classic topics."
WorldCat
An online catalog that allows you to search millions of bibliographic records from OCLC member libraries. Note that this particular resource is not a "legal database" as it contains records for books from all disciplines, not just law. It has been included on this Web page as a source to find books that aren't contained in the collection of the CUNY School of Law Library. Please contact our library if you are having difficulty finding a specific book or wish to obtain one through interlibrary loan.
Journals, Newspapers & Indexes
Bar Journals - HeinOnline
The Bar Journals collection provides publications from state and local bar associations. Most of these do NOT overlap with the HeinOnline Law Journal Library
Electronic Journal Finder
Enter the title of a legal or non-legal journal to see if it's available in full-text in an electronic database that CUNY School of Law has access to. The search result screen will include links and date coverage information for each database that includes the journal. Databases covered include Lexis, Westlaw, HeinOnline and many other legal and nonlegal databases listed on the search page. If you do not find a particular journal, or you have trouble accessing a journal link that does appear in the results list, please contact one of our librarians.
Clearinghouse Review
The publisher, the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, describes this as "The nation's intellectual marketplace for legal aid lawyers and others to share ideas and plant seeds for legal and policy innovation."
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) - Law
This page provides links to the law journals available through DOAJ. Access to these journals is free and many of them provide full-text search options. However, you can't search multiple journals at the same time through DOAJ. DOAJ as a whole provides links to over 3.900 peer-reviewed, scholarly journals covering a variety of subjects (mostly in the sciences). Free online resource.
Global Jurist
This site provides access to three peer-reviewed law journals: Global Jurist Fontiers, Global Jurist Advances and Global Jurist Topics.
Google Scholar
This link takes you to directly to the advanced search screen. Note the option to search "Legal Opinions and Journals". Search results will include law journals that are freely accessible on the Web. Free online resource.
GreenFILE
A free environmental index database hosted by EBSCO. This is not a legal database, but it is included on this page because it includes much law-related content. GreenFILE indexes scholarly and general interest titles, as well as government documents and reports. The database contains nearly 300,000 records, full text for selected titles and searchable cited references for more than 200 titles as well. Free online resource.
HeinOnline Law Journal Library
Provides full-text access to articles from hundreds of law review titles and goes back much further than Westlaw or Lexis in many cases.
Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals - HeinOnline
Indexes legal literature concerning foreign (non-Anglo-American) law. Coverage from 1985 - present.
Index to Periodicals Related to Law - HeinOnline
Covers 1958 - within past year. Indexes journals that are not included in legal periodical indexes. This was originally a print based index and can be browsed by time period. The search feature doesn't search the actual print copies but searches a separate database that was created for that purpose. Be sure to read the search tips under the "Resources" tab to make the best use of this database.
Legal Source - EBSCO
Provides access to over 1,200 full-text journals and over 2.5 million records, including book reviews and case citations. This resource includes the contents of the long-running Index to Legal Periodicals & Books publication, so it also includes bibliographic information for many additional law journal articles that aren't available in full-text on EBSCO going back to 1918. For articles where no full-text viewing option is provided, use the "Find It" button to see if the articles are available in other databases our library subscribes to or in our print collection.
New York Law Journal
New York's daily legal newspaper.
U.S. Law Week - BNA
This is a weekly update service on developments in all areas of law from across the United States. Previous issues are searchable back to 1997. Links are provided to access the full text of U.S. Supreme Court and other decisions reported in this publication. A separate link is available to take you to the Supreme Court Today portion of this site, which includes docket information and and search capabilities for U.S. Supreme Court Opinions. Published by the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA).
Non-Legal Research Databases
Go to our Non-Legal Databases page.
Subject-Specific Databases
ABA/BNA Lawyers' Manual on Professional Conduct
Antitrust & Trade Regulation Report - BNA
Reports news about antitrust law issues and cases. Includes links to the full-text of cases discussed and a searchable database.
Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse - Washington U. St. Louis
This free database collects cases on selected civil rights topics where injunctive relief was the objective rather than money damages. Includes links to decisions, docket information and some court documents such as complaints and briefs. More information.
Criminal Law Reporter - BNA
Reports news about criminal law issues and cases. Includes links to the full-text of cases discussed and a searchable database.
Employment Discrimination Report - BNA
Reports news about employment discrimination issues and cases. Includes links to the full-text of cases discussed and a searchable database.
Environment & Safety Resource Center - BNA
Our subscription provides access only to the environment materials in this database.
Family Law Reporter - BNA
Reports news about family law issues and cases. Includes links to the full-text of cases discussed and a searchable database.
Health Law Reporter - BNA
Reports news about health law issues and cases. Includes links to the full-text of cases discussed and a searchable database.
Human Resources Report - BNA
Reports news about human resources issues and cases. Includes links to the full-text of cases discussed and a searchable database.
International Environment Reporter - BNA
Reports news about international environmental issues and cases. Includes links to the full-text of cases discussed and a searchable database.
Labor & Employment Law Resource Center - BNA
An extensive resource for labor and employment law research. Includes links to cases, reference manuals, finding aids and more.
Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal - BNA
A weekly journal about patent, trademark and copyright law issues and cases. Includes a news archive going back through 1996. There is also a separate daily news source, the Patent, Trademark & Copyright Law Daily for the latest news from BNA.
Securities Regulation & Law Report - BNA
Reports news about securities regulation law issues and cases. Includes links to the full-text of cases discussed and a searchable database.
Treaties, International and Foreign Law Databases
Constitutions of the Countries of the World
Includes archival access to earlier versions of constitutions. Note that pop-up blockers may disable certain functions, so check the "help" menu on the vendor's site if you experience problems.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online
This is not a legal database, but it contains a substantial section on law in the British empire during the 1700s. Classic works such as Blackstone's Commentaries can be found here. To see a more detailed description of what is contained in the law section of this database, select "help" and then use the product description link on that page.
English Reports, Full Reprint 1220- 1865 - HeinOnline
From HeinOnline: "This collection encompasses the decisions of the English Courts prior to the commencement of the Law Reports in 1865. It represents reprints of 275 separate series of reports, arranged by the English Courts: House of Lords, Chancery, Rolls Court, etc. The English Reports, Full Reprint contains over 100,000 cases reprinted verbatim and spans the years 1220 to 1867." More information.
European Center for Minority Issues - HeinOnline
Foreign Law Guide: Current Sources of Codes and Basic Legislation in Jurisdictions of the World
From the publisher's introduction: "This work endeavors to provide the lawyer or legal researcher with relevant information on sources of foreign law, including complete bibliographic citations to legislation, the existence of English translations whenever possible, indications of currentness of the legal materials listed, and, finally, selected references to secondary sources in English." Also includes information on international convention and treaty sources.
GlobaLex
An excellent free resource providing links to foreign, international and comparative law resources on the Web. Maintained by the Hauser Global Law School Program at NYU School of Law. Free online resource.
Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals - HeinOnline
Indexes legal literature concerning foreign (non-Anglo-American) law. Coverage from 1985 - present.
International Environment Reporter - BNA
Reports news about international environmental issues and cases. Includes links to the full-text of cases discussed and a searchable database.
Treaties and Agreements Library - HeinOnline
Includes a wide range of official and unofficial treaty documents, indexes, guides and other materials. This collection focuses on U.S. treaties. For international conventions and treaties to which the U.S. is not a party, consult the Foreign Law Guide using its "Conventions & Treaties" link. Additional treaty research sites are linked under the "Treaties" category of our International & Foreign Law page.
World Constitutions Illustrated - HeinOnline
Features of this library include: access to the current constitution of every country in its native language, English translations for 90% of those constitutions, links to related books and articles, a collection of 800 “classic” books related to constitutions and more. For complete details about the content of this resource, see the brochure <pdf>.
World LII
Provides a single search mechanism for 1165 databases from 123 jurisdictions via a 14 Legal Information Institutes from around the world. Includes case law, legislation, treaties, law journals and more. Use the Advanced Search page use Boolean search operators and/or limit your search to particular areas of the world. Go to the Databases page to select individual databases. You can also browse a Directory of containing links to over 15,000 law-related Web sites from every country in the world. Maintained by the World Legal Information Institute. Free online resource.
