Reference, Information, and Job Search
Recommended Legal Research Sites
- Mass. Trial Court Law Library information. This is the place to start when doing any kind of legal research in Massachusetts. Their Forms section provides links to all sorts of free legal forms specific to Massachusetts. They also provide links to court cases and laws of Massachusetts.
- Google Scholar Case Law Research - Free!
- Lexis Nexis is a paid site for lawyers.
- Westlaw is a paid site for lawyers. MCC Paralegal students have access to Westlaw during their semesters in Legal Research and Writing.
Other Legal Research Sites
- Cornell Law School. This site has links to the Code of Federal Regulations, the US Code, and numerous other information links.
- U.Penn Law School’s Biddle Law Library. It has links to many legal research sources that cannot be found elsewhere, such as the Uniform Laws website NCCUSL.
- FindLaw is a free general legal search site that has info on cases, statutes, etc. from across the United States.
Topical Legal Information
- Bluebook
- Code of Federal Regulations
- Copyright Laws
- Definitions
- Nolo is a legal publisher site with a free glossary of legal terms
- Legal Information Institute provides a legal "lexicon"
- The Federal Trade Commission
- Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
- Federal Rules of Evidence
- Martindale-Hubbell (for locating lawyers)
- Patent and Trademark Laws (the US Patent and Trademark Office)
- Real Estate
- State specific real estate topics. Department of Housing and Urban Development web site
- Taxes
- SCOTUS Blog This Supreme Court term’s cases are available plus more.
- US Code
- US Constitution
Massachusetts Legal Sites
- Mass. Trial Court Law Library information. This is THE place to start when searching Mass. topics. Their Forms section provides links to get all sorts of free legal forms, such as Health Care Proxies, Homestead forms, Civil motions, Small claims forms, Probate forms, and many more. They also provide links to court cases and laws of Massachusetts.
- Mass.gov. Anything having to do with Mass. government can be reached from this site. But there are lots of links to click, and it sometimes can get confusing.
- Mass. Lawyers Weekly, the weekly newspaper used by Mass. legal professionals. It contains job listings as well as articles and current case reports.
- Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts This site provides slip opinions of recent Mass. court cases at no charge. They will even e-mail them to your email address.
- Middlesex North Registry of Deeds You can get to any registry from here. And this is a website with a sense of fun and wonder! Always changing; great stuff.
- Information for Notaries Public. This provides info and regulations for Mass. notaries public, including a form for applying to become a NP.
- The Secretary of State’s home page Provides links to all the state divisions, all the Registries of deeds, etc.
- Massachusetts Division of Corporations site.
- Massachusetts Attorney General’s web site.
- Massachusetts’ Bankruptcy Court website.
- Mass. rules of professional conduct (ethical code) for lawyers and judges.
- Boston Bar Association
- Mass. Bar Association
- Mass. Real Estate Lawyers bar association. Has very useful links to HUD documents, registries, etc. As well as info on all real estate topics such as lead paint, etc.
Paralegal Professional/Career Sites
- Massachusetts Paralegal Association
- Paralegal Association of New Hampshire
- National Federation of Paralegal Associations. This Association gives the PACE certification examination. You can also go to their Career Center to search for jobs.
- National Association of Legal Assistants. This organization gives the exams that lead to a Certified Legal Ass’t or Certified Paralegal designation. They do not provide job searches however.
- American Association for Paralegal Education
Placement and Temp Agencies
NOTE: Typically the employer will pay a temp or placement agency a fee for finding an employee. But some may charge the employee instead. Be sure to understand what they are doing for you and what they are charging you.
- Robert Half Legal
- https://beaconhillstaffing.com/
(Beacon Hill Legal 617-326-4000) Well known in Boston legal circles. - https://www.paralegalboston.com
Shelley Widoff of BU has run this paralegal placement agency for many years. Well known in Boston legal circles. - https://kellyservices.force.com/kellycareernetwork/
Kelly temps.
Thinking About Law School?
If you are considering Law School, you may want to check out this website. It was created by expert legal educators to help law students and pre-law students succeed.