Helpful Legal Resources and Links
by John Bandler
This is a start of a compilation of legal resources that I frequently refer to, or point students to. Often, I am teaching law to non-lawyers, so this is helpful for them when I tell them to cite to specific laws, regulations, or cases.
Starting points
Many of my articles and books are starting points on the law. They themselves can be cited and they explain the law in a relatively simple and straightforward manner. Then, these articles and books refer to or cite to (articles have links) to specific statutes, regulations, cases, or writings by experts in the field.
- If you are taking a course based on one of my books, the book is the start point, and points you directly to additional legal resources. Then you need to expand from there.
- If you are starting with one of my blog articles on this site, that too is just a start point. It will cite to and refer to other articles on this cite, and have links and legal references.
Remember that I never profess to be an expert in all things. I am just here to get you started.
Eventually, you need to find and identify authoritative legal sources. Statutes, regulations, laws.
If you are really new to law, you can start with this article (outline) Introduction to Law.
Next steps
After you have completed the starting points (above) and branched out from there, here are some next steps.
- Google Scholar https://scholar.google.com/ (a great resource to search case law and legal articles)
- Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page (a great resource about law, summaries of cases, but we need to understand potential limitations)
- Internet search engines (Google, Bing, Duck Duck Go, etc.) and here you need to look for reliable, credible sources, continually assess and never blindly accept.
- See next
Recommended sources of free information
Cornell Law's Legal Information Institution (LII), an excellent legal reference
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- Statutes https://www.law.cornell.edu/statutes
- Federal statutes - U.S. Code (USC) https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text
- Federal regulations - US Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text
- State laws https://www.law.cornell.edu/states/listing (will eventually link you to a state site)
- State regulations https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations ("")
- Wex, their legal dictionary and legal encyclopedia https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex
- Wex articles on various legal topics https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/wex_articles
- Negligence https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/negligence
- Contract https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/contract
- Citation https://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/
NYS Penal Law (PL) (New York's criminal code, substantive criminal law)
NYS Criminal Procedure Law (CPL) (New York's law about the procedure of criminal arrests and prosecutions)
U.S. Department of Justice reference materials (e.g., re: cybercrime investigation)
- US DOJ: Searching & Seizing Computers and Obtaining Electronic Evidence in Criminal Investigations (Third Edition, 2009). https://www.justice.gov/file/442111/download
- US DOJ: Prosecuting Computer Crimes (Second Edition, 2010?). https://www.justice.gov/criminal/file/442156/download
- US DOJ Justice Manual (JM) (formerly known as the US Attorneys’ Manual (USAM): https://www.justice.gov/usam
Conclusion
This site and my books get you started and point you to additional resources. Then expand your research. The usual disclaimers as this is not legal advice.
Additional reading
- Introduction to Law
- Intellectual Property Law
- Contract Law
- Negligence Law
- How to Write a Paper
- Guide to Citations and References
- Helpful legal resources and links (this article)
- How to Learn and Study
- How to Take an Exam
- Students, Learning, and Teaching
- Cybersecurity Laws and Regulations 1
Copyright John Bandler, all rights reserved.
Posted 3/4/2022, updated 5/16/2022.