Law - United States, General

Primary Sources are the actual laws made by legislatures (statues), courts (cases), and administrative agencies (rules/regulations).

Finding laws will be easiest using secondary sources, which often cite, link to, and even analyze law(s).  For laws not hyperlinked from within secondary sources, try entering the citation in the search box of either Westlaw for Campus Research or Nexis Uni, linked below.

e.g.111 F.Supp.3d 815 or 52 Or. App. 299 (case cites)

e.g. 42 U.S.C. 2000e or ORS 321.257 (statute cites)

e.g. 16 C.F.R. 3.13 or OAR 291-131-0010 (regulation cites)

Statutes

Use the main menu to select "Statutes & Court Rules," then jurisdiction (e.g. United States Code Annotated for federal, or Oregon for Oregon statutes).  Once you've entered a particular statutes database, you may find a link to an index, which may be easier than keyword searching.

Cases

Use the main menu to select "Cases," then jurisdiction.  Once you've entered a particular case database, try the "Advanced" link next to the search box to search for party name.  Otherwise, try entering keywords in the main search box for whatever case database you select.

Regulations

Use the main menu to select "Regulations," then jurisdiction.  You can also find references to regulations by clicking on the "Citing References" tab after retrieving a statute.

Cases

Select "Cases," then jurisdiction from main menu.  Enter search terms in search box.

Statutes

Use the pull-down menu in upper left of screen to select "All Sources."  Then click on "More" under Category to select "Statutes and Legislation."  Select jurisdiction in left frame, then click on statutes database you wish to search.

Regulations

Use the pull-down menu in upper left of screen to select "All Sources."  Then click on "More" under Category to select "Administrative Codes and Regulations."  Select jurisdiction in left frame, then click on administrative code database you wish to search.