Library Resources for Michigan Law Students: Legal Databases and other E-Resources

Westlaw, Lexis, and Bloomberg Law

While you are a student at Michigan Law, you have access to the commercial legal databases Westlaw Precision, Lexis+, and Bloomberg Law. While all of these databases include U.S. state and federal case law, statutes, and regulations, they each offer their own unique selection of secondary sources (like treatises and law journal articles), helpful tools (like case citators and data analysis), and additional material (like public records or court dockets).

Be sure to become familiar with each database--you never know what you'll need to use when you break out into legal practice.

Powerhouse Legal Databases

In addition to the Big Three, the Law Library provides access to many more databases you will return to again and again for your legal research. Some of the major ones are the following:

• HeinOnline is an invaluable source of law journal articles, historical federal statutes and regulations, and international research material.
• ProQuest Congressional is the place to find federal legislative history documents, from 18th century Annals of Congress to last month's hearing transcripts.
• VitalLaw is where you look when business and law intersect, with materials on antitrust, corporate and securities, banking, intellectual property, and tax law.
• Checkpoint Edge is a full-text database of federal, state, and some international primary tax materials, as well as a number of important secondary tax research sources.

Take the Library Everywhere with Ebooks

The Law Library provides access to thousands of electronic titles, in addition to the print titles in our collection. You can find ebooks by searching the Law Library catalog or browsing one of dozens of ebook collections, like the following:

• West Study Aids has over 500 titles from West, Foundation, and Gilbert publishers, including Hornbooks, Nutshells, Gilbert Law Summaries, Black Letter, and Law Stories, just for MLaw students.
• Oxford Reference Library: Law. This fully indexed, cross-searchable database has dictionaries, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press on the subject of Law.

The Law Library catalog links to hundreds of electronic resources spanning dozens of topics and jurisdictions. Want to see what we have about treaties? Commercial law? France? Browse e-resources by Category or Type, or search for a jurisdiction by Subject to see these resources at a glance.

Finding documents filed with the courts can be a complex process, but the library is here to help! Check out our guides on Dockets and Court Filings to learn more about the research process and specialized sources available to you. 

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The chat service is available to all of our patrons but is designed to meet the legal research needs of U-M students, staff, and faculty.

Chat is monitored from 1-6 pm Monday-Wednesday and 1-5 pm Thursday-Friday on days when class is in session.

*Excluding University holidays and semester breaks--check library hours for more information. The Building and library are available to law school community ONLY after 6 pm, and are closed to all but law school community on home football Saturdays.