Using Forms Databases
General searches of forms databases are usually not the best place to start, because you may pull up results that are irrelevant or misleading (e.g. attorney fee forms for family court or Arkansas state court when you are in federal civil court.)
Also, you may miss important guidance on the underlying law and how to adapt the form.
However, forms databases can be a good fit if you are:
- Comfortable with the underlying law and just want to find a variety of forms quickly.
- Struggling to find forms and want to find forms buried in manuals or chapters you would otherwise have skipped.
- Using a narrow, practice oriented database like DealMaker Documents, PLI, or Lexis Practice Advisor.
Multi-jurisdictional Forms Databases
- Bloomberg Transactional Precedent Search (Formerly DealMaker)Over 300,000 agreements and letters used by attorneys in real transactions, screened for quality by Bloomberg staff.
- Legal Information Reference Center (Nolo)The Legal Information Reference Center database provides Nolo guides online, including an option to search all Nolo forms. To search forms, select "Legal Forms by U.S. State" in the bar on top or select "Search by State" in the box to the right.
- Practical LawProvides standard documents and clauses, with notes identifying relevant laws and practical considerations. Accessible on Westlaw during school; in practice, you may have separate access through the Practical Law Company website.
- Westlaw Sample AgreementsOver a million agreements used by real law firms and in house counsel, searchable by practice area.
- Lexis Practice AdvisorSample documents written by practicing attorneys, with notes identifying relevant laws and practical considerations. To access, click the Open Product Menu squares in the top left and select Lexis Practice Advisor from the drop down menu.
California Specific Forms Databases
- OnLaw (CEB)The OnLaw database provides Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB) practice guides online, including an option to search all forms found in CEB guides. To search forms, click on the tab labeled search and then the sub-tab labeled forms.
