About Secondary Sources
The Ninth Circuit's official jury instructions are a fast, free way to start your legal research.
General and Federal Secondary Sources Free Online
Secondary sources are books and articles about the law. Although they are not the law themselves, they are a good starting point for legal research because they summarize the law and provide citations to relevant statutes, cases, and regulations on a specific topic.
Because most secondary sources are copyrighted, you will usually need to go to a library to use them (see Libraries and Self Help Centers.)
However, a few secondary sources are available for free online:
- Ninth Circuit Manuals of Model Jury InstructionsThe Ninth Circuit is the Court of Appeals for federal courts located within California. They publish standard jury instructions listing the elements plaintiffs must prove in lawsuits and prosecutors must prove in criminal prosecutions. Each jury instruction is annotated with references to the cases, statutes, and secondary sources the instruction was drawn from, making it an excellent starting point for legal research.
- Cornell Legal Information Institute WexFree online dictionary/encyclopedia by the Cornell Legal Information Institute.
- Google ScholarGoogle Scholar searches articles in both legal and non-legal academic journals and links to any available free online copies.
- ABA Free Full Text Law Review/Journal SearchOver 400 law reviews and legal journals, made available for free online by the ABA.
- Directory of Open Access JournalsDirectory of peer reviewed non-legal journals available free online.
