Law Library Databases A-Z
See also: Law Databases by Subject.
For additional non-legal databases, visit the William & Mary Libraries list of databases (↪).
For legal reference sources, see our online legal reference collection.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | N | O | P | S | T | U | V | W |
A
Academic Search Complete
Multidisciplinary database of journal articles, books, book chapters, reports, conference proceedings, etc. Coverage: 1887-present.
AILALink
A one-stop shop for immigration law research created and maintained by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). Includes access to most AILA publications as well as case law, regulations, agency memos and decisions, and immigration policy manuals. Coverage: varies by source; updated frequently.
Aspen Learning Library
Formerly Wolters Kluwer Study Aids
Online access to hundreds of study aids, including the following series: Casenote Legal Briefs, Examples & Explanations, Emanuel Law Outlines, Emanuel Crunchtime, Emanuel Law in a Flash, Glannon Guides, Aspen Student Treatises, Friedman's Practice Series, and others. Create an individual account to enable additional features such as notetaking, bookmarks, and highlighting.
AudioCaseFiles
Access is restricted to current W&M Law students, faculty, and staff; individual account required.
Edited audio and text files of the most commonly-assigned cases for 1Ls and 2Ls. Opinions include brief fact summaries and statements of the rule of law. Downloadable files for offline listening/reading. Take, share, view, and print notes. Access restricted to current W&M Law students, staff, and faculty.
B
Bloomberg Law
Access is restricted to current W&M Law students, faculty, and staff; individual account required.
Comprehensive collection of federal and state laws, regulations, court decisions, dockets, and business information. Analytical materials including BNA publications. Access restricted to current W&M Law students, staff, and faculty.
Bloomberg Law: Tax
Individual account required.
Tax analysis, practice tools, IRS documents, statutes & regulations, and current news and awareness. Covers federal, state, and international tax law. Also includes the Daily Tax Report, a newsletter that can be viewed online or subscribed to by email.
Business Source Complete
All disciplines of business, including marketing, management, accounting, finance, and economics. Journal articles, books, market research reports, financial data, conference proceedings, case studies, etc. Coverage: Varies by title.
C
CALI Lessons
Access is restricted to current W&M Law students, faculty, and staff; access code required.
Over 1,000 Interactive tutorials that cover narrow topics of law. Lessons are authored by law professors and librarians. Access restricted to current W&M Law students, staff, and faculty. See a law librarian for an access code.
Cambridge Core
Provides electronic access to all law titles (over 3,300) published by Cambridge University Press as well as over 1.6. million Cambridge University Press journal articles across all academic disciplines.
Carolina Academic Press Study Aids
Study aids in the Understanding and Questions & Answers series published by Carolina Academic Press can be found here as a collection within the LexisNexis Digital Library.
Checkpoint
Formerly RIA Checkpoint
Comprehensive tax and accounting research database covering related laws and news on the international, federal, state and local levels. Provides access to a variety of primary sources, analysis, journals, news, and rulings. Coverage: Varies by source.
Chicago Manual of Style
Searchable version of the most recent edition.
Chronicle of Higher Education
News and information about higher education, job listings in academia, discussion forums, and career-building tools such as online CV management, salary databases, and more. Coverage: 1989-present.
CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online)
International affairs content, including working and occasional papers, foundation-funded research projects, conference proceedings, books, journals, policy briefs, case studies by international affairs experts, and course packs for history and political science classes. Coverage: 1991-present.
Congress.gov
The official website for U.S. federal legislative information. Full text of current and past Congressional Sessions' bills, including bill tracking and sponsorship information. Maintained by the Library of Congress and associated legislative offices. Coverage: Updated daily when Congress is in session. (free resource)
CQ Researcher
Issues and controversial subjects in the news. In-depth coverage of a variety of topics, with extensive text and bibliographies. Also covers international issues and crises. Coverage: 1991-present.
D
DiscoverGov
DiscoverGov provides simple, one-stop searching across multiple U.S. Federal Government databases including GPO's Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP) and GovInfo.
E
E&E News
E&E News provides essential energy and environment news for professionals. Includes access to Climatewire, E&E Daily, Energywire, Greenwire, and E&E News PM.
Elgar Advanced Introductions: Law
Concise introductions to major subject areas in international law, both public and private, as well as more foundational legal topics like globalization, freedom of expression, and comparative constitutional law. These titles interpret and articulate the law, often comparing systems or drawing lessons from other disciplines.
Elgaronline
Collection of global and comparative law journals, reference works, and books (including scholarly monographs, Research Handbooks, companions and more) from Edward Elgar Publishing.
Exam Archive
Hosted by the W&M Law Library.
Access is restricted to current W&M Law students, faculty, and staff; W&M login required.
Past exams and answer keys from a number of W&M Law faculty members. Restricted to current W&M Law students, staff, and faculty.
F
Fastcase
Nationwide database of case law, statutes, regulations, court rules, constitutions, and law review articles. Includes a limited number of secondary materials for select practice areas and jurisdictions. Coverage: Varies by series.
Foreign Law Guide
A country-by-country guide to the legal systems and specific laws of most nations of the world. Invaluable starting point for researching an unfamiliar jurisdiction. Coverage and updates vary by country.
G
Government Periodicals Index (ProQuest)
Index and links to full text articles from over 300 of the most important periodicals published by agencies and departments of the United States Federal government. Coverage: 1988-present.
H
HeinOnline
Large collections of law journals, the U. S. Code, U. S. Statutes at Large, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U. S. Supreme Court opinions and reports, Congressional Record, classic law texts, foreign policy documents, presidential documents, treaties, Virginia court briefs, historical English laws, and much more. Coverage: Varies by title.
I
ICLR Online (Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales)
Archive of official law reports from England and Wales. Citator information for each case includes topics considered by subsequent citing courts. Coverage: 1865-present. (For earlier law reports, see HeinOnline's English Law Reports pre-1865.)
International Encyclopaedia of Laws
Collections of in-depth analyses of selected countries' laws on topics such as torts, constitutional law, family & succession law, property, religion, and more. Each title covers a different set of countries. Updated periodically.
J
JSTOR
General (not law-specific) multidisciplinary full-text journal articles from 1,500 major journals. (Note: in many cases, JSTOR does not include the most recent 3 to 5 years of these journals.) Coverage: Varies by title. Access is also available to alumni who graduated in 2007 or later; sign in through my1693's JSTOR page.
L
Law.com
ALM's legal news platform. Includes content from The American Lawyer, National Law Journal, Corporate Counsel, The Legal Intelligencer, VerdictSearch, and many other ALM titles. Create your own account to sign up for news alerts and newsletters.
Law360
Current news about litigation, policy developments, corporate deals, and more across dozens of practice areas, industries, and jurisdictions. Create your own account to sign up for a wide variety of daily newsletters and special reports.
Legal Source
Contains detailed indexing for over 1,200 legal journals, law reviews, yearbooks, institutes, statutes, bar association and university publications, and some journals from Canada, Great Britain, and Australia/NZ. Includes full text for over 400 journals. Coverage: 1908-present.
Lexis+
Access is restricted to current W&M Law students, faculty, and staff; individual account required.
Extremely comprehensive collections of feature-rich databases of U.S. and state laws, regulations, cases, and analytical materials. Access restricted to current W&M Law students, staff, and faculty.
LexisNexis Lawschool
Access is restricted to current W&M Law students, faculty, and staff; individual account required.
Portal to Lexis+ research system, classroom software, and training signups and materials. Access restricted to current W&M Law students, staff, and faculty.
LexisNexis Courtroom Cast
Access is restricted to current W&M Law students, faculty, and staff; individual account required.
The world's largest online library of courtroom video. Thousands of hours of trials, hearings, and oral arguments from around the U.S. Search by practice area, jurisdiction, judge, attorney, or witness. Also includes AudioCaseFiles (see above for more information). Access restricted to current W&M Law students, staff, and faculty.
LexisNexis Digital Library
Collection of selected current treatises and related materials published by LexisNexis and its subsidiaries. Many important works on Virginia law are found here, including Michie's Jurisprudence (the legal encyclopedia for Virginia and West Virginia), Bryson on Virginia Civil Procedure, and Friend's Virginia Pleading and Practice. Also has study aids published by Carolina Academic Press (including titles in the Understanding and Questions & Answers series). Has various other national and international materials.
Library of Latin Texts (LLT)
The Library of Latin Texts (LLT) gathers Latin texts of all genres and all periods. The texts have been taken from the Corpus Christianorum series and from many other leading editions.
LLMC Digital
Digitized versions of hard-to-find older legal materials, including directories, party briefs, and out-of-copyright treatises. New titles are added from time to time.
M
Making of Modern Law
A series of databases from featuring primary and secondary legal sources dating from 1600 to 1926. Our subscription includes secondary sources on foreign and international law, statutory sources from U.S. states and territories, trial proceedings in U.S. state and federal courts, and U.S. Supreme Court records and briefs.
Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law
Analytical comparative articles offering a global overview of constitutional law.
Medline
Index to medical articles on topics relating to research, clinical practice, administration, policy issues, dentistry, nursing, and health care. Coverage: 1946-present.
MuniPro
To access: Click Sign In, select institution in the pop-up window, click Sign In again.
Search across U.S. municipal ordinances and codes. Currency varies by specific jurisdiction.
N
National Journal
Comprises several components: Daily, a roundup of the day's top political news; The Almanac, a Congressional and Federal Agency Directory that includes biographical information of members, committee makeups, and state/district demographic breakdowns; the Daybook, a comprehensive Congressional and regulatory calendar to track hearings, meetings, and events; and the Racetracker, an elections dashboard tracking polling and financials for every federal election in the current year. Also includes the Presentation Center and Axis Data Center.
NCLC Digital Library (National Consumer Law Center)
Current versions of NCLC's treatises on debtor rights, mortgages, foreclosures, credit, banking, deceptive practices, warranties, and consumer litigation.
Newspaper Archive
Historical and/or current archives for selected newspapers: The Daily Press (Newport News, VA), Los Angeles Times, New York Times, The Times (London, United Kingdom), Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. Coverage: Varies by paper.
Newspapers.com
Newspapers.com is a historical database of newspapers across the globe, potentially going as far back as 1690 and up until the present day.
Nexis Uni
Academic version of Lexis for non-law users. Contains cases, laws, and some secondary sources. (Formerly LexisNexis Academic.) Coverage: Varies by database.
O
Oxford Bibliographies Online: Islamic Studies
Peer-reviewed annotated bibliographies on the range of lived experiences and textual traditions of Muslims as they are articulated in various countries and regions throughout the world. Bibliographies are browsable by subject area and keyword searchable.
Oxford Law Pro
Powered by an AI Research Assistant, Oxford Law Pro provides integrated and fully searchable digital access to some of the leading works relevant to international law, international commercial arbitration, and international business law. Includes access to Expert Essentials, a suite of short articles translating topics, methods, and data from other fields, such as Environmental Science; Environmental, Social, and Governance; Financial Services and Markets; and Technology. Replaces Oxford Legal Research Library: International Commercial Arbitration, Oxford Legal Research Library International Commercial Law and Oxford Scholarly Authorities on International Law beginning May 1, 2026.
Oxford Legal Research Library: International Commercial Arbitration
Provides integrated and fully searchable digital access to some of the leading works relevant to international commercial arbitration. Will be replaced by Oxford Law Pro on May 1, 2026.
Oxford Legal Research Library: International Commercial Law
Provides integrated and searchable access to some of the leading works relevant to international business law. Contains Oxford University Press titles on the law of sales, including related areas such as the laws of contract and agency, insurance, shipping and the carriage of goods. Will be replaced by Oxford Law Pro on May 1, 2026.
Oxford Scholarly Authorities on International Law
Contains over 180 full-text online editions of market-leading reference works and treatises on international law published by Oxford University Press. Will be replaced by Oxford Law Pro on May 1, 2026.
Oxford Scholarship Online
Cross-searchable library containing the full text and abstracts of classic and newly-published Oxford books. Access includes Law materials, as well as biology, business & management, classical studies, economics & finance, history, and several other subjects.
P
PAIS Index (Public Affairs Information Service)
Contemporary worldwide public policy and social, economic, and political issues. Citations to journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, research reports, conference reports, publications of international agencies, etc. Includes PAIS Archive. Coverage: 1915-present.
Politico Pro
Real-time, customizable news and analysis on developments in policy, access to over 100 policy expert reporters, and a data-driven graphics/presentation tool.
Practical Law (Thomson Reuters/Westlaw)
Access is restricted to current W&M Law students, faculty, and staff; individual account required.
Get up to speed quickly with an unfamiliar area of law. Checklists, form and document templates, practice guides, and more for a number of practice areas and law school courses.
ProQuest Congressional
Historic and current congressional information. Includes Committee Prints, Congressional Record, CRS Reports, Hearings, House and Senate Documents/Reports, Legislative Histories, Executive Branch Documents, and Presidential Materials. Coverage: 1789-present for some series; others vary.
ProQuest Statistical Insight
Over 1 million statistical tables and reports from government, research, non-profit and corporate sources. Full-text searching and subject browsing available.
ProView (Thomson Reuters/Westlaw)
Access is restricted to current W&M Law students, faculty, and staff; individual account required.
Hundreds of current treatises and guidebooks covering all areas of law. Restricted to current W&M Law students, staff, and faculty.
S
Scholarship Repository (W&M Law School)
Open-access repository of the intellectual output of the W&M Law School community. Contains the full span of all current and past W&M law reviews and journals; journal articles, papers, lectures, and more from the Law School faculty; student publications; and various reports, brochures, and other items related to W&M Law School's history.
SSRN (Social Science Research Network)
Working and accepted papers from academics. To find law articles, browse to Social Sciences and choose Legal Scholarship Network. Indispensable resource for student note pre-emption checks.
Supreme Court Records and Briefs (U.S.), 1832-1978
Contains the full text of the party and amicus briefs and the records from U.S. Supreme Court cases from 1832-1978. Searchable by keyword, author, or case name.
T
Thomson Reuters Law School
Formerly lawschool.westlaw.com
Access is restricted to current W&M Law students, faculty, and staff; individual account required.
Portal to TWEN classroom software, the Westlaw research system, and training signups. Access restricted to current W&M Law students, staff, and faculty.
Thomson Reuters ProView
Formerly Westlaw ProView
Access is restricted to current W&M Law students, faculty, and staff; individual account required.
Hundreds of current treatises and guidebooks covering all areas of law. Restricted to current W&M Law students, staff, and faculty.
TradeLawGuide
Comprehensive research tools for international trade law, including World Trade Organization (WTO) law and regional trade agreements (RTAs). Includes public decisions, dispute documents, commentaries, and negotiating histories. A suite of citators provides comprehensive substantive jurisprudence references to WTO, pre-WTO and Vienna Convention provisions as well as cross-references within the jurisprudence.
Trends & Policy
Trends and Policy merges content from a variety of sources and presents them in a unique interface designed to connect various policies of the United States to their trending results. Included in these collections are public laws and hearings, Legislative branch reports, Executive branch reports and data, and present day and historical news articles. The focus of these collections is not only on their respective topics, but also brings together primary source content relevant to U.S. policy with statistics and data from federal government sources and delivers this essential material within the context of topic pages, timelines, and newspaper articles. Current topic collections include: Criminal Justice, Environment, Healthcare, and Immigration.
U
U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs, 1832-1978
Contains the full text of the party and amicus briefs and the records from U.S. Supreme Court cases from 1832-1978. Searchable by keyword, author, or case name. Part of Gale's Making of Modern Law series.
V
vLex
Comprehensive database of U.S., European, and Latin America laws and cases. Includes internal translation tool for foreign language materials.
VitalLaw
Practice-specific laws, treatises, and related materials. Covered areas include antitrust, cybersecurity & privacy, elder/estate law, IP, labor & employment, pensions/benefits, property, securities, and the practice of law & litigation. Coverage: Varies by source.
W
West Academic Study Aids
Online access to hundreds of study aids, treatises, and audio lectures. Includes the full sets of several series: the Nutshells, Short & Happy Guides, Gilbert Law Summaries, Concise Hornbooks, Legalines, Concepts & Insights, Sum and Substance Audio, and more. Create an individual account to enable additional features such as notetaking and highlighting. Coverage: Current editions.
Westlaw Precision
Access is restricted to current W&M Law students, faculty, and staff; individual account required.
Extremely comprehensive collections of feature-rich databases of U.S. and state laws, regulations, cases, and analytical materials. Access restricted to current W&M Law students, staff, and faculty.
Westlaw Edge UK
Access is restricted to current W&M Law students, faculty, and staff; individual account required.
United Kingdom laws, regulations, articles, current awareness, and topical explanations. Includes some European Union materials, as well as UK treatises and Practical Law. See the Westlaw Edge UK User Guide for more information. Updated daily.
Westlaw Law School
Now Thomson Reuters Law School
Westlaw Patron Access
Formerly Westlaw Pro
Selected case, statute, regulatory, and secondary source databases from Westlaw for library visitors and other non-law users.
Westlaw ProView
WorldCat
Materials held by thousands of libraries in the U.S. and abroad. Books, websites, films, journals, magazines, papers, manuscripts, maps, musical scores, newspapers, sound recordings, etc. Use this source to locate items that are not available at W&M in order to request them through Interlibrary Loan.