Q. Where can I look for court cases, statutes, and regulations?

Legal documents: where to look

Please see the Law Research Resources guide created by the library's Law Librarian, Anita Walz, or take a look at the recommendations listed below.

Virginia Tech Libraries provides access to vLex (United States Core) for legal research. vLex can be used to search U.S. caselaw, statutes, regulations, and other legal materials.

Cases

• vLex: Search federal and state court cases by citation (e.g., 130 S. Ct. 876 or 531 U.S. 98), party name (e.g., Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission or Bush v. Gore), or keyword. vLex United States Core provides access to U.S. caselaw and other legal materials with precise legal citations.
• Discovery: You may be able to find the text of a case by searching party names in Discovery search. Even if the case itself does not appear you may find a reference to the case citation in the text of a retrieved document, such as in books, articles, and other sources.
• PACER: Public Access to Court Electronic Records allows users to obtain case and docket information from federal appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts.

Legal citations

• Legal citations take the form of a number, an abbreviation, and a number. For court cases, the first number is the volume where the case can be found in its official print version and the second number is the first page number of the case. For statutes the first number is the title and the second number is the section or part, usually written using the symbol § or §§ (multiple sections or parts). Examples: 11 CFR §100.29 or 2 U. S. C. §441
• The same case or legal document may be written in a long string of letters and numbers, separated by semicolons. This is a parallel citation. The first abbreviation is usually the “official” citation. Example: 510 U.S. 1309; 114 S. Ct. 909; 127 L. Ed. 2d 352; 1994 U.S. LEXIS 1325; 62 U.S.L.W. 3520

Statutes

• The United States Code (USC) is the official compilation of federal laws (aka statutes). Federal statutes can also be found using vLex, HeinOnline, ProQuest Congressional, and GovInfo.
• Virginia's statutes are codified in the Code of Virginia.
• State statutes can be found in vLex, ProQuest Congressional, and on official state government websites.

Regulations

• The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR) is a codification of the general and permanent rules and regulations published originally in the Federal Register by executive departments and agencies of the federal government. Federal regulations can also be found using vLex, HeinOnline, ProQuest Congressional, and GovInfo.
• Virginia's regulations are codified in the Virginia Administrative Code.
• State regulations can be found on official state government websites and may also be available through vLex. State regulations are typically compiled in each state's administrative code.

Westlaw or vLex?

Westlaw is available through 125 individual passwords that are assigned by the law librarian, Anita Walz. Westlaw is used primarily by faculty, graduate students, and in a few undergraduate classes. Undergraduate passwords are often shared. Westlaw is more suitable for advanced legal research.

For most course-related legal assignments, vLex (United States Core) provides access to U.S. caselaw, statutes, regulations, and other legal materials. Users who need advanced legal research features or specialized content may wish to use Westlaw.

Westlaw access is limited to Virginia Tech users and requires a password. Click here to request access to Westlaw.