As you are locating primary and secondary sources, it is important to be able to recognize citations to understand what the source actually is. The most important citations you will come across are statutes, regulations, and cases. Below are examples of these citation formats.
Statutes and Regulations
Title, Source, Section → 42 U.S.C. § 1983
Cases
Volume, Reporter, Page Number → 347 U.S. 483
The leading citation manual for the legal field is The Bluebook. You can buy a print version here, or create an account to purchase the online version here. However, you can also use other guides to learn more about legal citations. This publication, How to Read a Legal Citation, from the Southern California Association of Law Libraries is a great place to start if you are interested in understanding acronyms and abbreviations.
Before You Begin
Legal resources can be very difficult to navigate for people with no formal legal training. When approaching any task involving the law, it is important to familiarize yourself with the resources in that area before getting too deep into research. This page provides an overview of useful secondary materials to begin your research, as well as tips for how to use these resources to your advantage. Many of the resources listed must be purchased individually or with a subscription. However, you can reach out to a library for many of these resources. Public libraries will typically have a small collection of legal materials. An actual law library is your best bet. Libraries in law schools usually allow access by members of the public. There are also libraries in courthouses; they may allow public access as well.
Law Dictionaries
Law dictionaries can help explain legal terminology and concepts. For example, if you come across the phrase "caveat emptor," but have no understanding of Latin, a law dictionary is a great resource. The leading dictionary in the legal field is Black's Law Dictionary, which is available for purchase here. There are also free online dictionaries, like "The Law Dictionary."
The United States federal court system also maintains a free Glossary of Legal Terms. This resource has less coverage than Black's Law Dictionary, but is a great resource for understanding more basic legal terminology. The American Bar Association has a similar glossary here.
Legal Encyclopedias
Legal Encyclopedias are a useful resource for non-lawyers because these resources are intuitive. People often have experience with various types of encyclopedias that they used while in school. Legal encyclopedias provide short (often only a few paragraphs) explanations of legal concepts. In addition, these resources provide citations to primary and secondary sources that the researcher can use going forward.
In addition to the above national legal encyclopedias, each state also has varying legal encyclopedias. It is important to reach out to the local law library to determine what legal encyclopedias are often used in your jurisdiction.
Treatises
Treatises are similar to legal encyclopedias in that they explain the law. However, treatises provide more in-depth discussion of the law. Like legal encyclopedias, treatises also provide citations to primary and secondary sources. The following are a couple examples of popular legal treatises:
Georgetown Law School maintains a guide named Treatise Finders. This guide lists many different areas of the law and recommends treatises for each subject.
Practice Guides
Practice guides are designed for practicing lawyers,but can be utilized by non-lawyers in some instances. Practice guides often include resources like checklists, which can be useful for ensuring court documents contain all the necessary parts.
There are countless practice guides because there are so many jurisdictions (state, federal, foreign and international) and many different areas of law. Examples of practice guides can be found here. Because these resources are geared towards lawyers, it is best to turn to self-help guides and other legal resources instead.
Self-Help Guides
Self-help guides are similar to practice guides,but aimed at non-lawyers. This is a better resource for non-lawyers to utilize.
Various self-help guides can be found on Justia. Popular topics for self-represented litigants include car accidents, workers' compensation, employment law, family law, and more. Self-help guides can help people get oriented to a specific area of the law while also providing steps the user will take throughout the process. This is not a substitute for legal representation, but can be a great resource for pro se litigants who cannot afford an attorney.
More information about self-help guides can be located on the Self-Help Resources tab of this guide.