American Law Sources
Well designed site that allows a user to specify where to search for a legal topic. Good coverage for the United States, Canada and Mexico.Catalaw
CataLaw is the catalog of catalogs of worldwide law on the Internet. It aids legal research by arranging all indexes of law and government into a uniform, universal and unique metaindex.Cornell Legal Information Institute
The Cornell Law School site provides extensive links to federal and state law materials. Also quite good for foreign statutory materialsFindlaw
This site is an excellent portal to local, state, federal, and international legal resources. Particularly good for finding statutes, administrative codes and treaties. Many other sites link to this site.Thomas
Thomas provides legislative history information on bills, reports, bill status etc. Great place to find how your legislator voted on a bill. For some items, Thomas goes back to the 93rd Congress.
The following annotations describe the law databases to which FLITE subscribes. The use of these databases is restricted to Ferris-affiliated faculty, students, and staff. Those affiliated with Ferris, please click here for directions for off-campus use.
Info Trac OneFile
A very large full-text database with over 26 million articles, it indexes both newspapers and journals, including a number of legal periodicals. Coverage is from 1980 to present. A few journals, especially older issues, give only selective full-text.Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe
Updated daily, Lexis-Nexis is a full text database of articles from newspapers, wire services and the like. Lexis-Nexis also contains a large legal research section which contains federal and state case law, citations of U.S. Supreme Court cases, Federal regulations, and articles from legal periodicals. There are also directories of lawyers and law schools in the United States and Canada.Westlaw Campus
Use this database to find case law from all 50 states and federal cases. Additionally there are articles from law review journals and legal encyclopedias. Uses the Key Number system used in all 50 state publications for legal research.
*Click here to access a guide on using Westlaw Campus(PDF).
U.S. Constitution, Federal Cases, and Court Rules
Court Rules-6th Circuit Court of Appeals
From the 6th Circuit Court site, details all the rules of the court. Click on the "Local Rules" link. Acrobat reader required to read the documentsCourt Rules- Eastern District of Michigan
Rules for the US Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern Michigan District.Court Rules-Western District of Michigan
Rules of the Court based in Grand Rapids which covers the west side of the stateEastern/Western District of Michigan Cases
From the Michigan Bar Association Website, Federal district court opinions from mid-1999 to present are available at this site. Click on "Opinions" on the front page.Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
These rules govern the conduct of all civil actions brought in Federal District courts. While they do not apply to suits in state courts, the rules of many states have been closely modeled on these provisions.Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
These rules govern the procedure in all criminal proceedings in the United States district courts, the United States courts of appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States.Federal Rules of Evidence
These rules govern the introduction of evidence in proceedings, both civil and criminal, in Federal courts. While they do not apply to suits in state courts, the rules of many states have been closely modeled on these provisions.United States Constitution
The entire text of the U.S. Constitution broken down into web links. Quite easy to navigate and to use.United States Supreme Court Cases
Supreme Court decisions from 1893-present browsable by year and volume. Can also perform a citation search or type in a party name (i.e. Miranda)United States Supreme Court Rules
Rules for presenting cases to the Supreme Court. The entire document is available in PDF format as well.United States 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Cases
FindLaw's searchable database of the 6th Circuit Court decisions since January 1995. An archive of Opinion Summaries from September 2000 to the present is also maintained on this site. Browsable by year and searchable by docket number, case title, and full text. This is a free service that will remain free.
Federal Laws, Legislative History, Executive Orders, and Administrative Materials
Code of Federal Regulations
Searchable index of all governmental regulations currently in force. One can search by title and chapter, or browse the chapters individually.Congressional Record
The Congressional Record is a record of the activity on the Congress. This is available back to 1989 and is searchable by word, phrase, member of Congress and date.Federal Register
The Federal Register is the official daily publication for Rules, Proposed Rules, and Notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as Executive Orders and other Presidential Documents. Coverage goes back to 1995.Presidential Executive Orders
Search all Executive Orders back to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Orders are presented in PDF format.United States Code
Search the entire US Code via full-text, specific citation, or a concept.
Michigan Constitution, Cases, Court Rules
Michigan Constitution
Provided by the Michigan Legislature, this site allows a search of the 1963 state constitution in a format similar to the compiled laws.Michigan Court of Appeals
Court opinions, rules of the court, and other information about Michigan's Court of Appeals are found on the Court's Web site. Published court opinions begin in January of 2001.Michigan Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Michigan Web site contains information relating to the Court as well as the full-text of opinions from January of 2001.Michigan Trial Courts
This site provides information on the trial courts in the state including family courts, claims courts and probate courts. A directory is also available.
Michigan Laws, Legislative Information, Executive Orders, and Administrative Materials
Back | Library Home | Reference HomeMichigan Administrative Code
Produced by the Office of Regulatory Reform, one can search by state agency or by code section number.Michigan Compiled Laws (MCL)
The home page of the Michigan Legislature allows searching by MCL section number or full text of the bill. Links are also provided to each legislator.Michigan Executive Orders
This site contains information about the Governor of Michigan, including Executive Orders, press releases and biographical information.Michigan Register
This publication contains proposed administrative rules, proposed and adopted agency guidelines and attorney general opinions.
Compiled by: David Scott, Librarian
Last update: February 4, 2003