Secondary Sources for Massachusetts Legal Research
If you are completely unfamiliar with Massachusetts legal research, begin by consulting a research guide. Every jurisdiction is unique, and a research guide will help you discover any quirks about the jurisdiction you are researching. For example, did you know that the Massachusetts legislature is called the General Court?
Legal encyclopedias provide general discussions of legal topics, references to primary sources such as case law, and references to secondary sources such as treatises and law review articles.
As you research your Massachusetts topic, you may want to stay on top of legal news. Often news sources will provide the first glimpse at proposed legislation and regulations, changes in court rules, and emerging legal issues.
Sometimes you will need to contact an attorney, judge, court clerk, or an agency to find information that is not otherwise available. A directory or government web site will help you find the correct person to contact.
Research Guides
The Handbook of Massachusetts Legal Research is the best source for information on the origins and development of Massachusetts law. Chapters on municipal (local) law, state tax law, and a bibliography of resources by legal topic round out this book.
Print: Law Reference KFM 2475 .H36
The Massachusetts Trial Court Libraries web site is another great resource to start your research. A section on law by sources provides links to primary legal sources such as cases, statutes, and regulations. The Massachusetts Law About and Pathfinders pages collect web and other resources on the most popular areas of law.
The State Library of Massachusetts also provides many useful links. In particular, their legal resources page provides information on primary and secondary sources of law and gives an overview of the library's collection.
Legal Encyclopedias
Massachusetts Practice covers over 40 areas of law, such as real estate, criminal procedure, etc. Start with the index located at the end of the set. In addition to citations to primary materials, you will find references to practice materials such as forms.
Print: Law Massachusetts Collection
Massachusetts Jurisprudence provides commentary and background on Massachusetts law. Note that Massachusetts Jurisprudence has not been updated since 1998, so the research value of this encyclopedia is mostly historical.
Print: Law Massachusetts Collection
Treatises
To locate treatises in the Boston University libraries, conduct a conduct a word search in the BU libraries online catalog. Combine a word or phrase along with "Massachusetts" to find books on Massachusetts law.
For example: massachusetts and estate planning
You will notice that several of the books you find with the preceding search are published by Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE). There are hundreds of MCLE publications providing detailed coverage of many Massachusetts legal topics. Many of the books are in looseleaf form and thus are updated on a regular basis. To locate books published by MCLE, conduct a word search as directed above, but add "massachusetts continuing legal education" under the publisher field.
The Handbook of Massachusetts Legal Research includes a chapter on "Selected Legal Research Resources" which consists of a bibliography of resources by topic.
Journal and Law Review Articles
Search collections of journal articles to find the latest research and information on Massachusetts law. Both LexisNexis and Westlaw provide combined databases that include scholarly and selected bar journals published in Massachusetts.
LexisNexis: Massachusetts Law Reviews, Combined
Westlaw: MA-JLR database
News & Current Awareness
Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly includes news about attorneys and law firms, stories on the latest cases of interest, articles about proposed legislation & regulations, and other legal materials.
Print: Law Reserve (latest year)
Law Micro: 1972-1996
Internet: Lawyers Weekly Archives (1993-present)
LexisNexis: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly source (2004-present)
In addition to legal newspapers, you may want to use general news sources to stay current with legal developments as well as policy developments in the state. Both LexisNexis and Westlaw provide databases of Massachusetts legal news:
LexisNexis: Massachusetts News
Westlaw: MANEWS database
Directories
Massachusetts Lawyers Diary & Manual provides detailed information about Massachusetts government and lawyers. The pamphlet supplement Courts, Maps & Judges includes short biographical notes on Massachusetts judges, as well as contact information, and directions to the court houses.
Print: Law Reference KFM 2477 .L38
Government Web sites
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts web site serves as an information portal for all of the offices in the Massachusetts government. For example, you can find listings of state agencies by organizational structure or by name.
The Massachusetts Courts web site provides a wealth of information about the courts, their business, and contact information for judges. Similarly, the General Court web site includes information about the Massachusetts legislature and lists of House and Senate members with profiles and contact information.
Page maintained by Raquel Ortiz
Last updated: July 2007