1. NC Casemaker: Free to North Carolina Bar Association members. (student memberships also available.)
Casemaker is an excellent free NC resource that contains NC and federal cases, codes, and statutes. Although not as sophisticated as Westlaw or LexisNexis, Casemaker includes all the resources needed to conduct efficient, timely and in-depth electronic legal research.
2. LoisLaw: Low-cost to attorneys, and free to CharlotteLaw students.
LoisLaw is Aspen’s alternative to LexisNexis and Westlaw. The newest of the three major electronic services Loislaw has an advantage in price. Content is comparable to LexisNexis and Westlaw but layout, searching, and updating (i.e. Shepardizing or Keyciting) are not as efficient as the two major services.
3. LexisOne: Free and low cost to attorneys and students.
Lexis without the bells and whistles, but available for free or at a low cost. Like many free resources historical case law is unavailable and secondary sources are limited.
4. Findlaw: Free resource for attorneys and students.
Just the facts ma’am. Don’t expect secondary sources, analysis, or many special features but Findlaw contains free versions of state and federal cases and codes.
5. GPOAccess: Free resource for attorneys and students.
The Government Printing Office is the official source for federal statutes, session laws, and regulations. Their electronic CFR (“eCFR”) is competitive with paid products from LexisNexis and Westlaw.
Other court websites:
Most court websites contain extensive information. Often opinions are available in official pdf format. A complete listing of federal court websites is available here and state courts are available here.
Briefs and records of North Carolina appellate courts are available online at no charge on this website.
Contains official PDFs of NC Supreme Court and Court of Appeals opinions from 1996 to the present.
