SJD Guide to Law Library Services

Welcome to the Harvard Law School Library. This guide lists many of the services available to you as an HLS SJD student. For questions large and small, always feel free to email research@law.harvard.edu

Research librarians are available for drop in assistance without an appointment Monday-Friday 11-5 in the Reference alcove on the third floor, south end of the library. We are also available by chat and email Monday-Friday 10-5.

Our Ask a Librarian page provides contact information, current hours, a consultation request form, and searchable Frequently Asked Questions. See http://asklib.law.harvard.edu/.

As an SJD, you have a research librarian assigned as your primary point of contact. To connect with them, you can reach out using the generic contacts above or email them directly. 

The Historical and Special Collections department provides research assistance in the use of rare and historical materials as well as our manuscript collections. Please reach out to them by emailing specialc@law.harvard.edu.

Questions about library hours, materials, book borrowing, renewals, etc can be directed to our Access and Circulation department. They have a service desk in the main lobby and can be reached at access@law.harvard.edu.  There is also a page explaining How to Borrow, Renew and Return Library Materials at Harvard Libraries.

If you are a current SJD student and your name is not paired with a librarian please email research@law.harvard.edu

A wonderful benefit of pursuing a doctorate at HLS is full access to the array of libraries and library spaces all over campus. These pages help introduce the study spaces and library locations available throughout the Harvard Libraries. 

As an SJD student, you have access to a range of services to retrieve items from other libraries on our campus and from libraries of other research institutions. 

Research Services may be able to help you with items not obtainable through HOLLIS Request, Borrow Direct, Scan and Deliver or ILL.

Contact us by email research@law.harvard.edu or via the Asklib form. Please include as much information about the item as possible, and any time requirements you have.

Please note that we cannot retrieve: Harvard Business Review cases.  

The library encourages you to recommend new and important older titles to add to the collection. In certain cases, entire databases can be licensed if necessary for your research and scholarship. Please send as much information as you have about recommendations or donations to your liaison or fill out the Purchase Request form online.

In addition to the selected e-book collections listed below, Harvard Library subscribes to over 500 other ebook collections. On the Harvard Databases page search by title, subject or keyword, then refine your results by content type "E-books and texts"

Perma.cc is a free tool to preserve links to public websites referenced in your work from changing or disappearing. The HLS graduate program strongly encourages its use. As an HLS SJD, you may have a sponsored Perma account which will allow you to make unlimited Perma links. 

You may request an account through your liaison, or the links below.

Zotero is a research management software that is easy to use and will help you manage citations. The software itself is free, and Harvard pays for unlimited storage. Zotero will produce consistent citations but does not produce perfect Bluebook format automatically. It is still a good tool to track articles and books in folders and note down points of interest in each.

The Bluebook is the main citation manual for law in the U.S. If you plan to submit papers for publication or your SJD supervisor requests it, you will need to use this system of citation. The publisher does not allow the library to provide institutional online access. Consequently, you will need to purchase a print copy, use a Bluebook available at the library, or purchase an online version for a 1 to 3 year subscription. 

Please look at our research guide on Publishing in Law Reviews and Journals for a more comprehensive overview of this topic.

Scholastica Submission support started in 2021-22. Under this program:

• SJD students are entitled to up to 50 submissions each academic year (7/1-6/30) that they are students at HLS. 
• Unused submissions rollover to the following academic year.
• Remaining unused submissions may be used up to 10 months after graduation
• No additional submissions will accrue post-graduation

To request Scholastica access, please contact research@law.harvard.edu and review the library's tutorial and quiz to obtain a Scholastica account  (HarvardKey required).

This section of the guide provides a brief overview of the process for researching an issue of U.S. law.  It is intended to introduce you to important concepts and terms without going into too much detail.

The United States has a common law legal system. Applicable sources of law include both legislation (statutes) and judicial opinions (cases).

The United States Constitution provides the framework for the U.S. legal system. It also guarantees that certain powers, rights, and liberties, for both the states and the people, are protected.

Three Branches of Government 

Under the Constitution, there are three branches of the federal government, and each is endowed with unique powers:

• The Legislative Branch is comprised of two houses of Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives. It is responsible for enacting legislation.
• The Executive Branch is headed by the President, who signs legislation enacted by Congress.  This action creates binding federal statutes. The Executive Branch also includes federal administrative agencies, which are responsible for promulgating regulations pursuant to the powers granted to them in federal statutes.
• The Judicial Branch hears cases to determine the constitutional validity of federal laws and to resolve legal disputes involving federal law between parties.

Federalism

In addition to the federal government, each individual U.S. state also has its own government that creates its own law. As is the case with the federal government, states create law through legislation enacted by the state legislature and judicial opinions issued by judges in state courts.

If a state law directly conflicts with a federal law, the state law is preempted by the federal law.

If you are doing comparative research in which the U.S. is one of the countries, it is important to understand that, in the U.S. common law legal system, certain areas of law are generally the exclusive domain of the federal government.  These include, but are not limited to, bankruptcy, federal taxation, immigration, and intellectual property.

Likewise, some areas are, in general, a matter of state law.  Examples of these include property law, corporate law, and family law. In the areas of law that are generally governed by the states, there are some common law principles that apply generally in every state. So, for example, if you would like to research divorce law in the U.S., you will need to look at both the common law principles and the laws of the individual states.

The United States has both federal courts and state courts. Each court system is organized in a three-tiered structure.  

The court of first instance for almost all cases is the trial court.  

• Federal trial courts are the United States District Courts. Each District Court serves a region, such as the District of Massachusetts, the Central District of California, or the Southern District of New York. 
• The trial court has various other names in the states, such as the Superior Court in California, the Superior or District Court in Massachusetts, and, confusingly, the Supreme Court in New York. 

Appeals from the trial-level courts are heard in the appropriate appellate court.

• The federal appellate court system is organized into twelve circuits. Massachusetts is in the First Circuit, New York is in the Second Circuit, and California is in the Ninth Circuit. Each circuit has its own United States Court of Appeals.  
• Each state also has its own system of appeals courts. These courts hear cases directly from the state trial courts.

At the top of each system is the highest court.  

• In the federal system, this is the United States Supreme Court.  
• Each state has its own supreme court, which generally has the final word on the application of the laws in that state. However, the U.S. Supreme Court can still decide cases on the validity of state laws under the U.S. Constitution.

In the U.S. legal system, law created by the judiciary has the same legal stature as statutory law. The idea of legal precedent is also very important.  Under the principle of stare decisis, opinions from higher courts are binding on lower courts, and must be followed.

Researching Case Law

Judicial opinions are published in chronological order in case law reporters. These are available in print and electronically.

There are two types of case law reporters:

• Official reporters, published by the government, generally include only the text of the judicial opinion.
• Unofficial reporters are published by legal publishing companies. In addition to the text of the opinion, they additional content to help the researcher understand what the case is about and find related opinions.

Citators

A citator is a tool that you can use to learn whether a judicial opinion is still good law. This is important because judicial opinions can be overruled by higher courts. The U.S. Supreme Court can also overrule its own previous decisions.

The two major citator services are part of larger subscription legal databases:

• Westlaw's citator is called KeyCite.
• In LexisNexis, the citator service is called Shepard's (the term "Shepardizing" a case comes from this).

When you are looking at a case in either of these databases, there will be a symbol at the top of the screen that indicates its citator status. In both databases, a red symbol indicates that the case is no longer good on at least one point of law. This does not mean the whole case is no longer valid. Instead, the researcher will have to read subsequent opinions to determine the exact point(s) of law on which the earlier case has been overruled.

Legislative activity basically works the same way in federal and state governments. An identical version of a proposed version of a statute, called a bill, is passed in both legislative houses. Then, the bill is signed by the executive. At that point, the bill becomes law.

A simple graphic representation of the process for a bill becoming a law is available here.

Researching Statutes

There are two type of statutory publications:

• Statutes are published chronologically, in the order in which they were enacted. For federal statues, the name of this publication is the United States Statutes at Large.
• Statutes are also "codified." This means that all of the statutes that are currently in force are organized by topic. The United States Code contains all of the federal codified statutes. It is divided into 51 titles, each covering a distinct area of law. Each title has multiple sections.

Annotated codes, which are published by major legal publishing companies, are great for research. They include the statutory text and helpful resources, such as citations to relevant journal articles, legal encyclopedias, and judicial opinions.  

It is best to start your legal research with secondary sources, because they can help you easily find and understand the law.  

Types of secondary sources are listed below, in order of least depth to most depth.

• A legal dictionary defines a legal word or phrase in a few sentences.  
• Legal encyclopedias define a specific legal concept in a few paragraphs.
• An article in a legal periodical (called a law journal or a law review) provides analysis of a legal topic, generally in around 25-75 pages. Articles are written by law students, law professors, practicing attorneys, and judges.
• A legal treatise provides book-lengthy analysis of a legal subject.

Each type of secondary source, in addition to providing explanations and analysis, cites relevant judicial opinions and statutes.

The Harvard Law Library has a separate research guide that explains in much more detail how to use secondary sources for legal research. Check it out at http://guides.library.harvard.edu/secondary.

It is generally required that citations to legal sources in academic documents be in the format required by the Bluebook. The current Bluebook is the 21st edition (published in 2020).You can borrow a copy of the Bluebook to use for up to two hours (in-library use only) from the law library's circulation desk. 

If you will be using it frequently, you may want to purchase your own copy. You can purchase a physical copy, access to the electronic version, or both. Note that the law school does not provide access to the online Bluebook for students.

Fore additional guidance on how to use the Bluebook, see our research guide: 

Once you have a topic, it is recommended that you conduct your legal research project in this order.

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