Enoch Pratt Free Library



You ran a red light, and now you’ve got a traffic ticket. Or you are trying to figure out whether your boss should be paying you overtime. Whatever your problem, there’s a good chance that there are laws and regulations that apply to your situation. It’s important to understand them, regardless of whether you decide to hire an attorney.

Though the library cannot provide legal advice, we can certainly help you answer basic legal questions by using print and online information resources. Our favorites are listed here. We’ve organized this guide by topic:

• Before You Start Your Research

• Getting Started

o Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

o Law by Topic

• What Do These Weird Letters and Numbers (Citations) Mean?

• Legislative Law

o Finding laws made by the U.S. Congress

o Laws made by the Maryland General Assembly

o Laws made by Maryland Municipalities and Counties

• Executive Orders and Regulations

o Finding Presidential Executive Orders

o Regulations from U.S. Government Agencies

o Maryland Executive Orders

o Maryland Regulations

• Judicial Law (Law as Decided through Court Cases)

o Finding Federal Court Cases (U.S. District Courts, and Courts of Appeals)

o U.S. Supreme Court Cases

o Maryland State Court Cases

• Legal Forms and Contracts

• Getting Legal Help

• Other Law Libraries You Should Know About

Before You Start Your Research

Many people begin their legal research by diving into an all-purpose Web site such as Nolo, Findlaw, (or Cornell University’s Legal Information Institute. But actually, you might need to use many different resources. If you’ve never done any legal research and you’re not sure where to start, a “how-to-do-research” guide might help.

If you are visiting a law library (either in person or on the Web), the library might also have a “pathfinder” (a handout or bibliography) you can use. One good example is Boston College Law Library’s Research Guides

Try to “classify” your legal problem. You need to do this because depending on your type of legal problem, there may be entirely different resources you need to use. Several key questions to ask are:

• Does my problem involve U.S. (federal) law, state (Maryland) law, local law, or all of these?

o Contrary to popular belief, most legal problems are covered by state and local laws.

• Does my problem involve criminal law or civil law?

o Criminal law comes into play when a person or organization breaks the law (and usually can be punished by imprisonment).

o Civil law does not involve a crime, although monetary damages can be awarded to injured parties.

• Does my problem involve the law itself (sometimes called the “substance” of the law) or legal procedure?

• What categories of law does my problem involve?

o Categories are broad topics, such as consumer law, employment law, or tax law.

It’s also important to know (or to figure out) whether “the law” on your topic was established:

• Through a legislative body (such as the U.S. Congress, or the Maryland General Assembly)

• Through an executive body or agency (such as the President of the United States, the Governor of Maryland, or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)

• Or through a judicial body (such as the U.S. Supreme Court or the Maryland Court of Appeals)

Getting Started: Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Law by Topic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

When you’re looking for “the law” on a certain subject, try to find a definition or a general introduction to the topic. Three places you can look in are:

• Black’s Law Dictionary, 10th edition (St. Paul: Thomson/West, 2014. 340.03B), the standard source for explaining legal terms and phrases.

• Everybody's Legal Dictionary produced by Nolo.

For a lengthier introduction to a topic, a better source is a legal encyclopedia. For example, you can use:

• West’s Encyclopedia of American Law (St. Paul: West Publishing, 1998. REF 348.7303).

• The Cornell Legal Research Encyclopedia addresses general legal issues.

• The People's Law Library specifically addresses Maryland law.

• The Maryland State Bar Association also provides 20 helpful brochures that explain the basics of common legal problems, such as appointing a guardian, getting a divorce, or writing a will.

Law by Topic

Sometimes, you can find an entire book just on your topic. The library owns many publications to help with this including ones by the following publisher:

• Nolo, one of the best-known publishers of legal information written in everyday English

You can see what books we own by looking at our WCFL Web catalog by entering the appropriate legal topic.

Here are some examples of topical law books that the library owns:

• (American Bar Association Guide to Wills & Estates: Everything You Need to Know About Wills, Estates, Trusts and Taxes (New York: Random House Reference, 2012) 346.052A

• The Copyright Handbook: What Every Writer Needs to Know, 12th ed. by Stephen Fishman. (Berkeley: Nolo, 2014). 346.73048 F

• Every Landlord’s Legal Guide, 12th ed. by Marcia Stewart. (Berkeley: Nolo, 2014) 346.73043 S

• Legal Guide for Starting and Running a Small Business, 13th ed. by Fred Steingold. (Berkeley: Nolo, 2013) 346.73065 S

There are also some high-quality Web sites dedicated to particular areas of law. The Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore links to many of them from the Government & Law section of its Research Tools page

What Do These Weird Letters and Numbers (Citations) Mean?

Suppose that you’re researching the law surrounding the federal “drug-free communities” initiative, and you find something helpful in the U.S. Code. What information should you write down, so that you and others will be able to find the law again easily?

Or, imagine that you are looking up information on public defenders in a legal encyclopedia. You see a reference to a court case, “GIDEON v. WAINWRIGHT, 372 U.S. 335 (1963).” How do you find this case?

You need to understand “legal citations.” A legal citation is a kind of shorthand in a standardized format, which tells you exactly where a certain law or case has been published.

Legal citations can be complicated. Some reasons for this are:

• They include abbreviations.

• Most commonly used law books are actually sets of books consisting of many volumes.

• Lawyers and the rest of us don’t speak the same lingo. For example, books containing case law are called “reporters.”

Each law and court case has a unique citation. If you are trying to find a statute or regulation, the citation usually contains (not always in this order):

• The abbreviated name of a publication where the law has been printed (such as “U.S.C.”)

• The “title” or volume number of the publication where the law has been printed

• A “section” number (sometimes “section” is abbreviated as “§”)

• Sub-section numbers

So information on the federal drug-free communities program that you were reading would be cited as “21 U.S.C. § 1521”.

If you are trying to find a court case, the citation includes (usually in this order):

• The case name (such as “GIDEON v. WAINWRIGHT”)

• The volume number of the publication where the case is printed

• The abbreviated name of the publication where the case is printed (often called a “reporter”)

• The page number within that publication

• The year the case was decided

So, “GIDEON v. WAINWRIGHT, 372 U.S. 335 (1963)” means that the case Gideon versus Wainwright, decided in 1963 by the U.S. Supreme Court, is published in volume 372 of United States Reports, on page 335.

If you are looking for an online resource, Cornell University’s Legal Information Institute website contains numerous resources on legal citation, including purpose, types, how to cite, examples and abbreviations. Another helpful site is Maryland State Law Library’s List of Common Legal Abbreviations

Understanding Legislative Law

For a legislative bill to become enacted (passed and signed) into law, it has to go through many different steps. At each step, information about the bill may be recorded in any of a number of publications. Put very simply and generally:

• A proposed law (called a bill) is introduced to the legislative body by one of its members. It is given a number and sent (referred) to a committee and/or subcommittee for consideration.

• The committee meets to discuss the bill and may hold public hearings (where witnesses testify about aspects of the bill or the problem the bill addresses).

• The committee may decide to change or add to (amend) the bill, during what is known as a “mark up” session. Then, the committee votes to report the bill to the rest of the legislative body. The report that the committee writes describes the purpose of the bill and reasons why the committee is recommending that the legislature pass it.

• The entire legislative body debates the bill, may amend it, and votes on it. In a “bicameral” legislature (such as the U.S. Congress, which consists of the House and Senate), both houses must pass the same version of the bill.

• The president (for U.S. Congressional bills) or the governor (for state bills) signs the bill into law. It is now a real law that we must obey, and it is assigned a unique number for reference purposes. Eventually it will be published in a “code.”

This process can vary. If you want a more detailed explanation, see the following sites:

• House: How Our Laws Are Made (for the U.S. House of Representatives)

• Senate: Enactment of a Law (for the U.S. Senate)

• How a Bill Becomes a Law (for the Maryland General Assembly).

Finding Laws Made by the U.S. Congress

If you are interested in a federal law that you know is on the books, you should be able to find it in the United States Code, published by the Government Printing Office. and available online at its site The Code is also available in the U.S. House of Representatives website.

The Code contains all laws passed by Congress, which are still in effect, arranged by “title” (roughly, topic). If you don’t know which title and chapter of the Code to use, you can surf the code by title and chapter at Cornell University’s Legal Information Institute site or through the U.S. House site.

If you are interested in a federal bill that is currently being considered by Congress (but hasn’t been signed into law yet), the Library of Congress’ Thomas) Web page is the best online resource.

• It enables you to find out the status of a particular Congressional Bill.

• Although the page is set up to find bills being considered by the current Congress, you can also research bills back to the 93rd Congress (1973-1974).

• If you know the bill number, words or phrases in the name of the bill, or the name of the Congressman who introduced (sponsored) the bill, you can use Thomas pretty easily.

If you’d like to use a printed source to track the progress of a federal bill, try the Calendar of the House of Representatives and History of Legislation (known as the “House Calendar”).

• This weekly publication tells you the status of both House and Senate bills to that date.

• The “final edition” of the House Calendar gives an accumulation of all the bills that were introduced in a given session of Congress.

Finding Laws Made by the Maryland General Assembly

If you want to find a law that you know is in effect, you can find it in the Maryland Code

The library has the Michie's Annotated Code of the Public General Laws of Maryland, located on the third floor of the Fletcher branch in the Government Documents area, which includes Maryland law and annotations, including brief histories of the laws and citations to other relevant documents.

For retrospective laws, you will need to look at the Laws of Maryland, also available on the third floor, for the most recent legislative sessions. Also available are several indexes for laws passed by the Maryland General Assembly that can be useful for finding retrospective law by different topics. They include:

• Subject Index to Bills and Resolutions Introduced in the Maryland General Assembly

• Sponsor Index to Bills Introduced in the Maryland General Assembly

• Final Status Report for the [Year] Session of the Maryland General Assembly

• [Year] Session Review

If you are looking for a law that has been proposed but not yet enacted, you will need to search the Maryland General Assembly's Web site.

• There are many ways you can search for a bill’s information and status, including by bill number, sponsor, subject, file code, or statute.

• The General Assembly also has information on prior sessions available online.

• You can search for bills going back to 1996 and find information on their legislative history.

• The General Assembly’s Web site also includes state budget information going back to 2001; Commission, Task Force, Study Group, and Interim Reports; and roster lists among other legislative related information.

You can also begin to track legislative history in print by using

• The Legislative Wrap-Up (go to “Publications” tab and search by year)

• Available online starting in 1996

• Published weekly while the Maryland General Assembly is in session

• The 90 Day Report (go to “Publications” tab and search by year)

• Available online starting with the 1999 edition. Published after the session is finished

• The Maryland Senate Journal and the Maryland House Journal, available on the third floor, include synopses of all bills introduced, the committee to which the bill is referred, amendments, and roll call votes on bills.

The Department of Legislative Services Library and Information Services can also provide additional information about Maryland legislation under “Documents and Publications” on its website.

Finding Laws Made by Maryland Municipalities and Counties

Local municipalities, such as Washington County and the City of Hagerstown, have their own laws, which can be found in the City or County Codes.

• The codes published at the local level include the charter and other regulations that cover topics like zoning and public health.

• The paper copies of the Code of the Public Laws of Washington County (online at: ) and the Code for the City of Hagerstown (online at ) are available in the Government Reference section on the third floor of the Fletcher branch.

• Some Maryland county and city codes (including Smithsburg) are available online through the General Code Web site and can be searched by keyword.

Understanding Executive Orders and Regulations

The executive branch of a government – which enforces laws made by the legislative branch – can issue “orders” or “regulations” that have the force of law. Regulations often give specifics on how a law is to be implemented, and they can be very detailed.

The following government bodies have the power to give orders and regulations within their respective geographical and bureaucratic jurisdictions:

• The President of the United States

• The various U.S. federal government departments and agencies (such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)

• The Governor of Maryland

• The various Maryland state government departments and agencies (such as the Maryland Department of the Environment)

• The Board of County Commissioners of Washington County and the Mayor and Council of the City of Hagerstown and other county municipalities

• The various departments within the county and municipal governments

Finding Presidential Executive Orders

If you are looking for an executive order that has recently been issued, you can try the White House’s Executive Orders page. Another option is the Federal Register page

) which contains an historical record of executive orders since 1994.

The Federal Register is the official “newspaper” of the federal executive branch.

• It lets the public know about new and proposed regulations, hearing and meeting dates, and other information.

• Eventually, these (and other orders that are currently in force) are collectively published in the Code of Federal Regulations (go to CFR, year desired and Title 3 “The President”)

For older executive orders, start with the National Archives and Records Administration’s Executive Orders Disposition Tables which offers information about every federal Executive Order from President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1937) to the present.

• The tables include

• The date the order was signed by the President

• A citation to where you can find its full text within the Federal Register.

• You can also find the full text of Executive Orders online from 1993 to the present.

• If you want a copy of the full text of an order that dates before 1993, you will need to use the printed Federal Register or Title 3 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Finding Regulations from U.S. Government Agencies

You can also use the Federal Register to find proposed and new regulations of U.S. Government Agencies.

• If you are using the online version of the Register, go to (). The Register is searchable by date.

• These and other regulations that are currently in force are collectively published in the Code of Federal Regulations ( (CFR) under the appropriate title.

• You can search either the Federal Register or the Code of Federal Regulations by citation or by words/phrases.

Finding Maryland Executive Orders

If you are looking for an executive order issued by the Governor of Maryland, you can find them in the Maryland Register.

• The Maryland Register is published biweekly, and the eight most current issues are available online. The Library also has the paper edition from the last three months on the 3rd floor of the Fletcher branch in the Government Reference area.

• These orders are eventually cumulated in the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) and can be found in Title 1 (Executive Department). COMAR is available online and can be searched either by keyword or codification number. The current paper edition is also available on the 3rd floor of the Fletcher branch.

Finding Maryland Regulations

Proposed and pending Maryland state agency regulations can also be found in the Maryland Register

• Any changes to the text of the regulations in COMAR must first be published in the Maryland Register.

• COMAR is available online and is updated biweekly (corresponding with the effective dates published in the Maryland Register).

o The print edition of COMAR is available at the Fletcher branch on the 3rd floor. It includes not only the text of the regulations, but also items incorporated by reference. These are standard, uniform documents that are adopted in their entirety into existing regulation. The International Building Code, for example, is incorporated by reference into Maryland’s housing regulations.

Understanding Judicial (Case) Law

When you are trying to answer a legal question, you must also understand how the courts tend to interpret the laws that pertain to your situation. This is important because a given law or regulation might be understood in a variety of ways.

As Stephen Elias and Susan Levinkind explain in their book Legal Research: How to Find and Understand the Law (340.072 E) pg. 7/13): “[If] you can find a previous court decision that rules your way on facts similar to your situation, you have a good shot a persuading a judge to follow that case and decide in your favor.”

Finding Federal Cases (U.S. District Courts and U.S. Courts of Appeals)

When most people think of a federal court, they think of the U.S. Supreme Court.

In fact, only a small number of cases ever reach the Supreme Court.

The federal judiciary system consists of:

• The U.S. Supreme Court

• 94 U.S. District Courts (trial courts that hear civil and criminal cases falling under federal law)

• 12 U.S. Courts of Appeals (also known as “circuit courts,” these are regional courts that hear appealed cases from the District Courts).

Federal cases are typically heard and decided in these “lower” courts.

Maryland has two U.S. District Courts (a “northern” division in Baltimore, and a “southern” division in Greenbelt) and is part of the federal 4th Circuit, whose Court of Appeals is in Richmond, VA. If you do not live in Maryland, you can find the federal courts in your circuit through the U.S. Courts - The Federal Judiciary Web site.

is an excellent online source for finding recent U.S. District Court and U.S. Courts of Appeals decisions. Through this site, you can reach the Web pages of U.S. District Courts, which are listed alphabetically by state. Once you click on the desired state, you may be able to find opinions, though each court’s Web page is organized a little differently!

Findlaw also has U.S. Circuit Court cases from 1996 to the present. After you’ve chosen one of the Courts of Appeals, browse cases from that circuit by date (year and month). You can also search for cases by docket number, party name, or words in the full text of the decision.

Finding U.S. Supreme Court Cases

If you know the correct citation for a Supreme Court case, try the Supreme Court Opinions page at .

• Findlaw has the full text of every U.S. Supreme Court decision from 1893 to the present.

• It is updated daily, so that even the very latest Supreme Court decisions are available.

• Cases can be browsed by year, by U.S. Reports number, citation, party name, and by words in the full text.

• Findlaw also provides links to subsequent Supreme Court decisions that cite a given decision.

Finding Cases Decided by Maryland State Courts

Maryland court cases are not universally available, and depending on which court the case was tried in, you may find it difficult to obtain the case law.

• Cases tried in the higher courts (the Court of Appeals and the Court of Special Appeals) have their decisions published.

• Other Maryland Courts rarely have their decisions published.

• The District Court records its cases as a recording, and if a copy of a case is required, the parties must pay.

Maryland case law is published in two different reporters available at the library on the third floor.

• The Maryland Reports (REF 348.752 M 1982-present) contains the opinions of the Court of Appeals, and it is abbreviated as Md.

• The Maryland Appellate Reports (REF 348.752M 1982-present) contains the opinions of the Court of Special Appeals and is abbreviated as Md. App.

Now that you know where Maryland case law is published, you are probably wondering how you can find case law you need. There are several ways to find case law by topic.

• The Maryland Annotated Code cites relevant cases that can be found in Maryland case law.

• The Court of Appeals and the Court of Special Appeals decisions from 1995 to the present are also available online and are searchable by keyword, judge, case docket number, etc.

Finding Legal Forms and Contracts

Many of the topical law books listed above contain relevant legal forms and contracts, written for the average citizen. But if you still can’t find the form or contract you need, try one of these books:

• Personal Legal Forms Simplified: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Legal Forms, 5th ed, by Dan Sitarz (Carbondale, IL: Nova Pub, 2011) 346.73026 S

Remember, though, that most formbooks are not written with Maryland’s specific laws in mind. Maryland legal forms can also be found online in a variety of different places.

• The People's Law Library provides downloadable forms covering a range of legal topics, as well as legal and self-help information on Maryland and federal law affecting low and moderate-income people and their families.

• Many of the most frequently requested Maryland legal forms are available at the Maryland Judiciary Web site - forms and instructions for filing can be found online at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland's Web site.

Getting Legal Help

Even though we can help you find relevant information in print and on the Internet, librarians cannot give you legal advice. You especially need to speak with an attorney if you have questions like:

• Does this law, regulation, or court case apply to my situation?

• Are there other laws, regulations, or court cases that I need to know about?

• Can someone help me fill out or file these forms?

Before you hire or meet with a lawyer, read up on how to work with a lawyer to resolve your case. At the library, one book that can help is: Nolo’s Deposition Handbook, 6th ed by Paul Bergman and Albert Moore. Berkeley: Nolo, 2014. 347.7372B

Once you’re ready to find an attorney, there are a lot of places you can look besides the yellow pages.

• Online, you can use Martindale's Web site to search for lawyers by name, geographic location (city, county, U.S. state, or country), or area of practice (such as criminal law, contracts, or another area of specialty).

For Marylanders, another resource is the web site for the Maryland State Bar Association that provides a county-by-county list of lawyer referral services.

If you are looking for a legal referral service for another state, you can use the American Bar Association’s Legal Referral Services page – just click on a state on the map to find contact information for a service near you!

If you can’t afford a lawyer, you might be able to find a “pro bono” service.

• Many pro bono services have restrictions relating to the types of cases they will take, or the clients they serve, so be sure to ask who is eligible to use a particular service.

• If you are having trouble finding a pro bono service in your state, try the American Bar Association’s Directory of Pro Bono Programs

• The Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland provides an online directory to free/low-cost legal services in Maryland

If you are thinking about representing yourself, you might want to read Paul Bergman and Sara Berman-Barrett’s Represent Yourself in Court: How to Prepare and Try a Winning Case, 6th ed. (Berkeley: Nolo, 2008). 347.73504 B

Other Law Libraries You Should Know About

The library can help answer some basic questions relating to U.S. (federal) and Maryland laws and court cases. However, if you need to use law journals or Lexis/Nexis, or you want to find the laws of other U.S. states or countries, you should visit more specialized libraries.

Some courts have law libraries that you can use (for instance, you can visit the State Law Library within the Maryland State Courts of Appeals building in Annapolis).

Locally, the Washington County Law Library is located in the County Courthouse at 95 W. Washington Street in downtown Hagerstown.

Also, many law schools have libraries that are open to the public. In the Baltimore area, both the University of Baltimore Law Library and the University of Maryland's Thurgood Marshall Law Library allow the general public to use at least some of their resources.

If you are not from Maryland, you can find a law school in your state through the Association of American Law Schools –



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