Legal Resources Self Help Center   Tags: international law, law, law for nonlaw librarians, law libraries, laws and legislation, lawyers, legal, legal assistance, legal help, legal information, legal research, legal topics, massachusetts law  

Look for help from a  reference librarian at any of these libraries: The Newton Free Library, at a public library near you, at a public Massachusetts Trial Court Law Library, or at the State Library of Massachusetts.  See boxes below for LegalHelp Bookmark and Access to Justice Poster.

Throw the first pitch and download a LegalHelp bookmark as a handy reminder.

Put your legal search into play. 

Intended for the public library user and nonlaw librarian, this Legal Resources Self Help Center LibGuide provides authoritative and accessible web links for legal topics and forms, legal self help books, laws, cases, regulations and other resources, plus handouts, class instruction and conference presentation materials.  Laws of this and other cities, towns and states, as well as federal,  international, and military laws, are all accessible through this guide.  For additional convenience in use, there are specific blue tabs for Newton and Massachusetts residents.

Teach yourself and teach others using the Basic Legal Research, and Legal Research Instruction tabs. Learn basic legal terms, how to read a citation, review your civics education, and continue to proceed through your search for legal information.

If going to court, two helpful manuals have been published online through the Massachusetts Court System.  These have been linked under the Massachusetts Courts tab, as well as forms by departmental court, such as Family and Probate Court.  The first, released in June 2010, is entitled Serving the Self-Represented Litigant: a guide by and for the Massachusetts Court Staff.  A second guide, Representing Yourself in a Civil Case: Things to Consider When Going to Court.  Together they are excellent preparation when faced with the prospect of going to court. Use the Legal Forms tab if you need additional resources for legal forms.

Trends reported by the National Center for State Courts and the Self Represented Litigation Network show an increase in persons with legal issues representing themselves, that is, going pro se, or cutting costs using limited representation by attorneys, and mediation over having a court determine the outcome. The Access to Justice Initiative is a growing movement, official in over thirty states, including Massachusetts.

Start using the Legal Resources Self Help Center LibGuide to direct yourself to the legal resources you need for everyday legal questions and your access to justice.  Scroll through each blue tab for helpful boxes.  Scroll down this blue tabbed Home Plate page first and go around the bases.  Use the Search bar for quick searching help.

The Finding Legal Help tab offers a starting point to finding the assistance you need for finding legal information and a resolution to your situation.

Click on the Basic Research tab to find a legal definition, learn to read a legal citation, and find basic websites and books about legal research. 

Learning Legal Research provides instruction used for the public and nonlaw librarians to grasp the basics of looking for legal information.

Focus your question by subject area of law. 

Look through the Legal Topics tab for Massachusetts subjects providing relevant legal citations and links to general laws, regulations, cases and forms. There is also extensive information and links for Federal topics.  Further forms may be found under the Forms tab.

Try to evaluate the governing authority to get around the bases further. 

For a local City of Newton ordinance, form or permit application, Newton residents see Newton Resources; otherwise residents of other locales consult Massachusetts City and Town Bylaws and Ordinances, or Laws of Other States. 

Are you searching for a bill, pending legislation, a session law, an Act & Resolve, or a codified general law?  Consult the Massachusetts General Laws tab.  Have you been given a legal citation for a regulation?  Click on Massachusetts Code of Regulations (CMR).

Tracking court decisions or legislation in the news?  See Legal News, Laws of Other States, or Federal Primary Law, or the appropriate Massachusetts tab.   

Cases might have been decided in Massachusetts, but what jurisdiction and what departments?: state or federal?  District Court, Superior Court, Bankruptcy Court, Land Court, Housing Court, Probate and Family Court?  Was the decision appealed?  Did it move on to the Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts?  to the United States Supreme Court?  To the highest court in another state? See Legal News, Massachusetts Courts, Laws of Other States, Federal Primary Law.

You may now have gathered enough background information to proceed to a city department, have a hearing, consult with an attorney, mediate a problem or go to court.   Find rules of court and related forms under the Massachusetts Court or Federal Primary Law tabs.  Hopefully a resolution will be achieved, and you can return to Home Plate.   The next time you have a legal question, begin again from Home Plate at the Newton Free Library's Legal Information Self Help Center LibGuide.

Get a quick start to this guide through this short PowerPoint.

Podcasts to guide you through each blue tab of this Legal Resources Self Help Center.

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