LEGAL DATABASE
http://fastcase.com 

Fastcase, a subscription database that provides access to case law, state and federal cases, statutes, court reports, rules, and regulations is available in the library and off-site to Paralegal students.

CITATION
http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/
Introduction to Basic Legal Citation (2000-2001 ed.) by Peter W. Martin
(Cornell Law School)

http://lawlibguides.byu.edu/c.php?g=315332&p=2106921

How to Read a Legal Citation from the Howard W. Hunter Law Library, Brigham Young University.

LEGAL WRITING AND FORMAT

https://www.upcounsel.com/how-to-write-a-legal-memorandum-for-dummies

Sample legal memorandum format

https://www.law.cuny.edu/legal-writing/students/memorandum/memorandum-3/

Sample legal memorandum format

https://lawshelf.com/courseware/entry/briefs-legal-memoranda-and-legal-writing

National Paralegal College's Project Lawshelf: Briefs, Legal Memoranda and Legal Writing

https://www.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/how-to/brief-a-case

"How to Brief a Case" from the Lloyd Sealy Library, John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

http://pointfirstwriting.com/legal_memo/index.html

Point First's interactive exercise on writing legal memos

UCLA School of Law’s Professor Eugene Volokh’s “Eschew, Evade and/or Eradicate Legalese” lists “some common clunkers, and their simpler, more readable replacements. 

The replacements aren't always perfect synonyms, but 90% of the time they're better than the original. 

Warning:  Some of these changes also require some grammatical twiddling of other parts of the sentence.”

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl

Purdue Owl resources cover academic,  professional, and technical writing.

LAWS and LEGISLATION - CASES, STATUTES, CODES, REGULATIONS 

 

Federal

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collectionCfr.action?collectionCode=CFR
"The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is a codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the Executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government. The CFR online is a joint project authorized by the publisher, the National Archives and Records Administration's Office of the Federal Register, and the Government Printing Office (GPO) to provide the public with enhanced access to Government information."

http://www.ca3.uscourts.gov/
The Administrative Office of the US Courts provides links to all available federal court web sites Third Judicial Circuit.

 

https://public.resource.org/index.html
“Public.Resource.Org maintains an archive of federal court opinions, organized by reporter (Federal Reporter series and U.S. Reports) and then volume/page number.”

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/
"This version of the US Code is generated from the most recent version made available by the US House of Representatives."

http://thomas.loc.gov/
"Acting under the directive of the leadership of the 104th Congress to make Federal legislative information freely available to the Internet public, a Library of Congress team brought the THOMAS World Wide Web system online in January 1995, at the inception of the 104th Congress." Thomas provides both pending and recently enacted legislation.

LEGAL RESOURCES
http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/
"The ABA has made this legal news magazine available for free online. Site contains the current issue and archived issues since 2004."

http://www.americanbar.org/groups/departments_offices/legal_technology_resources/resources/free_journal_search.html
“The American Bar Association's Legal Technology Resource Center Journal Search Engine searches the free full-text of over 400 online law reviews and law journals, as well as document repositories hosting academic papers and related publications such as Congressional Research Service reports.”

http://alllaw.com/
“The AllLaw.com Legal Center is your source for a wide range of legal information and forms such as wills, business incorporation, pre-marital agreements and much more. If you are the Do-It-Yourself’ type, our Basic Services section offers FREE online forms.”

http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/guides/freelowcost.cfm
A comprehensive directory of free or low cost online legal resources for US Supreme Court, federal and state courts, and federal and state statutes and codes, and case law compiled by Todd Venie of the Georgetown University Law Library.

http://www.hg.org/index.html
“The objective of HG.org is to make law, government and related professional information easily accessible to the legal profession, businesses and consumers.”

http://www.law.cornell.edu/
Cornell Legal Information Institute: Comprehensive legal resources guide.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/
"The Legal Information Institute offers Supreme Court opinions under the auspices of Project Hermes, the court's electronic-dissemination project. This archive contains nearly all opinions of the court issued since May of 1990."

http://www.loc.gov/law/guide/index.html
The Guide to Law Online, prepared by the Law Library of Congress Public Services Division, is an annotated guide to sources of information on government and law available online. It includes selected links to useful and reliable sites for legal information. Arranged by: International and Multinational; Nations of the World; U.S. Federal - includes U.S. Code and Constitution links; and U.S. States and Territories.

http://www.justia.com/
“Based in the heart of Silicon Valley, Justia's mission is to advance the availability of legal resources for the benefit of society. We are especially focused on making primary legal materials and community resources free and easy to find on the Internet.”

https://www.jurist.org/ 
University of Pittsburgh Law School: Legal news and research.

http://www.lawrunner.com/
LawRunner: A legal research tool of the Internet Legal Research Group. A categorized index of more than 4000 select web sites in 238 nations, islands, and territories, as well as thousands of locally stored web pages, legal forms, and downloadable files, this site was established in 1995 to serve as a comprehensive resource of the information available on the Internet concerning law and the legal profession, with an emphasis on the United States of America. Designed for everyone, lay persons and legal scholars alike, it is quality controlled to include only the most substantive legal resources online.

http://law.lexisnexis.com/webcenters/lexisone/
A resource for small law firms and libraries, which offers limited free content (e.g., directory of links to more than 20,000 law related Web sites) as well as fee-based resources and subscriptions. . Limited to the last ten years for many state case law databases. Requires registration.

https://www.llrx.com/ 
"LLRX.com is a unique, free Web journal dedicated to providing legal professionals with the most up-to-date information on a wide range of Internet legal research and technology-related issues. Covers Pennsylvania Court Rules- Pennsylvania- U.S. Bankruptcy Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania."

http://www.nolo.com/encyclopedia/index.html
"NOLO. com’s Legal Encyclopedia and Dictionary: Plain-English articles on the legal topics that affect you most."

https://lawshelf.com/videos/ 

National Paralegal College's short videos on a variety of topics.

http://www.nolo.com/legal-research
NOLO's FAQ and basic information about legal research in plain language.

http://www.plol.org/
“Public Library of Law provides free access to primary sources in U.S. law, including federal and state cases, statutes, regulations, and constitutions. Legal forms are also available. The Public Library of Law was created by the makers of Fastcase (see section IV, Low-Cost Alternatives to Lexis and Westlaw), and also includes ads for fee-based content through the Fastcase service.”

http://virtualchase.justia.com/legal-research
"The Virtual Chase: Legal Research on the Internet is sponsored by the law firm, Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP."

 

FORMS

http://www.courts.montcopa.org/courts/cwp/view,A,3,Q,55826.asp
Montgomery County Court Forms

http://www.palawhelp.org/
Pennsylvania Legal Aid: Legal information and forms.

http://www.lexisone.com/lx1/store/catalog?action=rootFreeCategory&tcode=PORTAL
Access to about 6,000 free legal forms from the extensive Matthew Bender® collection material from LexisNexis - all continuously updated and logically organized.

http://www.allaboutlaw.com/index.cfm?adv=flf01#legalforms
“CLC Inc. provides free legal forms. These forms are for information purposes only. Laws and procedures change frequently and are subject to differing interpretations.”

http://forms.lp.findlaw.com/
FindLaw Court Forms provides links to selected forms and various court rules through links to the federal judicial branch and the states.

http://www.findforms.com/
Searchable database of about 3000 free generic legal forms and 12,000 state specific "Premium Forms," for which there is a fee.

https://formswift.com/free-legal-forms#

Formswift offers free legal forms for business, family, financial, human resourses, life planning, real estate, affidavit, letters of agreement, and non-profit bylaws.

http://www.freelegalforms.net/
Free Legal Forms .net offers over 2000 legal forms for free online.

http://www.ilrg.com/forms/
Internet Legal Research Group: Legal Forms Archive
Large collection of free legal forms, many adapted for state-specific use.

http://www.lectlaw.com/form.html
“’Lectric Law Library. The Internet’s biggest collection of legal forms, broken up into two broad overlapping categories: Law Practice and Business.”

http://legaldocs.com/
"This site allows you to prepare customized legal documents directly online. Choose any of the documents offered, complete the questions, click the "Submit" button, and the finished document is ready for you to either download to file or print to your printer. Many documents are free. All others are available from $3.50 to $27.75."

http://www.legalforms.name/
The information contained in this web site is provided as a service to the Internet community, and does not constitute legal advice. We try to provide quality information, but we make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained in or linked to this web site and its associated sites and we make no claim that any of the free forms contained in this web site are appropriate for your particular needs.

http://www.rocketlawyer.com/popular-legal-forms.rl?utm_source=103&campaign = Alpha+Search&keyword=free%2520legal%2520forms&mtype=e&ad=11075615345&docCategoryId=none&gclid=CJqcyYfM0q4CFYOo4AodjlwBBg
Rocket Lawyer offers free legal help and information on a wide variety of topics, including business formation, estate planning, family issues, and many more. It also provides popular legal documents and forms. These free documents are watermarked and should be used as guides, not a legal document.

Taxes

https://www.irs.gov/forms-instructions

IRS forms, instructions, and publications

http://www.revenue.pa.gov/FormsandPublications/Pages/default.aspx

Pennsylvania Department of Revenue  Forms and publications.

STYLE MANUALS

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-STYLEMANUAL-2016/pdf/GPO-STYLEMANUAL-2016.pdf

U.S. Government Printing Office's  The GPO Style Manual

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html

The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue.

 

https://plainlanguage.gov/

https://plainlanguage.gov/media/FederalPLGuidelines.pdf

 

The Plain Language Action and Information Network (PLAIN) is a group of federal employees from different agencies and specialties who support the use of clear communication in government writing. These are the official guidelines for  Public Law 111-274-Plain Writing Act of Act of 2010.

This site provides  techniques, guidelines, and examples for writing  documents in clear, plain English.

 

https://www.bartleby.com/141/

William Strunk's The Elememts of Style 

ORGANIZATIONS
http://www.montcoparalegals.org/
“The Montgomery County Paralegal Association (“MCPA”) was founded on October 22, 1999 and is made up of a diverse group of 80-plus members. It is the mission of the MCPA to provide a network of communication and support to all of its members, to act as a forum for the interchange of ideas and to take an effective role in the development and growth of the paralegal profession by complying with the applicable legal authority governing the jurisdiction in which the paralegal is practicing.” This is organization provides networking opportunities with practicing professionals.

http://www.buckscoparalegals.com
Bucks County Paralegal Association
Doylestown, PA

https://nala.org/

'The National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) is the leading paralegal association in the U.S. Its mission is to provide continuing education and professional development programs to all paralegals. NALA provides current information about the profession, continuing education programs (publications, courses and webinars), networking opportunities, professional certification programs, occupational survey reports, and publications to help paralegals excel in the workplace. NALA is a non-profit organization, 501(c)(6), representing more than 18,000 paralegals, who are individual members or members of NALA affiliated associations. " 

http://www.paralegals.org/
"National Federation of Paralegal Associations web site specifically for paralegal professionals provides links to legal resources on the Internet. The National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) is the leading paralegal association in the U.S. Its mission is to provide continuing education and professional development programs to all paralegals. NALA provides current information about the profession, continuing education programs (publications, courses and webinars), networking opportunities, professional certification programs, occupational survey reports, and publications to help paralegals excel in the workplace. NALA is a non-profit organization, 501(c)(6), representing more than 18,000 paralegals, who are individual members or members of NALA affiliated associations. Founded in 1974, NFPA was the first national paralegal association. Created as a non-profit federation, NFPA is an issues-driven, policy-oriented professional association directed by its membership. It is comprised of more than 50 member associations and represents over 9,000 individual members reflecting a broad range of experience, education and diversity."

 

CERTIFCATION EXAM

 https://nala.org/certification/exam-application-and-qualifications 

NALA  regulates and sponsors certification examinations at testing centers. "The NALA Certifying Board provides oversight for the development and ongoing maintenance of the examination. The Certifying Board, NALA certification program staff, and trained subject matter experts, work in partnership with a qualified psychometric consultant to ensure the examination is developed and maintained in a manner consistent with generally accepted psychometric, educational testing practices, and national accreditation standards for certification programs.Links to testing centers and dates are noted on the NALA website. NALA offers the fee-based CP Practice Exam containing questions on the following topics:  Civil Litigation, Contracts, Corporate/Commercial Law, Criminal Law & Procedures, Estate Planning & Probate, Professional & Ethical Responsibility, Real Estate & Property, Torts, U.S. Legal System.  This question bank tests the Knowledge portion of the CP Exam." 

The NALA certification tests are administered 2 times per year (sping, fall) and are offered by Pearson-Vue online for a nominal fee. You are eligble  to take the exam if you are a graduate of a paralegal program that is an associate degree program.

 

 

https://www.paralegals.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3297 

"National Federation of Paralegal Associations regulates  and sponsors the Paralegal CORE Competency Exam™  (PCC Exam)  establishes your education has prepared you for many types of paralegal work and helps you stand out from others whose schooling and experience are otherwise similar.  Those who have passed the PCCE may proudly display the CRP™ designation after their name.

The Paralegal CORE Competency Exam™ (PCCE™) was developed to assess the knowledge, skills and ability of early-career and entry-level paralegals. It became available in November of 2011. The handbook is available as a PDF download. The exam is administered by computer at Prometric Test Centers throughout the United States and Canada. For full details, please refer to the brochure. (PDF).  If you  have  an associate’s degree in paralegal studies, no experience or CLE, you are eligble to take the exam.

The PCCE Study Guide 1st Edition can be ordered from our online form for addresses in the United States.  Call NFPA headquarters for other destinations.

Apply online to take the PCCE by clicking the button below, or download the application as a PDF."