Montgomery County, PA

                 Computer Access to Online Legal Research

The Law Library offers, free of charge, access to WESTLAW, LEXIS/NEXIS, FORENSICnetBASE and basic internet. We also offer free instruction on how to use these computer databases. The library has six computer terminals for online research, as well as two terminals for word processing.

Our Assistant Librarian, Bruce Piscadlo, is one of the leading legal researchers in the area, and will suggest how to best phrase your research query to get the maximum results.

The Law Library subscribes to the Westlaw PRO Ultimate National Litigator Library database, which includes:

·        50-State Case Law, Statutes, Court Rules and Administrative Codes

·        Federal Case Law, Statutes & Court Rules

·        Federal Regulations (CFR & Federal Register)

·        Pennsylvania Texts, Periodicals & Legal Forms

·        Goodrich-Amram, 2^nd, PA Jurisprudence & Standard PA Practice

·        Jury Verdicts

·        National Legal Forms & Practice Sets

·        Law Reviews & Legal Newspapers

·        Restatements

·        Attorney-Judge-Expert Witness Materials

·        National Investigator Library (Public Records, Person Profiling, Criminal Records)

·        Keycite to Update All Documents

In addition, the Law Library subscribes to the following specialized databases:

·        Records and Briefs for selected Pennsylvania, Third Circuit, and Federal Court  

        Cases.

·        PA Pleadings, Motions & Memoranda Plus (Selected PA State  Federal, and Trial  

        Court pleadings, motions, memoranda)

·        Jury Instructions for selected Pennsylvania cases

·        PRO Legislative History (PA and Federal Statues)

·        PA E forms (PA official court & agency forms for local County, State and Federal

        Courts and Agencies)

·        PA PastStat Locator (PA Historical statutory versions)

·        PA State Dockets (Dockets for Pennsylvania State and Federal courts and selected

        Trial courts)

·        PA State Trial Court Orders (Selected state trial court Orders, including rulings on

        motions and final decisions).

Our Lexis/Nexis subscription includes:

·        Dunlap-Hanna Pennsylvania Forms

·        Pennsylvania Transaction Guide-Legal Forms

·        Pennsylvania Civil Practice

·        Pennsylvania Statutes, Court Rules, Statutes & Administrative Code

·        Pennsylvania Law Encyclopedia

·        Pennsylvania Forms

·        Pennsylvania Suggested Standard Civil Jury Instructions

Also available for on-site access is FORENSICnetBASE which is an extensive electronic library of forensic science, law enforcement and criminal justice references.

Patrons are not allowed to use their own online passcodes, as that will remove and replace our existing online passcodes. There is no “remote” online access for WESTLAW, LEXIS/NEXIS or FORENSICnetBASE. Searches can be conducted at the Law Library from 8:30 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. Monday through Friday.

Law Library staff members are required to sign a patron in before that patron is allowed to use a terminal. Searches and usage of computer terminals are conducted under library staff supervision and are governed by the rules and regulations of the Law Library. 

With some exceptions, patrons can e-mail results of searches to themselves, print copies of search results for $.25 per page or buy floppy disks or CDs from the library at $2.00 per disk. Patrons are not allowed to use their own floppy disks, CDs or any external that connects with a USB. The Law Library reserves the right to limit the amount of time a user spends on a terminal during high-use periods.