Clicking the blue text below opens information pop-ups with photos. Links inside might take you outside the College of Law website.
U.S. Code Service (U.S.C.S.)
The USCS provides annotations for the laws in the 54 titles of the US Code and the U.S. Constitution. Additional volumes cover the Federal Court Rules and quite a few international agreements. From Lexis' description: "...Case notes go beyond the National Reporter System, including opinions from the IRS, Social Security Administration, Consumer Product Safety Commission and more that appear in specialty reporters like CCH and BNA, and they are organized by issue to make it easier for you to find new case law."
For a general description of an annotated code, and good basic search information click here.
You can also download a short informative mp3 [2:53] posted as a feature by CALI, or play it without downloading from their USCA/USCS library tour podcast page.
U.S. Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.)
Includes annotations for the U.S. Code and Constitution, selected C.F.R. sections, three volumes of tables, and a listing of 'Acts by Popular Names' in 2 volumes.
Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.)
The Code of Federal Regulations contains the unannotated regulations enforced by the federal administrative agencies. It is published by the Government Printing Office. The volume numbers track, but do not exactly match, the Code title subjects. These softcover printed volumes are updated yearly. A current electronic version is freely available online at GPO/FDSys, as are prior editions going back to 1996.
Click here for a more detailed description from the GPO.
You can also download a short informative mp3 [2:35] posted as a feature by CALI, or play it without downloading from their Code of Federal Regulations library tour podcast page.
American Jurisprudence 2d (Am. Jur. 2d)
AmJur is a national legal encyclopedia. It provides short entries on a comprehensive range of legal topics. Encyclopedias serve well as an initial research source. Use them to find references to other material and primary sources, especially case law. There are differences between Am Jur and the other major national encyclopedia, CJS, in the style of the entries, the type of issue coverage, and the research references.
Law students can access Am Jur on both Lexis Advance and WestlawNext. Am Jur is also available from the Green Library database listings, at WestlawNext Campus Research.
You can download a short informative mp3 [2:24] posted as a feature by CALI, or play it without downloading from their AmJur library tour podcast page.
Corpus Juris Secundum (C.J.S.)
As a national legal encyclopedia, CJS provides short articles on a broad range of legal topics. Encyclopedias serve well as an initial research source. Use them to find references to other material and primary sources, especially case law. There are differences in the style of the entries, the type of issue coverage, and the research references between CJS and the other major national encyclopedia, AmJur.
Law students can access CJS on WestlawNext.
You can download a short informative mp3 [2:13] posted as a feature by CALI, or play it without downloading from their CJS library tour podcast page.
Uniform Laws Annotated (U.L.A.)
These books contain the text, comments, and annotations for a series of Model Acts proposed for nationwide adoption by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. Florida has adopted large parts of the Model Acts. The resource is particularly useful when no state case law exists on an section adopted in Florida. The Commissioner's comments and case law from other states with the same statutory text can then be cited in support of a statutory interpretation.
You can download a short informative mp3 [4:39] posted as a feature by CALI, or play it without downloading from their Uniform Laws and Model Acts library tour podcast page.
The completed Acts, minus the annotations but with state adoption status and other information can be accessed at the Acts page of the Uniform Law Commission (ULC).
Laws of Florida & Florida Statutes
The Laws of Florida contain the laws enacted by the Florida Legislature in a given year before they are placed/codified by topic into the statutes. The acts as passed are essential in legislative history research.
The Florida Statutes consist of the state's general laws currently in effect. They are organized by subject area, instead of the chronological order of the "Laws". "History" notes that follow each statute's section set out the initial enacting law and point out subsequent changes, if any.
View the Florida Statutes here. Online availability is shown here.
Florida Statutes Annotated (F.S.A.)
Annotated codes and statutes provide you with research references and 'notes of decisions', caselaw citing the statute. The F.S.A. also provide Florida constitution annotations and the state court rules with annotations as well.
You can view the parts of an annotated statute section in this guide page.
You can also download a short informative mp3 [2:04] posted as a feature by CALI for state codes in general, or play it without downloading from their Annotated State Codes library tour podcast page.
Fla. Administrative Code Annotated (F.A.C.)
"The Florida Administrative Code Annotated is the official compilation of administrative rules, with history notes, legally promulgated by the Florida Department of State. The fifteen volumes of the Code are contained in convenient loose-leaf binders and consists of twelve volumes of rules, two volumes of Tables of Repeals and Transfers, and one volume containing the General Index and Table of Statutory Cross References. The Code is fully annotated with decisions of Federal and State Appellate Courts, State Attorney General opinions, orders of the Division of Administrative Hearings, and final agency orders construing the rules."
The official unannotated code is posted online by the Florida Dept. of State at this page.
Florida Digest 2d
A digest is a finding aid to locate caselaw from a reporter. The reporters list cases chronologically, without regard to legal topic. The caselaw 'points of law' from the reporters are arranged by headnote number topic and published in the Digest. The digest is then used as an index to find the cases dealing with a particular topic.
The Southern Digest 2d covers Florida appellate cases and federal cases arising in Florida.
The 'Digests' page in our Legal Research Basics guide gives you an overview of its use.
You can also download a short informative mp3 [3:57] posted as a feature by CALI for case digests in general, or play it without downloading from their West’s Digests library tour podcast page.
Shepard's Florida Citations
'Citators', or citation services such as Shepard's, provide a list of all authorities that cited a case or statute. A researcher uses the citator to confirm the case or statute one cites is still valid, update the research by finding later related cases, and see how the case or statute was treated and interpreted by other courts.
Words and Phrases
"... a multi-volume set containing judicial definitions, from both state and federal courts, of words and phrases, arranged alphabetically.
Definitions may pertain to statutory language, court rules, administrative regulations, or business documents, among other sources. Each definition contains a citation from the court that provided the definition."
Florida Jurisprudence (Fla Jur) 2d
Fla Jur 2d is a legal encyclopedia covering Florida state and federal law affecting Florida. It contains short entries on numerous topics affecting Florida law. Those entries analyze the topic and cite to related caselaw and statutes. Fla. Jur. also points out other research material, including digest topic key numbers. Legal encyclopedias are a very useful resource to use in the initial stages of research.
Citation Format: Finding aid resource, not normally cited to.
Florida Practice Treatises
The Florida 'practice' materials cover the entire spectrum of Florida law, mostly from a practitioner's perspective. Call numbers range from KFF80 .I57 to KFF595 .A29.
Ask a reference librarian to recommend the best treatises for any particular Florida legal topic.
Law Library entry
The library's three floors occupy the north wing of the RDB building.
The Law Library entrance is at room RDB 1089, on the first floor of the College of Law.
Click these links to reach the Library home page, or a full listing of the hours of operation.
Circulation and Reserve desk
Phone: 305.348.7206
Circulation staff will help you with most any library need you have. Check out materials or study rooms. Books 'on reserve', such as the most used study aids (Hornbooks, nutshells and E&Es) are shelved here, as are materials placed on 'course reserve' by a professor for a specific class. These last items are placed alphabetically by the professor's name.
Check these links to reach the Library's Student Services page, library policies, and library hours.
Reference desk
Phone: 305.348.8091
Reference librarians are available to help users identify resources that are useful in the legal research process. Please drop by the reference desk at any time for help or suggestions. You can also request information via the Ask a Librarian link in the upper left of the intro page on this and all other Research Guides.
Theodore and Rosalind Spak Infomation Commons
The Information Commons is an important part of the Library's commitment to provide FIU Law students a comfortable study environment conducive to learning.
The most frequently used federal and Florida print materials surround the Commons space, which includes computer workstations, open areas and modern spacious seating equipped with charging connections.
Printing and copying are only steps away, as is reference help if and when needed.
Print & Copy Info
You can copy at, or send print jobs to, any of the Ricoh copiers on campus. There are two copiers on the first floor and a second copier on the second floor outside room 2095. You can also scan material to PDF, at no cost, and send the scans via email or to a USB drive.
The fastest method to access a print job is normally to walk your USB drive to the terminal. More detailed information on the five different ways to print your document can be found at this page. More general information, including FAQs can be found here.
Microfiche area
This area houses the microfiche cabinets, two readers, and a computer terminal. Scans of the fiches can be converted to digital format for storage on a flash drive or transmission via Email.
Computer Lab
The computer lab is reserved for Law students. It is a quiet area within the 'conversation allowed' Information Commons. There are 24 terminals in the room, and sufficient space between seats to have your own laptop open as a secondary screen.
The lab is equipped for projection and sound, and can be used for seminars and training sessions.
