The Social Law Library is closed to patrons at this time, but the Reference Staff is still answering research requests and assisting with online research. For now there are staff onsite to assist with scanning and shipping books, and should the situation change the Reference Staff will still have access to many databases that are typically available onsite only (Westlaw, Lexis, Bloomberg Law) to pull documents and perform research for our members, thanks to the cooperation of these vendors. Please email us at reference@socialaw.com with any questions that you have.
Our regularly scheduled Webinar Wednesday is still taking place March 25th, but we have moved the time to 2PM. You can sign up for the free webinar here. Now more than ever is remote work a necessity, and we will be doing a deep dive on where you can find material online through your Social Law membership. Learn how to access case law, articles, and treatises from your home office (or kitchen table/corner/couch).
- Quick tips:
- Law review and bar journal articles, session laws, and the Restatements of Law can be found on HeinOnline.
- Case law from all 50 states and federal courts can be found on Fastcase and you can use the Authority Check feature to verify that a case is still good law.
- Immigration cases, statutes, regulations, administrative decisions, and secondary sources can be found on AILALink.
- Law Journal Press provides access to national treatises on a variety of topics.
- The library has over 2,500 eBooks available online 24/7 on the Lexis OverDrive website
- â—‹Read today’s paper or search the archives of the Boston Globe, New York Times, and many local papers via the ProQuest Northeast Newsstream.
- If you need assistance or tips before then, do not hesitate to email us!
For the latest rules and regulations from state agencies, you can view the latest issue of the Massachusetts Register here. Please note that the Code of Massachusetts Regulations database normally lags an issue or two behind the latest Register. If you have questions about the most current text of a regulation, please email reference@socialaw.com.
-
Note: The emergency regulations on unemployment (430 CMR 22.00) were not included in the latest issue on 3/20/2020. You can find them here.
You can find updates on COVID-19 related legislation in the Massachusetts State House for free on MassTrac’s blog:
https://blog.instatrac.com/2020/03/17/bills-pertaining-to-the-covid-19-pandemic/
- If you would like to be emailed alerts on actions taken on these bills, please email Jessica at jjones@socialaw.com.
National Conference of State Legislatures has a chart of State Action on Coronavirus and COVID-19 related legislation:
https://www.ncsl.org/research/health/state-action-on-coronavirus-covid-19.aspx
The Massachusetts Municipal Law Association has compiled a list of resources for local governments:
https://www.massmunilaw.org/2020/03/20/mmla-corona-conference-call-of-march-11th-materials-resources/#more-8009
Law360 is making their Corona virus related new stories free to all:
https://www.law360.com/coronavirus
Lexis Practice Advisor has a free kit of resources:
https://www.lexisnexis.com/en-us/products/lexis-practice-advisor/coronavirus-resources.page
- This kit includes over 50 articles and sample forms, letters, and checklists related to commercial contracts issues (force majeure, termination and cancellation rights) and labor and employment
And Bob Ambrogi of the Law Sites blog is also keeping a running tab of free products, trials, and resources available:
https://www.lawsitesblog.com/coronavirus-resources
Practical Law Global Coronavirus Toolkit: Free articles, updates, checklists, practice notes, standard documents, and clauses covering pandemic related issue. Includes country and state specific material, and broken down by subject area.
https://content.next.westlaw.com/w-024-3138?isplcus=true&transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)&firstPage=true&bhcp=