Skip to Main Content

ENST 295: Environmental Law: Primary Sources

Finding Statutes and Cases

Finding US statutes

Nexis Uni

Browse Federal Statutes
  • Type USCS (Nexis Uni's US Code Service, which provides editorial enhancements such as summary, history, and notes) in the main search field
  • Click the Popular Names table and search alphabetically
  • OR click the Table of Contents symbol next to United States Code Service Titles 1-54 and browse the 54 titles
Search for specific part of Code
  • Enter the title, uscs, and the section (example: enter 33uscs1251 to bring up the Clean Water Act)
  • Jump forward and backward using the table of contents at the left, or by using the next and previous buttons

For the original version (without Nexis Uni's enhancements), replace uscs with usc.

Finding state statutes

Nexis Uni

  • In the main search area, type keywords (such as "clean water act")
  • Change time period for records to be searched as appropriate
  • Choose Legal from the content types drop-down options, and then choose US
  • Select all of the relevant states

Finding case law

Nexis Uni

  • If you know the citation or the party names, type the info in the main search field (less precise results for party names)
  • Choose Cases from the content type drop-down options
  • Choose relevant states or courts, if applicable

OR

  • Choose Cases under Guided Search
  • Choose Federal or State (enter relevant states, if applicable)
  • Enter keywords

Google Scholar

  • Enter search terms
  • Choose Case Law below the search field
  • Select appropriate courts (if you don't enter a specific court, all federal and state courts will be searched)

Note that not all related cases will appear in Google Scholar, and that there will not be any editorial enhancements (such as you would find in Nexis Uni). 

Finding Regulations

Tips for searching Nexis Uni for regulations

Browse federal agency regulations

  • Type CFR (code of federal regulations) in main search box
  • Click table of contents symbol
  • Browse table of contents for relevant topics

Search by regulation citation

  • Type citation in main search box
  • Example: enter 40cfr131 (Title 40 Protection of Environment, Part 131 Water Quality Standards)