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New York Law Sources: Books, Databases & Other Materials

Last Updated: Dec 19, 2023 12:57 PM

Databases - New York Law

Legislative Retrieval System (L.R.S.)
L..R.S. is an on-line database maintained by the Legislative Bill Drafting Commission that contains status information, summary information and the text of bills introduced into the N.Y. Legislature for the present and prior two legislative sessions. This database also contains the text of the Consolidated and Unconsolidated Laws of New York. The Legislative Library file provides subject indexing for hearings. Because this database is used by New York State Legislators, it is updated frequently. See a Reference Librarian for access.

Fastcase (in-library use only)
Search full-text New York cases, statutes, regulations, law journals, and law reviews, etc.

HeinOnline
Full text materials including:
--New York Court of Appeals Records and Briefs
--New York Legal Research Library (with  New York Journals; New York State Reports; Session Laws; Books; Trials; Tax Cases; Attorney General Reports and Opinions; Statutes; State Register; Bar Journals; Comptroller Opinions and more)

 

 

BOOKS -- NY LAW SOURCES

Case Law

A. New York Court Structure

Court of Appeals: highest appellate court in New York State. Reported in New York Reports, New York Supplement and Northeastern Reporter.

Appellate Division: an intermediate appellate court. There are four appellate divisions of the Supreme Court: lst Dept. - Manhattan, 2nd Dept. - Brooklyn, 3rd Dept. - Albany, 4th Dept. - Rochester. Reported in Appellate Division Reports and New York Supplement.

Supreme Court: court of general jurisdiction and trial court. Reported selectively in Miscellaneous Reports and New York Supplement.

Courts of Limited Jurisdictions: lower courts limited in jurisdiction by such factors as geography or subject matter - Justice Courts, Surrogate Court, County Court, Family Court. Reported selectively in Miscellaneous Reports and New York Supplement.

A nice summary of the history of the New York courts: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad2/aboutthecourt.shtml

B. Court Reports - Collections of judicial opinions arranged chronologically.

New York Reports (N.Y.) US/N7 006.7 A1 (NY Core)
1990+ Online http://www.law.cornell.edu/nyctap/court/background.htm
The official reporter containing the full text of all the opinions of the New York Court of Appeals.

Appellate Division Reports (A.D. or App. Div.) US/N7 006.7 A2 (NY Core)
The official reporter containing the full text of all opinions from the four appellate divisions of the Supreme Court.

Miscellaneous Reports (Misc.) US/N7 006.7 A3 (NY Core)
The official reporter containing the full text of selected opinions from the New York Supreme Court, and selected opinions from other lower New York Courts.

Official New York Law Reports US/N7 006.7 A32 (NY Core)
Also Online http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/Decisions.htm
Current cases for all three series are published weekly in this advance sheet service shelved after New York Reports.

New York Supplement (N.Y.S. or N.Y.Supp.) (West) US/N7 006.7 A82 (NY Core)
The unofficial reporter which contains all the opinions published in New York Reports, Appellate Division Reports, and Miscellaneous Reports.

New York Law Journal (N.Y.L.J.) US 03.99 N48
Daily legal newspaper published in New York City. Contains legal announcements, court calendars, articles, and summaries or full text of important court decisions from the lst and 2d Departments. Indexed in New York Law Journal Digest-Annotator (formerly Clark's Digest) from 1937 (articles since 1976) to 2003 shelved at US/NY 006.75 C51 (NY Core) and Current Law Index since 1980 at K 33 C87

C. Citators for Case Law

Campus Research (KeyCite) https://library.buffalo.edu/libraries/e-resources/westlawcampus.html

Statutory Law

A. Session Laws - Chronological collection of laws passed by the legislature each session and arranged by Chapter number. First source to check for new legislation - supplements the Consolidated Laws.

Laws of New York US/N7 002.5 N4 (NY Core)
The official publication of the full text of all public and private laws passed annually by the New York Legislature. No volume exists for 1975 due to New York's budget crisis.

Local Laws of the Cities, Counties, Towns and Villages in the State of New York US/N7 002.5 N48 (NY Core, Annex, Koren AV)
The official publication of the full text of laws passed by local governments pursuant to the New York Constitution, the Municipal Home Rule Law, Statute of Local Governments, or other state statutes delegating particular powers to local governments.

McKinney's Session Laws of New York (West) US/N7 02.5 N46 (1951+) (NY Core)
The unofficial publication which contains the full text of all laws passed annually by the New York legislature. Also includes supplemental material on New York government, legislative history, new developments and statutory tables.

Consolidated Laws Service Session Laws (Lexis) US/N7 002.5 N47 (1976+)
An unofficial publication of the full text of all laws passed annually by the New York State Legislature with supplemental material limited to Governor's Annual message. Judicial Conference Report and Statutory tables.

B. Budget Bills

Classification of Appropriations By the Legislature (the "Black Book") HJ 11 N746
Annual compilation of appropriations bills submitted by the governor and the budget bills, supplemental appropriations bills and the deficiency budget bills that became chapter laws.

C. Consolidated Laws/Codes - Current public laws of New York arranged by subject. 2d Floor

McKinney's Consolidated Laws (West) US/N7 003.5 N4 (NY Core)
Contains current laws of New York. Annotated with summaries of cases construing and interpreting provisions; references to encyclopedias & law review articles; practice commentaries (short articles by legal experts explaining a provision); citations to the NYCRR.

Consolidated Laws Service (C.L.S.) (Lexis) US/N7 003.5 N5
Contains current laws of New York. Annotated with summaries of selected cases construing and interpreting provisions; references to encyclopedias & law review articles; citations to the NYCRR. Includes forms.

Gould's Consolidated Laws of New York (Gould's) Unannotated, 9 v. US/N7 003.5 N44 (NY Core)

D. Bills and Recent Legislation (Chapter Laws)

New York State Legislative Bills - Copies of bills are issued daily in newsprint format. Bound volumes are issue at the end of each year.

  • Current Session bills (paper) (Koren AV)
  • Assembly Bills 1968-1975; 1977-2005+ (bound) US/N7 004.7 N35
  • Senate Bills 1970-1975; 1977-2005+ (bound) US/N7 004.7 N45

Recent Chapter Laws

  • McKinney's Session Law News (NY Core)
  • Advance Legislative Service for N.Y. C.L.S (NY Core)

Index to Bills

  • New York Legislative Digest KFN 5007 N435 (Most recent in Ref)
    Indexes all bills introduced in the New York Legislature and indicates chapter number for those which are passed into law. Updated and cumulated weekly when the Legislature is in session.

Bill Status Hotline: 1-800-342-9860 or (518) 455-2255

E. Citator for Statutory Law

Shepard's New York Statute Citations

Administrative Law

A. Administrative Rules and Regulations - rules and regulations promulgated by administrative agencies.

New York Official Compilation Codes, Rules and Regulations (N.Y.C.R.R.) KFN 5035 1960 A22 (Ref Desk); Westlaw*: NY ADC (1995+) and Lexis*: NY library, NYADMIN file (1995+) (law students only)
Official publication containing full text of current rules and regulations of all state agencies. Arranged by issuing agency. Looseleaf format.

New York State Register KFN 5036 N48 (Most recent at Ref Desk)
Official notification of proposed and finalized actions taken by N.Y. administrative agencies. Summary only for most regs, a selected few are full text. Also includes information and development on state government and the court system.

B. Citator for Administrative Law

Shepard's New York Statute Citations

Finding Tools

A. Digests

West's New York Digest (all series) US/N7 006.75 A3
These digests index New York reported cases by subject and case name. Case summaries are arranged by subject (West Key number).

New York Law Journal Digest - Annotator (formerly Clark's Digest-Annotator) 1937 to 2003 US/N7 006.75 C51
Index of cases arranged by subject of significant lower court cases in the first and second Appellate Division Departments as reported in the New York Law Journal. Indexed articles, columns and special sections in New York Law Journal from March 1976 thru 2003.

New York Law Digest KFN 5047.1 N49 (Reserve)
New York State Bar Association Digests - important opinions of the Court of Appeals and the Appellate Divisions. Published twice a month. Current year only. Reserve

B. Encyclopedias

Carmody-Wait Cyclopedia of New York Practice 2nd ed. KFN 5995 C342 1965 (NY Alcove)
Encyclopedia of New York civil practice and procedural law. Includes forms and complements the substantive civil law in New York Jurisprudence 2d

New York Jurisprudence 2d KFN 5065 N48 1979 (NY Alcove)
Encyclopedia of New York substantive law. Summary discussions of all areas of New York law with citations to cases and statutes. "Citation Tables" volume lists location of discussion of statutory and constitutional provisions, court rules, and regulations.

C. Comprehensive Indexes

West's New York Law Finder KFN 5061 N482 (Most recent at Ref Desk)
General one volume index to New York cases, statutes, and court rules and relevant treatises, encyclopedias and practice aids. Includes West Key numbers.

D. New York Legal Research

Gibson’s New York Legal Research Guide, 3rd ed. 2004 KFN 5074 G53 1998 (Also Ref, ref Desk, NY Alcove, LL Archives)
Comprehensive guide to current and historical New York legal sources.

*Westlaw/Lexis access restricted to law students only

Selected Legal Newspapers - New York

  • New York Law Journal K14 .E9325 (Koren AV, Most recent on Reserve)
  • Buffalo Law Journal K2 .U34 (Oversize, most recent on Reserve)
    Bi-weekly legal newspaper with official notices, court calendars and articles

Audio & Video - New York Law

The Capitol Pressroom
A daily one-hour public radio news magazine broadcast from Albany, hosted by reporter Susan Arbetter.
Listen live or listen to podcasts of past programs