Research Guides: Legal Research: Dictionaries & Popular Name Indexes

Legal Dictionaries

Black's Law Dictionary
One of the most widely-used legal dictionaries on the market.
Availability:
a. Online via Westlaw Campus. (click link above)
b. In paper at the library's Reference Desk.
Law and Commercial Dictionary in Five Languages.
Paper editon only. Two-volume set.
English, French, German, Italian, Spanish.
Legal Reference K54 .W47 1985
Attorney's Illustrated Medical Dictionary, 3d.
3d edition and supplement.
Paper edition only.
Ref. R121 .A4

Popular Name Indexes

Popular name indexes allow researchers to find the legal citation for a law or court decision by looking up its popular name.
For example: Megan's Law, Clean Air Act, USA Patriot Act, etc.,

Popular Names of Acts in the U.S. Code.
A great starting point for legal research or legislative history. Many laws passed beginning in 1973 (the 93rd Congress), have links to documents in the Thomas system so that many parts of a law's legislative history can be easily found.
Documents from Thomas include: bill numbers, sponsors, cosponsors, amendments and committee hearing documents.
Table of Acts Cited by Popular Name.
Citations of laws, organized by popular name.
More up-to-date than the tool index above, but not linked to Thomas.

The United States Code and the USCA both contain popular name tables for Federal statutes.

For NJ laws and for the popular names of court cases use Shepard's Acts and Cases by Popular Name below.

Popular Names, Tables and Index. United States Code (USC).
Shelved as the last volume in the USC.
Legal Reference: KF 62 2000
Popular Name Table. United States Code Annotated (USCA).
Shelved at the end of the USCA next to the General Index.
Legal Reference: KF 62 1927 .W45 2 volumes.
Shepard's Acts and Cases by Popular Name - federal and state
Popular names for laws and court decisions at both the state and federal level.
Legal Reference: KF90 .S538 2010. 3 volumes.