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Massachusetts Laws by Popular Name [Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries] — “The purpose of this table is to provide links to information on legal topics which are in the news or are of general interest to people living in [Massachusetts]. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of this information, these references are meant to serve as a quick guide only.”
Note—In general the rules of procedure for Massachusetts trial courts are not officially available on the internet. Selected rules are presented by the Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries.
Ordinances are local laws, commonly organized into codes, that have been enacted by municipalities — cities, towns, etc. — and counties. Charters are organic laws (similar in function to a constitution) of those local government entities for which “home rule” is authorized by state law. For local laws not found through the links given here, try the county web sites and municipality web sites at “State and Local Government on the Net” by Piper Resources, or a publisher’s web site:
Charters
Note that a charter could be included in a collection of ordinances (see below) instead of being separately accessible.
County Ordinances
Municipal Ordinances
In Massachusetts, municipal ordinances are known as by-laws. For links to the by-laws of a large number of cities and towns, see the web site of the Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries.
Click on the button keyed to the name of the municipality. NOTE: On some web sites, selecting the state is necessary for access to the ordinances link.
University of Massachusetts Law Review (U. Mass. L. Rev.) Formerly titled University of Massachusetts Roundtable Symposium Law Journal (until 2012); Southern New England Roundtable Symposium Law Journal (2006–2010).
Books About Massachusetts Law [Mark J. Bernardin, Esq. (Mass.), dba The Forum for Massachusetts Law] — A bibliography of books that “were written with the layperson in mind, focus on Massachusetts law, and are available at public libraries.”
See also links to state court web sites, maintained by the National Center for State Courts. Additionally, the Ballotpedia.org web site presents information about courts and judges in the state, covering both state courts and federal courts, in a Wikipedia-style format.
General Legal Forms [Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries] — Links to Massachusetts legal forms, arranged by topics, as well as selected federal forms.
Business Entity Forms [Paracorp, Inc. (Cal.)] — Convenient interface to view and print in-blank official state forms (in PDF files) for filing by business entities. A JavaScript-enabled browser is required.
Law Schools • Admission to Practice • Continuing Legal Education
Note: The University of Massachusetts School of Law – Dartmouth in 2009–2010 succeeded to the assets of the Southern New England School of Law, which is now defunct.
“Massachusetts Law About . . .” [Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries] — Topical arrangement of links to sources of, and commentary on, Massachusetts law on numerous subjects.
Bankruptcy Law and Procedures for Massachusetts Residents [Calicchia & Kinast LLP (Ohio)] — This web site, presented by a Cleveland bankruptcy law firm, covers basic information about the bankruptcy process, describes debt consolidation and credit counseling as alternatives to bankruptcy, lists the property that an individual is allowed to keep (with citations to governing provisions of Massachusetts law), and gives information about the bankruptcy courts and how to contact bankruptcy attorneys in Massachusetts.
MassLegalHelp.org This site “provides information about your legal rights as a Massachusetts resident, written in plain English or Spanish.” The site includes a form for finding an appropriate legal-services program.
WomensLaw.org — Sources of Legal Help [WomensLaw.org (N.Y.)] — Sources of legal help (not limited to legal help for women) include statewide domestic-violence resources, local domestic-violence resources listed by city or town, free or low-cost legal services, and lawyer referral services.
“The essence of legal research in two words . . . see ALSO!”