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Reviewed 15 November 2009 See also Legal Research and Assistance, below.  E-mail: Administrator@LawSource.com

Massachusetts Court Decisions

Supreme Judicial Court (Mass.) * Appeals Court (Mass. App. Ct.) * ————— U.S. District Court (D. Mass.) —————  * See “Additional Resources” below.

Appellate cases can be retrieved by citation (e.g., “421 Mass. 570” or “39 Mass. App. Ct. 586” or “658 N.E.2d 972”) from a LEXIS database (free searching goes back five years only). There is also a text-search function. (Registration is required but is free.)

Additional Resources
¶  Supreme Judicial Court opinions and Appeals Court opinions as well as Superior Court opinions ... [Social Law Library (Mass.)] — Slip opinions (with a search function), going back six months only.

Massachusetts Constitution and Legislation

1. Constitution (Mass. Const.)
   Additional Resources
   ¶  Constitution ... [Town of Bellerica]

2. Bills
   See also the Massachusetts Great and General Court [Legislature] web site.
   House Bills
   Senate Bills
   Acts and Resolves of Massachusetts (Mass. Acts)
   2008 Session Laws 2007 Session Laws 2006 Session Laws 2005 Session Laws 2004 Session Laws 2003 Session Laws 2002 Session Laws 2001 Session Laws 2000 Session Laws 1999 Session Laws 1998 Session Laws 1997 Session Laws
   General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Mass. Gen. L.)
   See also uniform laws and interstate compacts.
   Additional Resources
   ¶  Topical Index to General Laws ... [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.”

Massachusetts Rules of Procedure and Practice

Rules of Procedure
Rules of Appellate Procedure (Mass. R. App. P.) ————— Rules of Civil Procedure (Mass. R. Civ. P.) Uniform Small Claims Rules (Mass. Small Claims R.) Uniform Rules on Dispute Resolution (Mass. Dispute Resolution R.) ————— U.S. District Court Rules (D. Mass. R.) U.S. Bankruptcy Court Rules (D. Mass. Bankr. R.)
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.

Massachusetts Administrative Law Sources

1. Regulations
   1. Code of Massachusetts Regulations (Mass. Regs. Code)
   2. Massachusetts Register (Mass. Reg.)

Massachusetts Local Law Sources

Charters
Billerica Franklin  
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.
Abington <4> Adams <4> Agawam <4> Andover <4> Ashland <4> Barnstable <4> Barre <4> Belchertown <4> Blackstone <4> Boston <2> Cambridge <5> Chatham <4> Chelmsford <4> Chicopee <4> Deerfield <4> Dennis <4> Dover <4> Eastham <4> Fall River <6> Falmouth <4> Fitchburg <4> Franklin <4> Groton <4> Harvard <4> Haverhill <4> Holyoke <6> Hopedale <4> Lexington <4> Littleton <4> Marblehead <4> Medford <6> Melrose <4> Middleton <4> Nantucket <4> Newburyport <6> Northampton <4> Northborough <3> Orange <4> Orleans <4> Peabody <6> Pittsfield <4> Quincy <5> Randolph <4> Revere <5> Salem <6> Salisbury <4> Somerville <6> Southborough <4> Southwick <4> Townsend <4> Waltham <4> Wayland <4> Westfield <6> Westminster <4> Yarmouth <4>       
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.

Massachusetts Law-Related Periodicals

1. Boston College International and Comparative Law Review (B.C. Int'l & Comp. L. Rev.)
2. Boston College Law Review (B.C. L. Rev.)
3. Boston College Third World Law Journal (B.C. Third World L.J.)
4. Boston University Law Review (B.U. L. Rev.)
5. Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review (Harv. Civ. Rts.-Civ. Liberties L. Rev.)
6. Harvard Environmental Law Review (Harv. Envtl. L. Rev.)
7. Harvard Human Rights Journal (Harv. Hum. Rts. J.)
8. Harvard Law Review (Harv. L. Rev.)
9. Intellectual Property and Technology Forum (Intell. Prop. & Tech. F.) ... [Boston Coll. Law Sch.]
10. Journal of High Technology Law (J. High Tech. L.) ... [Suffolk Univ. Law Sch.]
11. Journal of Science and Technology Law (J. Sci. & Tech. L.) ... [Boston Univ. Sch. of Law]
12. Massachusetts Law Review (Mass. L. Rev.) . . . [Massachusetts Bar Ass'n]
13. New England International and Comparative Law Annual (New Eng. Int'l & Comp. L. Ann.) ... [New Eng. Sch. of Law]
14. New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement (New Eng. J. Crim. & Civ. Confinement) ... [New Eng. Sch. of Law]
15. New England Law Review (New Eng. L. Rev.) ... [New Eng. Sch. of Law]
16. Southern New England Roundtable Symposium Law Journal (S. New Eng. Roundtable Symp. L.J.) ... [S. New Eng. Sch. of Law]
17. Suffolk University Law Review (Suffolk U. L. Rev.)

Other Massachusetts Commentary

1. Tax Publications for Individuals • Tax Publications for Businesses ... [Revenue Dep't] — The most commonly requested tax publications, in PDF files.

2. Doing Business in Massachusetts. Foley Hoag LLP. ... [Lex Mundi]

3. Massachusetts Wage & Hour Laws: What Every Manager Needs to Know. James W. Bucking / Foley Hoag LLP.

4. 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.”

Massachusetts Law-Related Topical Web Sites

Massachusetts Court Information

Web Sites
Massachusetts Courts ————— U.S. District Court U.S. Bankruptcy Court

Massachusetts Forms

1. General Legal Forms ... [Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries] — Links to Massachusetts legal forms, arranged by topics, as well as selected federal forms.

2. U.S. District Court — Local Forms

3. Revenue Department — Tax Forms for Individuals • Tax Forms for Businesses

4. 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.

Other Massachusetts Resources

Government-Related Web Sites
Great and General Court [Legislature] Judicial Branch ————— Attorney General Public Defender Division, CPCS ————— Revenue Department Secretary of the Commonwealth
See also the Piper Resources list of sites.
Additional Resources
¶  Vital Records — Contact Information ... [Elizabeth Orsay (Ind.)]
¶  Workers' Compensation — Agency Contact and Staff Contact Information ... [Robert W. McDowell / North Carolina Industrial Commission]
Bar Associations ♦ Law-Related Organizations
Massachusetts Bar Association ————— City Solicitors and Town Counsel Association Hellenic Bar Association Massachusetts Judges Conference Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar Association Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts ————— Boston Bar Association Boston Patent Law Association ————— Association of Boston Law Librarians
See the National Federation of Paralegal Associations for links to websites of member organizations.
Law Schools ♦ Admission to Practice ♦ Continuing Legal Education
Boston Bar Association—Continuing Legal Education Massachusetts Bar Association—Continuing Legal Education Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc. Suffolk University—Center for Advanced Legal Studies Board of Bar Examiners Board of Bar Overseers Boston College Law School Boston University School of Law Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy (Tufts University) Harvard Law School Massachusetts School of Law New England School of Law Northeastern University School of Law Southern New England School of Law Suffolk University Law School Western New England College School of Law
1. Consulate General of Canada in Boston • Consulat Général du Canada à Boston

2. Consulate General of Mexico in Boston • Consulado General de México en Boston

Legal Research and Assistance

Law Libraries
See also additional information about Massachusetts trial court law libraries.
Barnstable County — Barnstable Berkshire County — Pittsfield Bristol County — Fall River      — New Bedford      — Taunton Essex County — Lawrence      — Salem Franklin County — Greenfield Hampden County — Springfield Hampshire County — Northampton Middlesex County — Cambridge      — Lowell Norfolk County — Norwood Plymouth County — Brockton      — Plymouth Worcester County — Fitchburg      — Worcester Boston College Boston University Harvard Law School Massachusetts School of Law: Information Resource Center New England School of Law Northeastern University Southern New England School of Law Suffolk University: John Joseph Moakley Law Library Western New England College Social Law Library (Boston)
See also links to web sites of public law libraries and catalogs of academic law libraries, maintained by the library at Washburn University School of Law; and the LibrarySites.Info database of library web sites (“Libcat”).
1. “Massachusetts Law About . . .” ... [Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries] — Topical arrangement of links to sources of, and commentary on, Massachusetts law on numerous subjects.
   Massachusetts Bar Association — Legal Information Choosing a Lawyer Dial-a-Lawyer

2. Step by Step: A Simple Guide to Filing a Civil Action in the United States District Court, District of Massachusetts ... Available also in a Spanish version.

3. 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.

4. Low-Cost Legal Aid ... See also the web site for LawHelp.org and the web site for SelfHelpSupport.org.
   1. 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.
   2. Massachusetts Legal Help for the Poor ... [Am. Bar Ass'n] — Contact information for statewide and local legal-aid programs, from the ABA's Directory of Pro Bono Programs. The ABA also provides a page of links to pro bono programs' web sites. The Massachusetts Bar Association also provides some help on finding reduced-fee or free representation.
   3. 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.