Laws & Rules

Laws & Rules is the best place to start when you are looking for statutory, regulatory, constitutional, or similar source text rather than case law.

• Finding statutes, regulations, constitutions, and similar legal source material by topic, concept, or phrase.
• Searching for a source when you know the subject but not the exact section number.
• Searching with a citation plus a few descriptive words when you know the source generally but want the right provision faster.
• Reviewing matching sections in context before opening the full source text.

This tool is designed to help you find legal source material by meaning. That makes it useful when you know the topic, phrase, or type of provision you need, even if you do not know the exact section number yet.

It is also useful when you know a citation generally, but want help getting to the right source faster by adding a few descriptive words.

• It is useful when you are looking for legal source text by meaning, not just exact wording.
• It works well for topic-based queries, natural-language fragments, and legal phrases.
• It can still be helpful when you include a citation, especially if you add descriptive words with it.
• It makes it easy to move from a matching snippet to either the original public source or the full highlighted source text in-app.

Most searches are strongest when you combine a meaningful query with the right filters.

1. 1

   Start with a legal topic, phrase, or citation plus context

   Good searches usually include the legal concept you care about, not just a bare number. For example, a search like `42 U.S.C. section 1983 municipal liability` is usually stronger than entering only `1983`.

2. 2

   Choose a jurisdiction whenever you can

   This search is broad by design, so adding a jurisdiction often improves the results quickly. If you leave jurisdiction open, the search can return materials from across all available jurisdictions.

3. 3

   Choose the most specific authority type available

   Use the authority-type filter when you know whether you want a statute, regulation, constitution, or another available source type. The filter options adjust based on the selected jurisdiction.

4. 4

   Review the returned source summaries and matching sections

   Results are grouped by source, with the strongest source shown first. Within each source, the matching sections appear in source order so you can read them in a more natural way.

5. 5

   Open the source in the way that helps most

   You can often click the citation to open the original source website in a new tab, or click the section heading to view the full text in-app with the matching portions highlighted.

Good searches usually include a legal concept, phrase, or citation with enough context to show what you are actually looking for.

• California wage statement requirements
• Texas premises liability statute
• 42 U.S.C. section 1983 municipal liability
• Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss
• Fourth Amendment unreasonable search
• New York regulation nurse staffing

Very short inputs like a bare section number or a single broad word can still work sometimes, but they are usually less reliable unless you narrow the search with filters.

The results are organized to help you move quickly from a likely source to the exact matching text.

Laws & Rules can still be useful when you know a citation, but it is not built as a strict citation parser. In practice, that means a citation often works better when you pair it with a few descriptive words about the issue or provision you care about.

If you find the right result, you can then open the source in-app or go to the linked public site to review the full text. If you already know the exact provision and mainly want to browse nearby sections, the official source site is usually the better place to continue reading.

This tool is strongest for legal source text. It is less ideal when your research task belongs in one of the case-law tools or when you need an exact citation parser.

• It is not a strict citation parser in the way Citation Lookup is for case citations.
• Bare section numbers or very short fragments are often weaker than a citation plus topic words.
• Very broad single-word searches can return less focused results unless you narrow them with filters.
• It is not meant for browsing through an entire statutory code or set of rules section by section.
• If you already know the exact statute or rule and want to read surrounding provisions, the official source website is often the better place to browse.
• If you are looking for cases rather than statutes, regulations, or constitutions, one of the case-law tools is usually a better fit.

A few simple habits can make source searching much more effective.

• Use more than a bare section number when possible.
• Add a jurisdiction early if you already know the state or court system that matters.
• Choose the most specific authority type you can instead of leaving everything on all filters.
• If you know the citation, combine it with a few topic words instead of relying on the citation alone.
• If you already know the exact source and want to read around it, use the linked official site to browse the surrounding sections.
• Open the heading view when you want to see the matching language in context, and use the source link when you want to confirm the original public source text.