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SOCW 5014: Law & Ethics in Social Work

Resources for legal research, citing legal resources, and legal sources in psycho-social journals..

Legal Research Sites

Most complete / designed for lawyers and legal scholars:


Easiest to use - Court Cases and Law Review Articles:

In Google Scholar, choose "Case Law" to search for court opinions by name.  For example: Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

To search for law reviews, type "L Rev" into the search box (including the quotation marks).  For example:

  "Social Work" and "L Rev" to find law review articles mentioning social work.


Easiest to use - California Codes, Statutes, and Bills:

Easiest to Use - Federal Codes and Statutes:


Easy to use - State Codes and Cases around the nation:

  • For court opinions in FindLaw, the main search (opinion summaries) covers 2000 - present.
  • Use the Cases and Codes --> California Caselaw to find older California cases.

Psycho-Social Literature

Previous Course Materials

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