Clio Library organizes legal content into distinct document types, each serving a different function in the research process. Understanding the scope of available materials helps you identify the right resource for your matter: building a precedent argument, assessing damages, or confirming a statute is still in force.
Note: Litigation matters typically rely on case law, dockets, and rules and guidelines to build and test arguments. Transactional matters draw more heavily on statutes, regulations, forms, and corporate filings to confirm enforceability and compliance. Secondary sources serve both, particularly jury verdicts and settlements for damages assessment, and practice notes for unfamiliar matter types
Primary law
Primary law is binding legal authority. Use these sources to ground arguments in enforceable rules and confirmed precedent.
- Constitutions: The fundamental laws of a nation or state that establish the framework of government and protect individual rights.
- Statutes: Written laws passed by legislative bodies such as Congress or a state legislature.
- Legislation: A broad category that includes statutes and acts. Status indicators show whether a law is currently in force or has been repealed.
- Regulations: Rules created by executive agencies to carry out and enforce statutes.
- Administrative materials: Decisions, orders, and rulings from regulatory agencies such as the SSA or EEOC that interpret and apply specific regulations.
- Rules and guidelines: Procedural rules that govern how courts and agencies operate, such as the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
- Case law: Judicial decisions and court opinions that interpret how laws apply to specific facts. Use these to find and validate precedent.
- Dockets: Official court records that provide the litigation history of a case, including filing trends and case progress.
Secondary sources and strategic tools
Secondary sources analyze, explain, or summarize the law. Use these to develop a legal strategy and understand complex issues before moving to the primary authority.
- Books and journals: Authoritative guidance and scholarly commentary. Use the table of contents to navigate to specific legal theories.
- Jury verdicts and settlements: Records of past trial outcomes and settlement amounts. Use these to value a case or gauge potential recovery.
- Forms: Standardized legal templates that can be adapted for specific filings or agreements.
- Corporate filings: Official records submitted by businesses to government entities, useful for due diligence or identifying company structures.
- News and blogs: Current legal news and commentary. Use SmartTopics to personalize a newsfeed that alerts you to changes in your practice area.
- Practice notes: Practical research guides that provide step-by-step instructions for specific legal tasks.
- Key Number System: A specialized tool used for Canadian case law to find related cases based on a unique classification system.
Up Next
Once you have identified the right document type, use citators to confirm a case is still valid authority before relying on it. See Verify Case Law With Citators.