Legal Research Resources for Self-represented litigants

Legal research can be difficult.  Law librarians can provide insight and guidance on the process but sometimes patrons need an in-depth guide that will walk them through the process.  Below are some resources geared towards self-represented litigants.  These guides offer easy to understand explanation of basic legal concepts and how the concepts are useful in legal research. 

• Locating the Law: A Handbook for Non-Law Librarians.  The 6^th edition of this online publication covers a variety of topics useful to the self-represented litigant including how to conduct basic legal research techniques. https://scallnet.org/publications/
• Mini Research Class available on the California Counties Public Law Libraries website.  This quick tutorial is a very basic explanation of resources available for researching California law.  
• Legal Research for Pro-Se Litigants: Getting Started- This guide was created by the Justice & Diversity Center, a non-profit organization.  It provides information on how to start researching a federal civil case https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/filelibrary/2900/Legal-Research-Pro-Se-Litigants.pdf.
• If you have a legal research question, you can also utilize the “Ask a Law Librarian” chat service which is staffed by California Law Librarians. This free service is available on Monday-Thursday from 8 am-5 pm and on Friday, 8 am-4 pm. 
• Legal Research: How to Find & Understand the Law (Nolo, 2018) - This easy to understand legal research guide is intended for use by self-represented litigants with easy to understand explanations of the US court system, how to research and how to write a memorandum.  This guide is available at all three Law Library branch locations at Ref. KF 240. E45 2015.