Helpful Hints

You should be cautious about relying on the Internet for legal research. Case law is, for the most part, limited to relatively recent decisions. Statutory and regulatory materials are not necessarily complete or up to date. The search software available at most sites is not as sophisticated as that provided by commercial sources.

Primary Sources of Special Interest to Virginia Lawyers

Opinions of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Cases from 1996 forward are included (PDF).

Opinions of the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Court of Appeals of Virginia
Supreme Court and Court of Appeals opinions from mid-1995 forward are available at this site maintained by the Virginia Supreme Court.

Constitution of Virginia

Code of Virginia
The code is available in a searchable form. The search examples are very helpful.

Virginia Administrative Code
The administrative code is also searchable.

Legislation - 2008 Virginia General Assembly
This searchable information is updated regularly during the legislative session. Information from previous sessions is also available.

Opinions of the Attorney General of Virginia
Opinions from January 1996 forward are available at this site maintained by the Office of the Virginia Attorney General.

Legal Ethics Opinions
Virginia CLE maintains a collection of recent Virginia legal ethics opinions that may be searched by key words.

Virginia Courts

Supreme Court of Virginia
This site provides links to many Virginia courts.

Other Sources

Legal Information Institute
Cornell Law School maintains this site, which includes the United States Code, opinions of the United States Supreme Court, and links to many other useful sources of legal information. Opinions are available shortly after cases are decided. Cases from 1990 forward and selected earlier cases are included.

Virginia State Bar
A who's who of the Virginia State Bar leadership and staff. This site includes a very useful listing of VSB staff members' responsibilities.

Virginia State Bar Risk Manager
John J. Brandt, under the auspices of the Virginia State Bar's Special Committee on Lawyer Malpractice Insurance, operates a confidential telephone hotline attorney consultation service for all members of the VSB, free of charge.

The Virginia Bar Association
Information about The Virginia Bar Association and links to a variety of resources.

The Virginia Law Foundation
The Virginia Law Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit organization established by the Virginia State Bar in 1974, and Virginia CLE's governing body.