Research Guides: LEGL 226: Business Law: Home

Home

Business & Economics Librarian

Shana Gass

she/hers

Email Me

Contact:

sgass@towson.edu

410-704-2395

Subjects: Accounting, Business, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Human Resource Development, Management, Marketing

Hot Topics & Cases

Take a look at what topics are being discussed in the business law community, and which new cases are being brought:

Business Law Today - magazine from the business section of the American Bar Association
Law 360 - stories from the legal information site on areas such as Corporate, Employment, Intellectual Property, Consumer Protection
CorpWatch - organization focused on accountability for multinational corporations
State Attorney General offices bring cases, sometimes involving corporations: MD / NY / CA / NJ offices
You can also see which cases are being brought by various government agencies
Examples: the Securities & Exchange Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Justice, or Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
For class actions, check out ClassAdvocate.com, ClassAction.com, or Securities Class Action Clearinghouse from Stanford U. (for investor lawsuits)
Recent opinions from the Maryland Courts

Brainstorming & Refining a Topic

Defining the scope of your topic (refining an issue to a question) can be one of the most challenging aspects of a research project!

Some possible angles:

Specific case you have read or heard about
Circumstance you’ve experienced
Starting with an Industry or Profession
Picking an area of law
Examples: employment/labor, intellectual property, antitrust, contracts
Starting with a known violation of law, such as fraud or breach of contract
Browsing business and/or legal news to discover any or all of the above!

Whatever ideas you have, we can start with those! I'm happy to work with you to find information that will help you focus your topic.
- Shana the Biz librarian

Background Information

SAGE Knowledge This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Collection of encyclopedias in a variety of topics including law, business, society, and the environment

West's Encyclopedia of American Law by Jeffrey Lehman; Shirelle Phelps
Provides information on more than 5,000 legal topics, including articles covering important issues, biographies, definitions of legal terms and more.
Encyclopedia of White-Collar & Corporate Crime
Background on types of crimes and legal concepts as well as specific companies, people, and corporate crime scandals.

CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
Gives background on a different topic every week, often of legal / regulatory significance. Sample reports: Reining in Big Tech, Health & Safety Regulations, Corporate Diversity & Inclusion, Protecting Consumer Finances
IBISWorld This link opens in a new window
Trends, statistics, and analysis for a wide range of U.S. industries.
PROTIP: To get some basic information on regulation of an industry, pull up the report and then head to Operating Conditions > Regulations & Policy

People's Law Library of Maryland
Self-help legal resource from the Maryland Law Library

News

News & Newspapers, Current This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Articles from the Baltimore Sun (1990-current), Christian Science Monitor (1988-current), New York Times (1980-current), Wall Street Journal (1984-current), and Washington Post (1987-current).
Factiva This link opens in a new window
US & international news. Use filter options below the big search box to explore legal topics in various industries/professions
Newsbank Access World News This link opens in a new window
US and international news.

Nexis Uni: News Search
U.S. and international news, media transcripts, and blogs.

Primary Legal Materials

United States Code
The United States Code is the codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States.
United States Statutes at Large
The United States Statutes at Large, typically referred to as the Statutes at Large, is the permanent collection of all laws and resolutions enacted during each session of Congress.
General Assembly of Maryland | Statutes
Text of current Maryland Law without annotations.
Nexis Uni: Law Search (Statutes & Legislation)
Search for statutory law by popular name, or use a public law, US Code, or Statutes at Large citation. Some records will include History / Annotations: Note these are not part of the original law but help you interpret what you're reading.
PROTIPS:
1) Go to Guided search part of home screen
2) Select A Publication for "what are you interested in"
3) Type your law (citation or popular name) in "Search for Something Specific?"
4) Under "Find Publication," type USCS - United States Code Service - Title 1 through 54
5) Hit search!

Nexis Uni: Cases
State and U.S. opinions on concluded cases.
To locate cases, first click CASES for "What are you interested in" and choose jurisdiction (state or federal) before adding your keywords / selecting the date.
Congress.gov
The official source for federal legislative information from 1995 to current day. It includes legislation, The Congressional Record (verbatim account of remarks made in congress), committee information, and committee reports.
Code of Federal Regulations
The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) annual edition is the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the departments and agencies of the Federal Government.
Code of Maryland Regulations | Nexis Uni
This publication contains rules that have been adopted by the state agencies to implement, interpret, or make specific the law enforced or administered by the agency.

ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Primary source congressional publications and legislative research materials. Find congressional hearings, committee prints, committee reports and documents from 1970-2010, and the daily Congressional Record from 1985-present. Compiled legislative histories from 1969-present.

Law Reviews, Scholarly Articles,& Other Analysis

Nexis Uni: Law Reviews
Law reviews are scholarly journals edited by law students, featuring analysis of case law and other legal issues.*
*It is usually helpful to know names of specific laws and cases before embarking on a law review search.

TIP:
To locate law reviews, first click LAW REVIEWS for "What are you interested in" and choose jurisdiction (state or federal) before adding your keywords / selecting the date.

Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Scholarly articles on business, including aspects of business law. Also includes news, trade publications (industry/professional magazines) and reports.
Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Scholarly journals in a wide range of subject areas, including business and legal subjects. Also includes some news, magazines, and trade publications (industry/professional magazines).
Accounting, Tax & Banking Collection This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Scholarly articles on accounting, auditing, tax, financial management, financial planning and banking. Also includes some news and trade/professional publications.

Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports Reports to Congress on current and contemporary national social, economic, scientific, international, issues, as well as policy options.

Ask a Librarian

LEGL 226: Business Law