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Legal Research Basics

Federal Statutes

Individual statutes are first published as Public Laws:

Next, Public Laws are compiled chronologically into the Statutes at Large:

Finally, statutes are rearranged by subject and published in the United States Code:

Annotated versions of the U.S. Code, which provide helpful editorial enhancements, can be found on Westlaw and Lexis+:

California Statutes

Individual statutes are first published as Chapters:

Next, statutes are published chronologically in the Statutes of California:

Finally, statutes are organized by subject and codified. California has no official statutory code. Annotated versions of the California Codes are available on Westlaw and Lexis+: