Federal Statutes
Keyword Searching, Index, & Table of Contents
If you use Westlaw or Lexis+, you can find statutes using keyword searches. Please consult our Case Law Research LibGuide for more information on keyword searching.
In addition, on Westlaw, you may click on either Advanced Search or Search Tips on the top-right corner to learn more about Boolean terms and connectors.
On Lexis+, Click on Advanced Search (top-right corner) to learn more about Boolean terms and connectors.
If you do not have a citation, index is a tool you can use to find relevant statutes. Think of words to describe your situation. You may have to try synonyms and alternative expressions (i.e. divorce, family, dissolution). Sometimes the term you selected will refer you to another term (i.e. "Gaming, see Gambling").
- If you are using the print set, you will find the indexes at the end of the print set.
- You may also access the index via Westlaw and Lexis+
- United States Code Annotated (Westlaw)
- United States Code Service (Lexis+)
U.S.C. is the topical arrangement of federal statutes. In addition to using the index, browsing the table of contents is another way to search statutes.
Statutory sections on a particular topic are usually found adjacent to one another. Therefore, to ensure that you have found all the relevant sections, it is sometimes useful to browse the table of contents for a particular chapter to determine if there are other relevant sections.
Example: 17 U.S.C. § 904 governs copyright duration for semiconductor chip products. Subsections (a) and (b) refer to a mask work. After looking at the surrounding sections using the table of contents, you will find that section 901 provides a definition for a mask work.
