Legal Information Institute
Ranked in Legal Research Software·Free plan
About
The Legal Information Institute (LII) publishes legal information online for free and creates materials to help the public understand it. Its web collections include the U.S. Constitution, U.S. Code, Code of Federal Regulations, state regulations, Supreme Court opinions, and federal rules. LII enriches government-published legal data by identifying, extracting, annotating, and indexing its features. Explanatory material includes Wex, Supreme Court Bulletin previews, and case summaries in the Gender Justice Collection. Users can search case law and statutes and regulations, consult legal commentary, and use citation tools. Read It Online takes a formal case citation and provides links to free and paid judicial-opinion resources. The site also offers Introduction to Basic Legal Citation, a free alternative to the Bluebook, maintained by LII co-founder Professor Peter Martin. LII provides enhanced access to regulations from all 50 states and Washington, DC; coverage also includes U.S. federal law and selected world law. Founded in 1992 and based in Ithaca, New York, LII says its work aims to make legal information easier to find and understand. It does not provide legal advice or personalized research help.
Who it is for
LII suits members of the public looking for free access to U.S. legal collections, explanatory material, and citation tools. It is not a source of legal advice or personalized research assistance.
What is good
- Free access to legal collections and explanatory materials.
- Collections include federal and state legal materials.
- Read It Online resolves formal case citations.
- Offers a free legal citation guide.
- State regulation coverage includes all 50 states and Washington, DC.
What to know first
- Does not provide legal advice.
- Does not provide personalized legal research help.
- Available on the web.
Verdict
LII brings legal collections, commentary, and citation tools together for public access. Readers seeking legal interpretations or personalized research assistance will need help beyond what LII provides.
Compared on legal research software
- Free plan
- Yeslaw.cornell.edu
- Case law search
- Yeslaw.cornell.edu
- Statute & regulation search
- Yeslaw.cornell.edu
- Legal commentary
- Yeslaw.cornell.edu
- Citation tools
- Yeslaw.cornell.edu
- Jurisdiction coverage
- U.S. federal law; all 50 U.S. states; selected world lawlaw.cornell.edu
- Research alerts
- Yeslaw.cornell.edu
Facts
- Purpose
- LII publishes law online for free and creates materials to help people understand it.law.cornell.edu · 4 Oct 2026
- Legal collections
- The site provides collections including the U.S. Constitution, U.S. Code, Code of Federal Regulations, state regulations, Supreme Court opinions, and federal rules.about.law.cornell.edu · 4 Oct 2026
- Enriched legal data
- LII identifies, extracts, annotates, indexes, and presents features in government-published legal data.about.law.cornell.edu · 4 Oct 2026
- Explanatory content
- LII creates original materials including Wex, Supreme Court Bulletin previews, and case summaries in its Gender Justice Collection.about.law.cornell.edu · 4 Oct 2026
- State regulations
- LII makes regulations from all 50 states plus Washington, DC available with enhanced features and functionality.about.law.cornell.edu · 4 Oct 2026
- Citation resolver
- Read It Online lets users enter a formal case citation to get hyperlinks to free and paid resources for judicial opinions.about.law.cornell.edu · 4 Oct 2026
- Legal citation guide
- Introduction to Basic Legal Citation is a free alternative to the Bluebook and is maintained by LII co-founder Professor Peter Martin.about.law.cornell.edu · 4 Oct 2026
- Audience
- LII describes its work as making legal information more findable and understandable for the public.about.law.cornell.edu · 4 Oct 2026
- Support limit
- LII cannot provide legal advice, interpretations of law, or personalized help with legal research or school projects.law.cornell.edu · 4 Oct 2026
- Technical help
- Users can report site problems through the contact form, and LII says most problems with dysfunctional scripts or software are fixed right away.law.cornell.edu · 4 Oct 2026
- Privacy and security
- LII says it takes steps to safeguard personally identifiable information but cannot guarantee electronic data will never be accessed or released inconsistently with its policy.law.cornell.edu · 4 Oct 2026
- Payments
- LII says it does not sell products or services through the website, and PayPal collects donation credit card numbers rather than LII.law.cornell.edu · 4 Oct 2026
- Licensing
- Special licensing or redistribution terms can be requested through the permissions category in LII's contact form.law.cornell.edu · 4 Oct 2026
Company
- Founded
- 1992law.cornell.edu · 28 Sept 2026
- Headquarters
- Ithaca, New York, United Stateslaw.cornell.edu · 28 Sept 2026
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Where it ranks on Inferse
- Best Legal Research Software in 2026#16 of 32
Sources
- law.cornell.edu· checked 4 Oct 2026
- about.law.cornell.edu/our-work/· checked 4 Oct 2026
- about.law.cornell.edu· checked 4 Oct 2026
- law.cornell.edu/lii/help· checked 4 Oct 2026
- law.cornell.edu/lii/terms/privacy_policy· checked 4 Oct 2026