Law new refers to any area of legal practice that is evolving rapidly. This includes new areas of technology, working with underserved communities and rethinking strategies for how to provide legal services. New law can be a source of significant growth for any firm and is worth close attention.
New laws can come from the legislature or the courts, but many are enacted by local governments. City, county and state lawmakers frequently pass laws to address local issues and meet the needs of their communities. These laws can range from zoning ordinances to building codes and employment regulations. New law also can come in the form of administrative rules, which are adopted by agencies that enforce or implement state or federal laws.
In addition to new legislation, courts regularly issue decisions that change or expand existing law. These rulings are called case law. Court decisions can be cited as authority for future cases, and lawyers frequently use case law to help them understand and interpret new or changing law.
This section of Loyola’s Guide to Research contains a collection of recent and archived case law, statutes and regulatory materials, as well as links to other useful resources. A brief description of each item is provided, as well as a link to the full text of the opinion or statute and, where available, the source law. The KeyCite Overruling Risk icon on a case indicates that the decision may be implicitly undermined by subsequent cases or legislative changes.
New legislation and administrative rules are often published in the City’s law journals or on government websites. To find current law, visit the Laws of the City of New York, the City Council Legislation website or NYC Rules.
To find a specific statute, you can search the Laws of the City of New York or NYC Rules using keywords or browse by topic. You can also access law journals by visiting the databases of our subscription partners, Westlaw, LexisNexis or HeinOnline. All of these databases are available to Loyola students and staff through the law library.
You can also use Thomas, a Congressional website, to find pending and recently enacted legislation, including federal statutes. Once a statute is enacted, it can be difficult to keep up with the changes to that legislation. To track a statute, you can check if it has been changed (amended) or revoked (repealed) on a periodic basis by searching for the legislation in Thomas.
Learn about the legislative process in the United States. This article describes how a bill becomes a law by passing through the committees of both the House of Representatives and Senate, where members of each chamber will research, discuss and make changes to the legislation before it is put up for a vote. The process is slightly different in each chamber.