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Mind the Research Gap: Law School to Real World

Minnesota Specific Research

For a variety of reasons, you mostly learn Federal Legal Research in law school.  However, depending on where you go for the summer, chances are you will be doing mostly state specific research.  Just like with federal research, each State has it's own resources for aiding the young attorney, and Minnesota is no exception.  If you're looking for guidance specifically on Minnesota research, you've come to the right place.  If you're looking for another state's specific resources, see a Law Librarian for help on where to find that information. 

Onward!

Minnesota Primary Law

Minnesota Constitution

  • Minnesota Constitutions
    • Constitution of 1857 - Two versions (Democrat and Republic) available at the Minnesota Historical Society website
    • Restructured Constitution of 1974 (current Constitution), proposed amendments, and amendments available via Minnesota Revisor website
    • Commentary
      • William Anderson, A History of the Constitution of Minnesota - available through HeinOnline (UST login required)
      • Mary Jane Morrison, The Minnesota State Constitution: A Reference Guide - available through UST Libraries

Minnesota Session Laws

The Minnesota Legislature passes bills and they are compiled as "session laws" at the end of each legislative session. Minnesota's session laws can be found in the following sources

Minnesota Statutes

Minnesota Local Laws

Minnesota Case Research - Free

  • Dunnell's Minnesota Digest: an encyclopedia of Minnesota Law - available in the law library (also on Lexis, see below)
  • West's Minnesota Digest, 2d - available in the Law Library (also on Westlaw, see below)
  • Minnesota Supreme Court and Appellate Court Opinions and Briefs - available online via the Minnesota State Law Library
  • NorthWestern Reporter, 2d (1879 - present) - available in print at the Minnesota State Law Library
  • Minnesota Trial Courts - Minnesota is divided into 10 judicial districts, with trial courts located in each county. Trial Court opinions are not officially published, but this site provides a map of the judicial districts, along with links to the homepage for each district and the trial courts within the districts. Also provided here are links to "problem solving courts" such as Drug Courts, Mental Health Courts, Truancy Courts, Community Courts, Domestic Violence Courts, and Teen Court.
  • Minnesota Appellate Courts Case Management System (P-MACS) - Information about the status of appeals in the Minnesota courts system, including docket entries and links to orders or opinions for cases after March 2003. Information on the public interface is one day behind the live system used by the courts. 

  • Minnesota Trial Court Public Access System - Search case records in criminal/traffic/petty case records, civil/family/probate case records or search for judgments. Information on this site is not the official court record, and should be verified with the court administration.

Minnesota Case Research - Login or Password Required

Lexis

Westlaw

Minnesota Administrative Rules

  • Available via the Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Rules are usually grouped under the agency that administers them. Some agencies are assigned one chapter in Minnesota Rules; others have many chapters. The chapters appear in alphabetical order by agency or department name. You can also find a rule by looking at the numerical arrangement of chapters.
  • Remember, while the rules themselves are necessary and useful, they are promulgated from the Agency itself (not the Legislature). Many Agency's websites not only list the rules specific to them, but also include reports, data, proposed rule information, etc.  Use the Minnesota Government's Agency Index to find an Agency's website.

Minnesota Administrative Decisions

  • Minnesota Administrative Decisions & Guidance (Westlaw, password required) contains documents released by various administrative and state agencies in Minnesota, including:

    Attorney General of Minnesota

    Minnesota State Finance Commission

    Minnesota Bureau of Mediation Services

    Minnesota Department of Human Rights

    Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings

    Minnesota Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board

    Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board

    Minnesota Public Utilities Commission

    Minnesota Department of Commerce

    Minnesota Department of Revenue

    Minnesota Workers Compensation Court of Appeals

  • Minnesota State Register (Lexis, password required): The State Register is the official publication of the State of Minnesota, published weekly to fulfill the legislative mandate set forth in Minnesota Statutes section 14.46. The MN - Minnesota Register (MNRGST) file contains: proposed, adopted, exempt, expedited emergency, and withdrawn rules.

 

Step-by-Step Guide to MN Leg. History

Minnesota Session Laws

Minnesota Legislative Documents

Bill Tracking

 

 

Minnesota Secondary Sources

Minnesota Encyclopedia and Practical Guidance

Don't be fooled by the words "Encyclopedia" or "Practical", the following resources are gold when it comes to Minnesota legal research.  Each section gives you quick access to current Minnesota cases, statutes and other sources with easy-to-scan subject headings, summaries outlining the scope of each area, useful cross references to related subject areas, citations to historical and supplemental information, and more. It is very likely if you come to a Law Librarian with an issue, they will ask: "Did you check Dunnell's or Minnesota Practice?"

  • Dunnell's Minnesota Digest (Lexis, Password required): The perfect place to start your research, Dunnell Minnesota Digest is the most respected and widely-used practice tool available to the Minnesota attorney. Dunnell is an encyclopedia of Minnesota law providing a one-stop, comprehensive synthesis of more than 350 subject areas drawing upon Minnesota Supreme Court and Court of Appeals cases, statutes, and rules since 1910.
  • Minnesota Practice Series (Westlaw, password required): The Minnesota Practice Series is a multi-volume set of titles written by practitioners which focus on the practice of law in Minnesota.
  • Minnesota CLE eCoursebooks: 10 plus years of CLE seminar materials including full-text outlines, forms, checklists and more.  Access requires a passcode, see your Law Librarian for instructions.

Minnesota Practice Area Specifics

Lexis (password required)