NEW YORK CITY LEGAL RESEARCH

A few quick tips on NYC legal research:

1. The division between what is covered by the City and the State is not always clear.  Something you think might be covered by City laws might be covered by the State and vice versa.

2. Recognize (and build into your expectations about how labor-intensive the research might be) that NYC contains all the complexity of another jurisdiction, with the equivalent of its own constitution, statutes, and regulations:

• The New York City Charter (Westlaw, Lexis & Free) is like the Constitution.

• The New York City Administrative Code (Westlaw, Lexis & Free (click Laws then scroll all the way down to Miscellaneous)) are the Statutes (despite using the word Administrative).  And New York City local laws are like Session Laws.  

• The New York City Rules (Westlaw, Lexis & Free) are the Regulations. 

3. When double checking the currency of a provision in the Charter, Code or Rules, I would honestly check both the free government versions and Westlaw and/or Lexis.  None of them are good about being clear about when they were last updated.  More often I will find the more updated version on Westlaw or Lexis rather than the government site, but I have also seen the opposite situation as well.

4.  The New York City Council website is pretty good and has this useful legislation page.  The quality of NYC agency websites varies greatly, but always worth a look for potential guidance on what specific legal sections might apply.  Also, if after looking through the available resources you have questions, don't be shy about calling the agency.

5.  For more detailed research guides, check out this one from Fordham or Google NYC legal research guide.