Free access to subscription databases at your Ontario courthouse library!
E-LiRN is a suite of electronic resources available in all courthouse libraries across Ontario.
All of the resources listed below are available on-site at your nearest courthouse library (find all the libraries on this map). It’s worth the drive to access these time-saving, comprehensive and case-winning resources that you can use for FREE at the your local courthouse library!
NEW! Rangefindr will be available REMOTELY to all lawyers in Ontario as of September 1, 2024!
vLex products are available REMOTELY
in Northern locations. Learn more and consult your local courthouse library staff for access.
e-LiRN Resources
| CPD Resources | Search the full text of Law Society CPD articles or browse by topic / chapter using AccessCLE. CPD materials offer practical advice from expert practitioners, especially on new/developing areas of law, cases or legislation. |
| Criminal Source (WestLaw) | Extensive criminal codes, texts by noted experts, and case law. |
| Estates & Trusts Source (WestLaw) | Schnurr’s Estate Litigation, Histrop’s Estate Planning Precedents, fillable forms, and more |
| Family Source (WestLaw) | Child and spousal support guidelines, checklists, texts, and more |
| HeinOnline | HeinOnline’s Core Content for Canada is a comprehensive digital library containing the full text of more than 3,000 scholarly journals, access to U.S. federal and state case law, thousands of classic legal treatises, and a wealth of government publications as well as the English Reports. This eResource is available through the Great Library portal. Please contact the Great Library to set-up your password: [email protected] |
| Practical Guidance (LexisNexis) | All Modules Available! Maximize your efficiency and keep current on practice trends and legal issues with Practical Guidance. This service offers authoritative guidance, on-point precedents, checklists, articles, practice notes. More Information (Flier) |
| QuicklawAdvance (LexisNexis) | We are continuing to provide access to Quicklaw, giving you extensive access to Canadian case law, legislation, journals, articles, Halsbury’s Laws of Canada, and QuickCite Citator. |
| Rangefindr | rangefindr.ca is a tool to help lawyers and judges find criminal sentencing ranges in minutes instead of hours. Click a few tags that describe the kinds of cases you’re looking for — such as assault cases where the accused is a first offender — and rangefindr.ca tells you what sentences were imposed in those cases. One more click and you can review the judgments themselves. Available remotely for Ontario lawyers as of September 1, 2024. |
| vLex Essentials of Canadian Law & more | vlex Canadian collections contains over 500,000 reported and unreported cases, including Maritime Law Books titles such as Ontario Appeal Cases and Ontario Trial Report. Flier about vlex Over 300 books and journals available electronically, including the Irwin Law”s Essentials of Canadian Law collection. More Information (Flier) |
| vLex VINCENT AI Legal Research | Vincent is a virtual legal assistant that finds legal citations, cited documents and the most relevant legal concepts in any legal document, generating a list of documents for you to review, including legislation, case law, books, journal articles and model contracts in vLex More Information (Flier) |
Open-Access Legal Resources
| CanLII | Content includes: Case Law: Judgments from all Canadian courts, as well as decisions from many tribunals nationally. Legislation: Consolidated statutes and regulations of every jurisdiction in Canada. Commentary: The companion website, CanLII Connects, hosts a database of case commentary and case summaries by the legal community. Secondary Sources: A growing number of books, law journals, articles, reports, and other resources available electronically in CanLII.org’s Commentary section. Click here to browse this content. Canadian Legal Research and Writing Guide (formerly the Best Guide to Canadian Legal Research). 2018 CanLIIDocs 161 |
| CommonLII | The Commonwealth Legal Information Institute aims to provide one central Internet location from which it is possible to search core legal information from all Commonwealth countries, including case law, legislation, treaties, law journals and law reform reports. |
| FeeFieFoeFirm | FeeFieFoeFirm is a customized Google search engine designed to search law firm newsletters in Canada as well as the US, Britain, Australia and other jurisdictions. Law firm newsletters are topical (such as cannabis) and can be great source of expert information. Use their search box to search for legal experts, law firm bulletins, articles, press releases and more. |
| Great Library Research Guides | The Great Library offers these research guides to provide a starting point for your legal research. You’ll find guides on conducting primary and secondary legal and law-related research, as well as how to access these materials via resources available at the Great Library and online. |
| Journals | CanLII Commentary This includes many Canadian law journals, books, reports, and articles. Tables of Contents for Canadian Law Journals U of T’s Bora Laskin Library posts tables of contents for new issues of law journals monthly Directory of Open Access Journals This directory of open-access journals includes scholarly law journals – use “law” as your subject to find them. |
| World Legal Information Institute (WorldLII) | WorldLII provides a single search facility for databases located on the following Legal Information Institutes: AustLII; BAILII; CanLII; HKLII; LII (Cornell); and PacLII. WorldLII also includes its own databases not found on other LIIs with decisions of international Courts and Tribunals, databases from a number of Asian countries, and databases from South Africa (provided by Wits Law School). |
Training Resources
- How to Use Digital Resource Tools – LiRN
- CPD Accredited Training is available from our vendors. More information on the resources and training available in these flyers!
Contact your nearest library for training opportunities (including CPD Professionalism hours)!
All lawyers in Ontario are entitled to use courthouse libraries’ resources for free. You are not required to be a member of an Association to access the library or its resources (LSO By-Law 13, 10).