Hotline attorneys should be able to perform basic legal research on the Internet. Most state and federal statutes, cases, and regulations can be accessed online as well as information and applications from federal and state agencies. Many programs operating legal hotlines now have websites where materials can be accessed directly by clients. New websites are being built daily. Searching the name of an organization or topic at www.google.com will usually lead you where you want to go. The state bar’s website is likely to have research tools for that state.

Below is a list of websites which have been helpful to hotline managers and advocates.

www.seniorlaw.com Senior Law Home Page

www.lawexpress.com LawExpress - for fee telephone/web legal advice

www.usps.gov United States Postal Service

www.fedstats.gov FedStats - federal statistics

www.uslaw.com USLaw - for fee telephone/web legal advice

www.seniorscape.com SeniorScape – eldercare resources

www.medicare.gov Official U.S. site for Medicare information

www.abanet.org/ American Bar Association

www.povertylaw.org National Center for Poverty Law

www.irs.gov Internal Revenue Service

www.nscs.dni.us National Center for State Courts

www.equaljustice.org Project for the Future of Equal Justice

www.healthfinder.gov Searchable guide to health information

www.capweb.net Internet Guide to Members of Congress

http://Thomas.loc.gov Legislative information

www.bbb.org Better Business Bureau

www.va.gov/vbs Veterans’ Administration

www.law.cornell.edu Cornell University online law library

www.house.gov U.S House of Representatives

www.consumerworld.org Consumer World- consumer resources

www.aoa.gov/aoa/pages/state Administration on Aging list of state agencies on aging

www.benefitslink.com Employee Benefits Web Site

www.naca.net National Association of Consumer Advocates

www.aarp.org AARP website

www.senate.gov United States Senate website

www.lexisone.com LexisOne legal resources online

www.aarp.org/litigation/table.html AARP grandparent visitation laws

www.ssa.gov/onlin/forms.html Social Security Administration online forms

www.benefitscheckup.org Federal and state assistance programs for seniors

www.ageinfo.org National Aging Information Center

www.cmms.gov Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services

www.uscensus.gov/population United States Census statistics

www.aoa.gov/aoa.stats/ Administration Aging Statistics

www.heathlaw.org National Health Law Program

www.nsclc.org Nation Senior Citizens Law Center

www.abiword.org American Bankruptcy Institute

www.iog.wayne.edu Wayne State University Gerontology Website

www.phrma.org/patients Pharmaceutical patient assistance program

www.consumerlawpage.com The Consumer Law Page

www.e-text.com/sslaw Electronic Text Retrieval Systems, Inc.

www.findlaw.com FindLaw legal research tools

www.google.com Mega search engine