Helpful Legal Resources

Here is a list of helpful legal resources that you may find useful.


LEGAL/LAW


St. Clair County Bar Association

The St. Clair County Bar Association is a private, nonprofit organization that offers services to members of the St. Clair County legal profession and to the local general public. Through the active involvement of membership, the St. Clair County Bar Association has a focus on professionalism, continual education, and community service.


Illinois State Bar Association

Founded in 1877, the Illinois State Bar Association is the premier legal association in the state. As a voluntary organization of more than 30,000 members, the Association’s primary focus is to assist Illinois lawyers in the practice of law and to promote improvements in the administration of justice. The Association engages in many important activities on behalf of the profession — among them proposing and shaping legislation, educating the public, and supporting the courts and the rule of law.


Illinois Trial Lawyers Association

The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association is a statewide organization whose members specialize in representing injured consumers and workers. Founded in 1952, the organization has more than 2,000 members.


Million Dollar Advocates Forum®

Established in 1993, the Million Dollar Advocates Forum (which includes the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum) is one of the most prestigious groups of trial lawyers in the United States.  Membership is limited to attorneys who have won million and multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements. There are over 4000 members throughout the country.  Fewer than 1% of U.S. lawyers are members.


Law Source: Illinois & Missouri

LawSource.com is the home of American Law Sources On-line (ALSO), providing a comprehensive, uniform, and useful compilation of links to freely accessible on-line sources of law for the United States and Canada. This site contains additional links to sources of commentary and practice aids that are available without charge, or available at a reasonable charge from governmental and nonprofit providers.


Missouri Casenet

Case.net is your access to the Missouri state courts automated case management system. From here you are able to inquire about case records including docket entries, parties, judgments and charges in public court. Only courts that have implemented the case management software as part of the Missouri Court Automation Program and only cases that have been deemed public under the Missouri Revised Statutes can be accessed through Case.net.


GOVERNMENT


U.S. Courts

The U.S. Courts were created under Article III of the Constitution to administer justice fairly and impartially, within the jurisdiction established by the Constitution and Congress. This section will help you learn more about the Judicial Branch and its work.


St. Clair County

​St. Clair County once stretched from Fort Massac on the Ohio River in a line northwest to the present site of Peoria, followed the Illinois River to the banks of the Mighty Mississippi and continued on to the Ohio River at Fort Massac. The area was part of the Northwest Territory which was established by Congress in 1787.


St. Clair County Circuit Clerk

The Clerk of the Circuit Court is an Illinois constitutional officer elected by the citizens of St. Clair County. They are the administrative office of the local judicial system that files thousands of cases and maintains hundreds of thousands of official records that come before the court. The Clerk of the Court also receives and holds for the taxpayers in trust moneys to be disbursed upon order of the court to over 60 state and local agencies and municipalities.


Illinois Secretary of State

As the second-largest constitutional office, the Office of the Secretary of State is visited by more Illinois residents than any other in state government. The office generates approximately $2 billion in annual revenue with about $1.2 billion a year designated for state highway construction funds.


Missouri Secretary of State

The Office of the Secretary of State has many diverse responsibilities, all linked by the common theme of information. The office is responsible for collecting, compiling, storing and publishing a variety of state documents. The Secretary of State, as keeper of the Great Seal of the State of Missouri, authenticates official acts of the governor. In addition, the Secretary of State serves as the chief elections official in Missouri.


Law Library of Congress

Congress established its Law Library in 1832, recognizing its need for ready access to reliable legal materials. The Law Library has grown over the years to become the world’s largest law library, with a collection of over 2.65 million volumes spanning the ages and covering virtually every jurisdiction in the world.


OTHER


The Greater Belleville Chamber of Commerce

The Greater Belleville Chamber of Commerce is a membership organization that supports and advances business and community interests, as well as the quality of life in Belleville and surrounding communities. The Greater Belleville Chamber of Commerce was ranked the third largest Chamber in the Greater St. Louis Area according to the St. Louis Business Journal (2016). The list ranks chambers according to the most recent annual budget. The Chamber fell behind the Washington Area Chamber of Commerce ($2.28 million) and the St. Louis Regional Chamber ($9.5 million).


Belleville News Democrat

The Belleville News-Democrat is strongly committed to our responsibility as southwestern Illinois’ most compelling and trustworthy information source, through our newspaper, other print products and website. The Belleville News-Democrat was founded in 1858. In 1883, the Weekly Democrat merged with the Belleville News to become the Belleville News-Democrat. Since its founding, the newspaper has had a succession of owners. It was a family-owned newspaper from 1891 to 1972, until its purchase by Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. Knight Ridder acquired the newspaper in 1997. McClatchy acquired the newspaper in 2006 with its purchase of Knight Ridder.


St. Louis Post Dispatch

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch & STLtoday.com are the No. 1 St. Louis, Missouri site for news, sports, and entertainment.