Mabie Law Library

The Santa Clara University Law Library houses the basic legal reference and research collection for the students and faculty at the School of Law. The law library underwent a $6 million expansion and renovation in 1988. The law library now occupies approximately 40,000 square feet of space and offers student conference rooms, computer labs, a wireless network, enhanced audio-visual capabilities, and increased student seating for over 400 students. The collection totals over  543,000 volumes in hard copy, microform, and digital formats.

Law Library’s Mission and Goals

The law library’s primary mission is threefold:

• To support Santa Clara University School of Law’s goal to excel in preparing its students to meet the challenges of a legal profession that is increasingly global, technologically sophisticated, and culturally diverse.
• To provide a collection that supports the teaching, research, and writing programs of the faculty and students of the law school.
• To provide access to the collection by assisting and instructing faculty and students in utilizing the collection.

In carrying out the second and third components of the library’s mission, the library will achieve the first part of its mission to support the law school in preparing its students to meet the challenge of the legal profession. In fulfilling this mission, the library assumes responsibility for providing basic legal materials needed for the Santa Clara University community.

The library has two primary goals:

• To maintain an up-to-date collection that will keep pace with developing areas of the law and law related professions, as well as the changing needs of the law school curriculum. It is important that the collection evolves as the law evolves.
• To strive for excellence in providing both access to information and service to the library’s patrons.

Law Library’s Organization

Technical Services – The technical services section of the library is responsible  for processing library materials, including acquiring, cataloging, binding, etc.

Public Services – The Public Services section of the library is broken into 3 departments: Circulation, Reference and Interlibrary Loan. The Information Services Department is responsible for the circulation of library materials, including placing holds and recalling items. The Research Librarians will help you find your way around the library and assist with legal research strategies. They are always glad to be of assistance to you!

Suggestions, Problems or Repairs?

The law library staff encourages suggestions regarding the improvement of services, equipment and the collection. Please feel free to leave suggestions in the suggestion box at the circulation desk. Problems regarding security, lighting, equipment repairs, and general maintenance should also be reported to the library staff at the circulation desk.  You can also submit suggestions via email to lawcirc@scu.edu.

Page last updated: August 8, 2023

General Library Hours
Library Desk:                                                                                   Research Services:
Monday-Friday: 8am to 9pm                                                           Monday-Thursday: 7:30am to 7pm
Saturday: 9am to 9pm                                                                      Friday: 7:30am to 6pm
Sunday: 10am to 9pm

Law students have access to Charney Hall 24/7 with their Access card/mobile credentials.
Charney Hall closure days and holidays are shown in the calendar below.

The Santa Clara University Mabie Law Library houses the legal reference and research collection for the students and faculty at the School of Law.  The first law library was established in 1903 in a small building behind the Mission Church to support the University’s new legal curriculum.  After a fire that destroyed the church and surrounding building, the law library was re-established in 1926 in nearby O’Connor Hall.  In 1931 the law library was moved to the second floor of the University’s main Varsi Library.  In 1963, the law library’s collection was sizably increased and moved to a new building adjoining the Law School’s Bergin Hall and named the Edwin A. Heafey Law Library.  Additions to the law library were completed in 1973 and 1988.  In March, 2018 the law library moved to its present location in the Law School’s newly completed Charney Hall, occupying the second and third floors. 

Law Library Organization

The law library is managed by the Law Library Director and is divided into three administrative sections:

Library Services - The Library Services section of the law library is responsible for the circulation of law library materials, including placing holds and recalling items.  Additionally, Library Services staff can help you with locating course reserves and study aids, assist with Interlibrary Loan and Link+ Services (Chris – this will link to a libguide page.  This page is in development and the link is not live yet), check out tech equipment, troubleshoot printing and scanning issues, and update your Access cards. You may request general library assistance by contacting them directly at lawcirc@scu.edu or by going to the law library’s information desk.

Research Services - The Research Services section of the law library is responsible for providing research assistance for faculty, staff, and students.  The research librarians can help you locate materials for your legal research, including using electronic databases such as Westlaw, Lexis, Bloomberg Law, and CEB Onlaw, etc.  The research librarians will also assist you with password access to these databases.  You may request research assistance by contacting them directly at lawref@scu.edu. 

Technical Services - The Technical Services section of the law library is responsible for processing law library materials, including acquiring, cataloging, discarding, and binding of materials.

Law Library Mission & Goals

The law library’s primary mission is threefold:

• To support Santa Clara University School of Law’s goal to excel in preparing its students to meet the challenges of a legal profession that is increasingly global, technologically sophisticated, and culturally diverse;
• To provide a collection that supports the teaching, research, and writing programs of the faculty and students of the law school; and
• To provide access to the collection by assisting and instructing faculty and students in utilizing the collection.

In carrying out the second and third components of the law library’s mission, the law library will achieve the first part of its mission to support the law school in preparing its students to meet the challenge of the legal profession. In fulfilling this mission, the law library assumes responsibility for providing basic legal materials needed for the Santa Clara University community.

The law library has two primary goals:

• To maintain an up-to-date collection that will keep pace with developing areas of the law and law related professions, as well as the changing needs of the law school curriculum. It is important that the collection evolves as the law evolves; and
• To strive for excellence in providing both access to information and service to the library’s patrons.

Law Library Map

Lost & Found

The law library serves as the lost & found repository for the law school community.  All found items are to be brought to the law library’s information desk for safe keeping.  Lost items may be claimed by going to the law library’s information desk.  

The law library is not responsible for lost or stolen personal items and discourages patrons from leaving personal belongings unattended.

Suggestions

The law library staff encourages suggestions regarding the improvement of law library services, equipment and the collection. Please feel free to leave suggestions in the suggestion box at the information desk. Problems regarding law library security, lighting, equipment repairs, and general maintenance should also be reported to the law library staff at the information desk.  You can also submit suggestions via email to lawcir@scu.edu or lawref@scu.edu. 

The Research Services section of the law library is responsible for providing research assistance for faculty, staff, and students of the law school.  The research librarians can assist you with your legal research in many ways, including:

• We can help you begin your research by suggesting a variety of print and electronic resources about your topic;
• We can find materials for you in our online catalog, OSCAR and OneSearch;
• We can assist with law review citation checks by tracking down hard-to-find materials and deciphering obscure legal citations;
• We can explain how to use electronic databases; and
• If the item that you need is not available in our library, we can help you use Link+ or our interlibrary loan system to find the material in other library collections.

If you have a research question, please contact the research librarians at lawref@scu.edu, 408-554-4452.

Research Services Hours

Monday-Thursday: 7:30am to 7pm

Friday: 7:30am to 6pm

Holiday and summer hours may vary.  See Calendar of Library Hours for up to date hours of services.

Legal Research Guides

The law library’s research librarians have prepared a number of legal research guides specific to courses taught at the law school.  These guides can greatly assist you in doing legal research for these courses.  The guides can be found at https://lawguides.scu.edu/

“The Big Four” Subscription Legal Research Services: Westlaw, Lexis, Bloomberg Law, and CEB Onlaw

As a student or faculty member of the law school, you have access to the major four electronic legal research systems, Westlaw, Lexis, Bloomberg Law, and CEB Onlaw.  The research librarians can assist you with all areas of legal research and advanced technical support for these legal research systems.  Please contact the research librarians at lawref@scu.edu, 408-554-4452.

Other Subscription Legal Research Services

In addition to the Big Four subscription research services, the law library subscribes to a number of other valuable electronic subscription legal research services.  Most notably are:  

• HeinOnline provides access to a wide range of legal periodicals and other legal documents inPDF format;
• PLI Plus is the Practising Law Institute’s research database which provides electronic access to the full collection of PLI Press publications. Included are treatises, form books, and CLE course handbooks; and 
• Thomson Reuter’s Checkpoint Edge (on-campus access only, speak with librarian for off-campus accessibility) contains a number of databases dealing with taxation, economic policy, pension regulation, and insurance.

A complete list of legal research subscriptions that you have access to as a law student can be found at LibGuide.  The research librarians can assist you with all areas of legal research and advanced technical support for these legal research systems.  Please contact the research librarians at lawref@scu.edu, 408-554-4452.

Free Internet Legal Research Resources

Though you “get what you pay for,” the internet does offer a number of excellent free legal research resources depending upon what you are looking for.  A list of these resources vetted by the research librarians can be found at LibGuide.