Introduction to Finding Legal Forms

Lawyers frequently use forms and model documents to help them draft legal documents in a manner consistent with the requirements of statutes, regulations, and the rules of court procedure.

• Form books may assume any of several formats:
• Drafting guides provide a general description of the requirements of a particular document
• Checklists provide a list of required and optional elements to be included in a document
• Sample clauses provide a selection of phrases and paragraphs that can be tailored by cutting and pasting to fit the requirements of a specific situation
• Model documents provide the text of entire legal documents, often with blank spaces to be filled in for variables such as the client’s name and the date

Because every legal situation varies, an attorney’s expertise is often necessary to tailor any form to a specific legal situation or the rules of a particular court.

Do-It-Yourself Legal Forms: Plus or Peril? discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using free legal forms.

Often a library patron will come to the library asking for a specific form, or asking which form to use for a specific situation. The library staff will be happy to show you what collections of forms are available and demonstrate how to use the collections, but because library staff are not lawyers and are forbidden to provide legal advice, they cannot tell you which form to use for a specific situation, nor can they prepare a form for you.

This lesson will explain how to find and use the following types of forms:

• General Collections of Legal Forms
• Forms by Practice Area
• Federal Forms
• Texas Forms

To test what you have learned, a quiz will be provided at the end of this lesson.