This guide highlights a variety of resources that may be useful for legal issues related to small and unincorporated business entities. Please consult the Law Library’s other guides for resources on related topics.

Reference Sources:

• Business Torts: A Fifty State Guide REFERENCE KF1301. A2.
• Dictionary of Banking Terms REFERENCE HG151 .F57 2006.
• Dictionary of Business Acronyms REFERENCE HF1002.5 .D53 1991.
• Dictionary of Business Terms REFERENCE HF1001 .F78 2007.
• Encyclopedia of Associations REFERENCE AS22 .E5 Also available online at Associations Unlimited (see description below).

GMU Online Resources:

• ABI-Inform 1984-present. Access to scholarly journals covering business conditions, trends, management techniques, competitive and product information, and a wide variety of other topics. Some articles appear in full-text.
• Ad Age Datacenter Provides free access to databases containing information on advertisers, media spending, and related topics. 
• Associations Unlimited Combines data from the Encyclopedia of Associations with IRS information about nonprofit associations, including association materials like brochures, logos, and membership applications.
• Bloomberg Law Allows you to search legal, news, and business information with one search engine. Please see a reference librarian for help accessing the database.
• BNA Provides numerous law-related databases on topics such as workplace law, tax, accounting, commerce, and intellectual property.
• Business Source Complete (EBSCO) Provides access to scholarly journals in all disciplines of business, case studies, and company and industry reports.
• Doing Business This website sponsored by the International Financial Corporation and the World Bank provides information on the international business climate, including data, ratings, reports, research, and laws.
• Emerald Full-text journals focused on all apsects of business and management.
• Factiva International business news from Reuters and Dow Jones.
• Gale Directory Library Access to multiple reference sources, including Business Rankings Annual, Market Share Reporter, and Wards Business Directory.
• Hoover's Company Records (Proquest) Information on more than 12 million companies, both public and private, in more than 600 industries worldwide. Also available on Lexis (below).
• Human Resources Abstracts (EBSCO) Abstracts of articles related to human resource management, employee assistance, and organizational behavior.
• Mergent Horizon Detailed information about companies actively traded on the NYSE, AMEX and NASDAQ.
• Mergent Online Provides information about private and public companies, including their SEC filings and current and historical annual reports. Also provides news, industry reports, and competitive intelligence.
• Reference USA Provides data on more than 20 million U.S. businesses.
• Regional Business News (EBSCO) Full-text access to business journals, newspapers, and newswires covering all U.S. metropolitan and rural areas (compliments Business Source Complete database, above).
• RIA Checkpoint Contains a substantial collection of federal and state tax materials, including legislation, IRS materials, cases, and journals.

LexisNexis (Law School Users Only) databases include:

• Business Organizations and Tax Planning
• Business Law Monographs
• Business Torts
• Business Transactions LexisNexis Forms
• Drafting Partnership and LLC Agreements: Tax Provisions
• General Business Emerging Issues
• Hoover's Company and Industry Reports
• Labor & Employment Law

Westlaw (Law School Users Only) databases include:

• Advising Small Businesses (ADVSB)
• All State and General Business Organization Forms, Clauses and Checklists (BUSFORM-ALL)
• Business Organizations - Law Reviews, Texts & Bar Journals (BUS-TP)
• Choice of Business Entity (CHOICEBE)
• Forms for Small Business Entities (FRMSMBUS)
• Immigration Law and Business (IMLB)
• Limited Liability Companies: Law, Practice and Forms (LLCLPF)
• Partnership Law and Practice: General and Limited Partnerships (PTNRSHPLP)
• Revised Uniform Partnership Act (RUPA)
• Venture Capital and Small Business Financings (SECVENTURE)
• West's Legal Forms - Business Organizations (WESTLF-BUS)
• Willis, Pennell & Postelwaite: Partnership Taxation (WGL-PARTTAX)
• Whitmore, Nelson, McKee, Kuller, Hallmark & Garcia: Structuring & Drafting Partnership Agreements: Including LLC Agreements (WGL-SDPA)

Treatises and Other Books:

Some examples follow, for other publications search the GMU Library Catalog.

• Advising the Small Business: Forms and Advice for the Legal Practitioner, by Jean L. Bateman, KF1659 .B38 2007.
• Employment Law, by Mark A. Rothstein, RESERVE KF3455 .E4682 2010. 
• Emerging Companies Guide: A Resource for Professionals and Entrepreneurs, eds. Brown & Gutterman, KF1355 .E46 2005.
• Farnsworth on Contracts, by E. Allan Farnsworth, RESERVE KF801 .F367 2004.
• Fundamentals of Franchising, eds. Barkoff & Selden, KF2023 .F86 2008.
• Immigration Fundamentals: A Guide to Law and Practice, by Fragomen & Bell, KF4819 .F7252.
• The Law of Agency Partnership, by William A. Gregory, RESERVE KF1345 .R48 2001.
• Law of Unfair Competition, Trademarks, and Monopolies, by Rudolf Callmann, KF3180 .C25.
• Limited Liability Companies: Tax and Business Law, by Bishop and Kleinberger, KF1380 .Z95. Also available on Westlaw (WGL-LLC).
• Limited Liability Company Handbook, by Mark A. Sargent, KF1380 .A9 L5.
• Michie on Banks and Banking, KF974 .M42.
• O'Neal and Thompson's Close Corporations and LLCs: Law and Practice, KF1466 .O52. Also on Westlaw (CCORPLLC).
• Partnership Law and Practice, by Callison & Sullivan, KF1375 .C35. Also available on Westlaw (PTNRSHPLP).
• Principles of Sales Law, by White & Summers, RESERVE KF915 .W45 2009.
• Ribstein and Keatinge on Limited Liability Companies, RESERVE KF1380 .R54. Also on Westlaw (RKLLC).

Journals:

These and other journals are available in PDF and searchable on HeinOnline. You can also consult the Index to Legal Periodicals to search for articles.

• Columbia Business Law Review, K3 .O577.
• DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal, K4 .E6.
• Journal of Business Law, K10 .O316.
• Journal of Legal Studies in Business, K10 .O43955.
• Stanford Journal of Law, Business & Finance, K23 .T29. 

Popular Works:

Many titles intended for non-lawyers have forms that are useful to law students, too. These are published by Nolo.com formerly Nolo Press. They are located in the Reference Section on the First Floor, Range 112. Older editions are on the third floor and can be checked out. They often have CDs available at the Circulation Desk. Some are available electronically through the GMU Library Catalog. Examples include:

• The Employer's Legal Handbook, by Fred Steingold, REFERENCE KF3455 .S737 2009.
• Form Your Own Limited Liability Company, by Anthony Mancuso, REFERENCE KF1380 .N36 2009.
• Legal Guide for Starting & Running a Small Business, by Fred Steingold, REFERENCE KF1659 .Z9 S76 2006..
• Tax Savvy for Small Business, by Frederick W. Daily, REFERENCE KF6491 D35 2010.

U.S. Government Internet Resources:

• Department of Energy: Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization
• Department of Labor: Small Business Resource Center
• Environmental Protection Agency: Small Business Gateway
• Federal Business Opportunities
• House Small Business Committee
• Internal Revenue Service: Small Business and Self Employed Tax Center
• Office of the U.S. Trade Representative: Resource Center for Small Business
• Securities and Exchange Commission: Information for Small Business
• Senate Commitee on Small Business Entrepreneurship
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources: Small Business
• U.S. Small Business Administration