Bernard E Witkin Alameda County Law Library

Specialties

The Mission of the Bernard E. Witkin Alameda County Law Library is to provide access to current legal information to the public, attorneys and residents. From within the library there is free access to these legal research databases: CEB OnLaw, DissoMaster, Fastcase, HeinOnline (law reviews), LEXIS, Shepard’s, Westlaw and WestlawNext. VerdictSearch is available for a small fee for use within the library. Nolo (EBSCO Legal Information Center) is the only database available for free from outside the library.

MCLEs, events and art exhibits are held in the library.

Conference and meeting rooms may be reserved for use by judges, members of the bar, and pro per litigants for court-​related activities as well as business people and business organizations for business-​related activities for a reasonable fee.

The Alameda County Law Library has one branch library. The Hayward Branch Library has its own Yelp entry.

History

Established in 1891.

The Alameda County Law Library has proudly served the Alameda County Legal community and its citizens for over one hundred years. Established in 1891, the Alameda County Law Library is one of 58 county law libraries that serve the people of the state of California. Each county law library functions as a separate governmental entity within its county and derives the bulk of its income from civil filing fees.

The law library provides free access to the judiciary, state and county officials, members of the bar and residents of the county. (California Business and Professions Code Secs § 6300 – 6365.)

Meet the Manager

Director and Board of Trustee S.

Manager

Mark E. Estes, the law library director, was appointed by the Board of Trustees in 2008. The current trustees (December 1, 2013) are President, the Honorable Jo-​Lynne Lee; Vice President, the Honorable Jacob Blea III; Boyd E. Burnison, Esq.; the Honorable Cecilia Castellanos; David E. Hunter, Esq.; the Honorable Vernon K. Nakahara, and the Honorable Julia Spain.