The following sites are either lists of legal topics or discussions of hot topics within specific areas of law. If you are looking for an essay topic, browse one of the sites below.
Legal encyclopedias and subject treatises are good resources for someone starting out on a legal research topic. A legal encyclopedia will set out the main outlines of an area of legal study, while a subject treatise will provide in-depth coverage of an area of law with references to primary sources.
If you are looking for historical materials, there are several resources available through the library:
Law reviews and journals are the main resource for academic legal scholarship. Journals are generally edited by the students of the law school publishing the journal. Thus, law journals are not in the strictest sense 'peer reviewed'. Law Journals are, however, the standard in legal scholarship and have all the prestige and credibility of 'peer review'. There are several databases available through the University of Illinois Library for searching and browsing law reviews and journals.