The Adoption and Child Welfare Lawsite is uniquely designed to assist adoption and child welfare professionals, including lawyers, juvenile and family court judges, and agency counsel. The Lawsite has several features that provide legal professionals access to the latest and most complete adoption and child welfare law-related information. Such features include guided searches of state and federal statutes, significant state and federal cases, legal articles and synopsis of publications in related non-legal professional journals on matters involving adoption and child welfare law. To make the Lawsite user-friendly, it contains summaries of the legal material included in the database. Additionally, you will find helpful and informative postings on adoption and child welfare news and events and recent significant legal decisions highlighted on the home page. You will find the Adoption and Child Welfare Lawsite is easy to use – simply type in your search terms in the keyword search box or select a suggested adoption or child welfare legal topic from the drop-down search menus to begin your search. You can narrow your results by restricting your search to a particular state or federal jurisdiction. Plain English summaries of the legal material retrieved in your search are provided in addition to a downloadable version of the full text documents. In addition to the information contained on the Lawsite, the National Center for Adoption Law and Policy provides various training and educational services for lawyers and judges on adoption and child welfare issues. Such services include a bi-annual national symposium on issues related to adoption and child welfare practice; the Summer Adoption Law Institute; a weekly e-newsletter containing news updates and recent case summaries; the Wells Conference on Adoption Law; and various CLE programs. For more information about these educational services, click here. The National Center for Adoption Law and Policy has participated as amicus curiae in several cases in jurisdictions across the country. For more information about our participation as amicus curiae in a current case or for copies of filed amicus curiae briefs, please contact the National Center for Adoption Law and Policy. Law students will also find the Lawsite very informative and easy to use. In addition to the information contained on the Lawsite, The National Center for Adoption Law and Policy offers several programs designed to assist law students from law schools across the country prepare for legal careers in adoption and child welfare. For example, the National Center for Adoption Law and Policy in conjunction with Capital University Law School offers an annual National Moot Court Competition in Adoption and Child Welfare Law; an annual Summer Adoption Law Institute course for law school credit; the Adoption and Child Welfare Law Fellowship; and several externship opportunities. For more information about these programs, click here. While the Adoption and Child Welfare Lawsite is meant to inform, to educate and to provide access to adoption and child welfare related law, it is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional legal representation and independent legal research. For specific legal advice, you should consult an attorney who specializes in this area. For a referral to adoption and child welfare legal practioners, please contact the National Center for Adoption Law and Policy.