Texts Treatises, Student Texts, Practice Guides, and Others

Treatises Treatises are –written by legal scholars –printed in book form –good resources for discussions of cases and statutes relating to a particular area of the law –can be critical, analytical, explanatory, or practical in nature Wright and Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure; Dobbs, The Law of Torts

Treatises Treatises generally contain –Table of Contents –Table of Cases –Text –Index –Supplemental materials in the form of pocket parts or looseleaf service Sources for locating treatises include –Library catalogs –Catalog of Current Law Titles by Ward and Associates –Index to Legal Periodicals, which added books to its coverage in 1994

Student Texts: Hornbooks are generally prepared for student use are straightforward, clear, non-analytical presentations of the law clarify and organize the law in a given area are very useful as case finders –references to cases limited to landmark cases

Student Texts: Casebooks present seminal cases and subsequent and sometimes seemingly conflicting cases contain little or no analysis encourage students to analyze case law and draw their own conclusions

Student Texts: Nutshells Nutshells are paperback books designed to give a quick overview of an area of the law. There are 118 titles in the Nutshell Series. References to primary law are limited. Nutshells are a good place to start research if you know nothing about an area of the law.

Practice Guides Designed for practitioners Usually confined to one jurisdiction or area of the law Practice guides include procedural manuals, judicial desk books, form books, and much more