Study Aids

This page provides information on which guides can be most helpful based on your needs and time in the semester and includes:

1. General Course Concepts / Early in the Semester, 
2. Still Need to Dig a Little Deeper?
3. Commercial Course Outlines
4. Sample Questions / Problems
5. Flow Charts, Toolkits, and Flashcards
6. Treatises (In-depth course concepts)
7. Other Good Links

These study aids are designed to provide an overview of the general concepts in a particular area of law.  They offer high-level concepts, are straightforward, and do not include deep analysis or discussion.  These are great early in the semester to get your bearings in broad, doctrinal courses and can offer foundational support for course outlines.  

  Nutshell Series                    Short & Happy Series           Understandings Series
(West: online and print)             (West: online only)               (Lexis: online and print)

 Mastering Series                Concepts & Insights           Concise Hornbook Series
(Lexis: online and print)          (West: online and print)              (West: online and print)

Westlaw has:

Analytical Guide to Evidence - An Overview of Relevance and Hearsay: A Nine-Step Analytical Guide by Norman M. Garland.

This article is an analytical guide to the study of two major aspects of evidence: relevance and hearsay. The vehicle used by this guide is a step-by-step, nine-question analysis, applicable to any admissibility of evidence problem.  This guide should help one determine whether any item of evidence is admissible under the rules of evidence pertaining to relevance and hearsay.  

Lexis+ has:

Learn Civil Procedure from the Recognized Expert - a series of short videos by Jay Wagstaffe on learning, surviving and thriving in first-year Civil Procedure.

Bloomberg Law has:

How to Use Study Aids Effectively

If the "general concept" guides listed above do not provide enough detail, or if you are struggling with a specific concept, Aspen's Examples and Explanations series provides in-depth discussion on narrow topics within the larger doctrinal area.  

Examples & Explanations Series
(Aspen: online and print)

Commercial outlines provide just that - an outline of the legal concepts within a particular topic.  They do not offer explanation or discussion, rather they are literally stand-alone outlines. 

Emanuel Law Outlines       Black Letter Outlines
(Aspen: online and print)      (West: online and print)

West has:

Outline Shells (Note: same as Black Letter Outlines in print)

• Contracts (5th Ed.),
• Civil Procedure (10th Ed.),
• Criminal Law (3rd Ed.),
• Torts (5th Ed.),  and
• Constitutional Law (9th Ed.). 

Lexis has:

BarBri Outlines for Law School Courses:

• First-year courses: Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts and Sales, Criminal Law, Personal Property, Real Property, Torts
• Upper-level courses: Constitutional Law, Corporations, Criminal Procedure, Evidence, Professional Responsibility, Taxation, Trusts, and Wills. 

Bloomberg has:

Law School Outlining - Why, When and How to do It

At the 2nd Floor Service Desk: 

Questions & Answers                 Siegel's Series                     Glannon Guides
(Lexis: online and print)              (Aspen: print only)                  (Aspen: online and print)

Exam Pro Series
(West: online only)

West Academic Assessment: Short Answer Questions.

When finals time rolls around, use these flowcharts, summaries, quick reviews, and flashcards to make sure you are ready for the exam. 

CrunchTime Series          Gilbert Law Summaries          Quick Review Series                                                                 (Aspen: online and print)    (West: online and print)            (West: online only)

 Law in a Flash
(Aspen: print only)  

Westlaw has:

Course Flowcharts - for a variety of courses:

• Business Courses (17),
• Intellectual Property Courses (9),
• Labor & Employment Courses (6), and
• Litigation Courses (6). 

Litigation Toolkits ("Toolkits include resources such as Practice Notes, Standard Documents, Checklists and Flowcharts.") 

• See especially Evidence in Federal Court: Basic Principles.

West Academic Assessment: Practice Essays

West has:

Traditional Treatises:

• Williston on Contracts (4th Ed.)
• Federal Practice and Procedure (Wright & Miller)
• Wharton's Criminal Law
• Modern Tort Law: Liability & Litigation 2d
• Dobb's Law of Torts
• Rotunda and Nowak's Treatise on Constitutional Law: Substance and Procedure

Complete List of Treatises by Topic

Course Outlines for some First-year courses (Contracts, Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, and Business Organizations & Associations) and Practical Law Course Study Collections for a variety of upper-level courses.  Note: these are "collection[s] of Practice Notes which provide in-depth coverage of specific legal issues written for practicing attorneys." 

Lexis has:

Traditional Treatises:

• Corbin on Contracts
• Murray on Contracts
• Federal Civil Procedure Litigation Manual
• Moore's Manual - Federal Practice and Procedure
• Moore's Federal Practice - Criminal
• Search & Seizure

Complete list of Treatises by Practice Area

Westlaw has:

• Black's Law Dictionary
• Practical Law Glossary of Terms
• Constitution of the United States Annotated
• Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
• Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
• Federal Rules of Evidence
• Model Penal Code
• Uniform Commercial Code

Lexis+ has:

• Ballentine's Law Dictionary, 3rd Edition
• Constitution of the United States
• Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
• Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
• Federal Rules of Evidence
• Model Penal Code
• Uniform Commercial Code

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