Study Resources for 1Ls
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General Information | Reading and Analysis | Research and Writing | Citations | Study Aids | Other sources
Heafey Law Library has nutshells, hornbooks and other study resources available for use by law students. Typically, the latest editions of the nutshells and hornbooks are available in the Stauffer Reserve Collection, unless a professor has placed the title on course reserve. You can search for either hornbooks or nutshells in OSCAR, the library's online catalog, by searching by title for the phrase: hornbook series or nutshell series. Other series students may find of interest are: Black Letter, Law School Exam Series, Examples & Explanations, Siegel's, Exam Pro, Legal Text Series, Questions & Answers Series, or the Understanding Series. Check on ClaraNet for Research Guides prepared by the reference staff. Please check with the reference staff if you need assistance in finding a title.
The library also has old SCU Law exams on file, but only those exams that the faculty have agreed to include in our collection. These published exams normally include only essay questions and do not include multiple choice or true/false questions. Please see the Research Guide on
The library staff recommends that you utilize the exam indexes first to locate exams. If no exams are available for your course or professor, check the Course Reserve Lists on OSCAR. Finally, you should check the personal website of the faculty.
Fischl, Richard Michael. Getting to maybe: how to excel on law school exams. 1999.
Munneke, Gary A. How to succeed in law school. 3rd edition, 2001.
Noyes, Shana Connell. Acing your first year of law school: the ten steps to success you won't learn in class. 1999.
Shapo, Helen. Law school without fear: strategies for success. 2nd edition, 2002.
Walton, Kimm Alayne. Strategies & tactics for the first year law student: maximize your grades.
Prince's Dictionary of Legal Citations
Reading and Analysis:
Clary, Bradley G. & Pamela Lysaught. Successful Legal Analysis and Writing : the Fundamentals. 2nd ed. (Thomson/West, 2006)
Delaney, John. Learning Legal Reasoning : Briefing, Analysis and Theory. (Delaney Publications, c1987, 1992 printing)
McFadden, Patrick M. A student's guide to legal analysis: thinking like a lawyer. 2001
McKinney, Ruth Ann. Reading like a lawyer: time-saving strategies for reading law like an expert. 2005
Romantz, David S. Legal analysis: the fundamental skill. 1998
Shapo, Helene S., Marilyn R. Walter & Elizabeth Fajans. Writing and Analysis in the Law. 5th ed. (Foundation Press, 2008)
Research and Writing:
Bahrych, Lynn & Marjorie Dick Rombauer. Legal Writing in a Nutshell. 3rd ed. (Thomson/West, 2003)
Barkan, Steven M., Roy M. Mersky & Donald J. Dunn. Fundamentals of Legal Research. 9th ed. (Foundation Press, 2009)
Charrow, Veda & Erhardt, Myra K. & Charrow, Robert P. Clear and effective legal writing. 3rd ed. 2001
Clary, Bradley G. & Lysaght, Pamela. Successful legal analysis and writing: the fundamentals. 2nd. 2006
Cohen, Morris L. & Olson, Kent C. Legal research in a nutshell. 9th ed. 2003
Dernbach, John C., et al. Practical Guide to Legal Writing and Legal Method. 2nd ed. (F. B. Rothman, 1994)
Fajans, Elizabeth & Shapo, Helene S. Writing for law practice. 2004
Garner, Bryan A. Legal writing in plain English: a text with exercises. 2001
Garner, Bryan A., Jeff Newman & Tiger Jackson. The Redbook : a Manual on Legal Style. 2nd ed. (Thomson/West, 2006)
Kunz, Christina L., et al. The Process of Legal Research. 7th ed. (Aspen Publishers, 2008)
Murrary, Michael D. & Christy Hallam DeSanctis. Legal Research Methods. (Foundation Press, 2009)
Neascu, Dana. Introduction to U.S. Law and Legal Research. (Transnational Publishers, 2005)
Olson, Kent C. Principles of Legal Research. (West, 2009)
Ramsfield, Jill J. Culture to Culture : a Guide to U.S. Legal Writing. (Carolina Academic Press, 2005) Intended primarily for LL.M. students with non-U.S. law degrees
Ray, Mary Barnard & Jill J. Ramsfield. Legal Writing : Getting It Right and Getting It Written. 4th ed. (Thomson/West, 2005)
Shapo, Helene S. & Walter, Marilyn R. & Fajans, Elizabeth. Writing and analysis in the law. 4th ed. 1999
Wydick, Richard C. Plain English for Lawyers. 5th ed. (Carolina Academic Press, 2005)
Citations
Generally, students are asked to follow the manner of citation as set forth in the Harvard Law Review Association, Uniform system of citation (known as the HARVARD BLUE BOOK) now in its 18th edition.
Students should also be aware of the California style manual, 4th edition, which is the citation manual required for California courts
KFC 75 F67 2000; it is also available on Westlaw – (database=CASTYLE)
Introduction to Basic Legal Citation [electronic resource] is available at: http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/ is keyed to both the ALWD citation manual and the latest edition of the Bluebook. Most legal research books have a table of citation abbreviations that the student might find useful, e.g. Price, Bitner and Bysiewicz, Effective legal research; Jacobstein and Mersky, Fundamentals of legal research.
For more information on basic legal citation see: http://law.scu.edu/library/basic-legal-citation.cfm
Barris, Linda J. Understanding and Mastering the Bluebook : a Guide for Students and Practitioners. (Carolina Academic Press, 2007)
KF245 B37 2007
Dworsky, Alan L. User's Guide to the Bluebook. Rev. for the 18th ed. (William S. Hein, 2006)
KF245 D853 2005
Good, C. Edward. Citing & Typing the Law : a Guide to Legal Citation & Style. 4th ed. (Word Store Publications, 1997) KF245 G66 1997
Heinrich-Wells, Susan. Title Using the California Style Manual and the Bluebook : a Practitioner's Guide. (West Group, 2000)
KFC75 H45 2000
Interactive citation workbook. Annual eds. (Lexis Publishing, 2000-)
KF245 M392
Prince, Mary Miles. Prince's Dictionary of Legal Citations : a Reference Guide for Attorneys, Legal Secretaries, Paralegals, and Law Students. 7th ed. (W. S. Hein, 2006).
KF245 P74 2006
Teply, Larry L. Legal writing citation in a nutshell. (Thomson/West, 2008)
KF245 T47 2008
Study Aids:
The Heafey Law Library has a number of materials designed as exam study aids. If you are looking for a nutshell guide that is not listed here, you may do a keyword search for "Nutshell Series" and then the subject keyword. For example, to find a nutshell guide on constitutional law you would do an advanced keyword search for "Nutshell series" and "constitutional". If you'd to see all 500 nutshell guides the library owns, click here. In addition to nutshells, there are question and answer series designed for 1L/2L courses. To see a list of each series click on the corresponding series name: Lexis Q/A Series, Exam Pro, Siegel's, Examples and Explanation Series, and Law School Exam Series.
CALI Lessons | Hornbooks | Nutshells | Taking exams
CALI Lessons
The CALI website, www.cali.org, offers a wide variety of interactive computer learning exercises including many of the first year courses. Check with the reference staff to obtain registration information.
Hornbooks (Selected Subjects/Titles)
Click here for a list of treatises organized by subject
Dobbs, Dan B. The law of torts. 2000
Perillo, Joseph M. Calamari and Perillo on Contracts. 5th ed. 2003
Stoebuck, William B. Law of property. 3rd ed. 2000
Nutshells (Selected Subjects/Titles)
Click here for complete list of Nutshell guides
Barron, Jerome A. & Dienes, Thomas C. Constitutional law in a nutshell. 6th ed. 2005
Kane, Mary Kay. Civil procedure in a nutshell. 6th ed. 2007
Stone, Bradford. Uniform commercial code in a nutshell. 5th ed. 2002
Taking exams
Electronic Resources:
Andersen, William R. Writing Better Law School Exams [electronic resource] : the importance of structure. (Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction)
Brown, Ronald Benton. Exam taking skills, outline, and advice for law students [electronic resource] : panel 2 podcast. (Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction)
Burnham, Scott J. Tips for multiple choice exams in law school podcast [electronic resource]. (Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction)
Eades, Ronald W. Exam taking skills, outline, and advice for law students [electronic resource] : panel 1 podcast. (Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction)
Martin, Jennifer. Top 10 Tips for Successfully Writing a Law School Essay [podcast] [electronic resource]. (Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction)
Wilson, Darryl C. Exam taking skills, outline, and advice for law students [electronic resource] : panel 3 podcast. (Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction)
Print Resources:
Burkhart, Ann M. How to study law and take law exams in a nutshell. 1996
Delaney, John. How to do your best on law school exams. 3rd rev. ed. 2001
Dernbach, John C. Practical guide to writing law school essay exams. 2001
Fischl, Richard Michael. Getting to maybe: how to excel on law school exams. 1999
Simon, David R. Conquering legal exams: the art of preparing for and writing outstanding legal exams. 1996
Whitebread, Charles H. The eight secrets of top exam performances in law school: an easy-to-use, step-by-step program for achieving great grades!. 1995
Other helpful sources
Introduction to Basic Legal Citation (Cornell) -- This guide is great for covering basic Bluebook citations.
CALI -- CALI is an excellent resource for 1L courses. There are hundreds of interactive tutorials on a variety of subjects. Highly recommended (password required -- ask at reference desk).
- Civil Procedure
- Constitutional Law
- Contracts
- Criminal Law
- Legal Concepts and Skills
- Legal Research
- Legal Writing
- Property Law
- Torts
Cardiff's Guide to Legal Abbreviations -- Can't figure out an abbreviation? Try searching for it in Cardiff's. This resource is particularly good for foreign materials. May not contain all American law journal abbreviations.
Prince's Dictionary of Legal Citations -- The standard source for North American legal citations.
Cornell University School of Law (Wex) -- A collaborative, "wiki-like", legal encyclopedia. Offers an overview of these subject areas:
Cornell University School of Law (Legal Information Institute) -- Offers the full-text of the following:
- Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
- Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
- Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure
- Federal Rules of Evidence
- U.S. Code
- Supreme Court Opinions
- Code of Federal Regulations
- Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)
- State Constitutions and Codes
Harvard's 1L Dictionary -- Can't remember the difference between session law and slip law? Check out Harvard's dictionary for 1L legal terms.
Page last updated: August 25, 2009