University of Wyoming

George William Hopper Law Library

First Year Study Aids

Although most of the reading for your first year of law school will be in required case books or readings assigned by your professors, there are some study aids that you should be aware of. These aids can be used to clarify certain points of law, to gain an indepth understanding of various rules of law, or as guides when studying for exams. Hornbooks, nutshells, and commercial outlines are study aids available on reserve at the Law Library Circulation Desk.

HORNBOOKS

Hornbooks are generally single volumes, although frequently of 500 pages or more, that cover a single area of law in a coherent, explanatory fashion. Hornbooks are frequently written by the same authors that wrote your casebook and usually cover the same leading cases and rules of law.

Hornbooks can be used to clarify points of law or cases that are unclear. They can also be used for outlining and reviewing material in preparation for final examinations. Some hornbooks that cover first year classes are listed below. These books are available at the Circulation Desk and can be checked out for three hours.

Popular first year hornbooks are:

Shapo, Basic Principles of Tort Law, 2d ed Reserve KF 1250 .Z9 .S53 2003

Calamari, The Law of Contracts, 4th ed Reserve KF 801 .C26 1998

Stoebuck and Whitman, The Law of Property, 3d ed Reserve KF 570 .C86 2000

LaFave, Criminal Law, 4th ed Reserve KF 9219 .L38 2003

NUTSHELLS

Nutshells are a series of paperback books that cover a single legal subject in an easily readable format with less discussion of cases and more general explanation of the rules of law. Nutshells that will be useful for first year students are:

Contracts Reserve KF 801 .Z9 .R62 2000

Criminal Law Reserve KF 9219.3 .L63 2003

Personal Property Reserve KF 705 .Z9 .B83 1993

Real Property Reserve KF 507 .Z9 .B47 2000

Torts Reserve KF 1250 .Z9 .K53 1992

OUTLINES

Outlines are commercially produced guides that set out the rules of law and exceptions to the rules for a given legal subject.

The Black Letter series, published by West, condenses the rules “to facilitate quick review and easy recollection.” There are also short questions and essay questions and sample answers to help you prepare for final exams.

You can also use these outlines to help understand particular concepts of areas of law that are not making sense for you. Outlines available at the Circulation Desk are:

Clermont, Civil Procedure, 4th ed Reserve KF 8841 .C56 1995

Calamari, Contracts, 3d ed Reserve KF 801 .Z9 .C27 1999

Low, Criminal Law Reserve KF 9219.3 .L69 1990

Bernhardt, Property, 3d ed Reserve KF 570 .Z9 .B46 1997

Kionka, Torts, 2d ed Reserve KF 1250 .Z9 .K527 1993