Treatises and Practice Materials

Treatises are books that focus on one area of the law. Often they are written by law professors or well-known practitioners. Sometimes one person will start a treatise, and later updates or editions will be done by one or more other authoris.

Treatises can be found online in databases such as Westlaw, Lexis, and Fastcase. Treatises are also available in print, either as a one-volume work or a multi-volume set. Practice Materials are similar to treatises, but they are more practitioner-oriented than scholarly in nature. 

Search Tips: 

• The items identified on this guide are only a starting point. You can search the library's catalog to find more resources. Please remember that the library's catalog includes entries for both print and online resources. 
• Usually, the word "treatise" will not appear in the title of a treatise. Therefore, you may not want to include the term "treatise" in your search query. That is also why it may be helpful to start your research with a library research guide. 
• Sometimes treatises will include the name of the author, or at least the original author. For example, "Nimmer on Copyright." is one such treatise. Usually, when a legal book contains the name of the author in this way, it is considered a "treatise."
• There is usually very little overlap in the treatises and practice materials that can be found on Westlaw and Lexis. Therefore, if you are looking for a treatise or practice materials relating to a particular topic, you may want to try more than one database. 
• In addition to the more traditional book-style practice materials that are included on this guide and in the library catalog, you might also want to use newer resources such as Practical Law on Westlaw or Practical Guidance on Lexis+.