Looking forward to the exam period, we wanted to remind you that the Law Library provides free access to the following study aids online:
- Aspen Learning LibraryStudy aids from the following series: Examples & Explanations, Emanuel Law Outlines, Emanuel CrunchTime, Glannon Guides, Casenote Legal Briefs, Academic Success, Inside Series, Friedman’s Practice Series, and more.
- Lexis Digital LibraryLegal ebooks that can be accessed on mobile devices and desktop platforms. Includes casebooks, study guides, treatises, practice guides, and more.
- QuimbeeQuimbee contains case briefs, sample questions, and other materials to aid students with their doctrinal courses in law school. Quimbee registration is tied to your Vanderbilt email address. Simply fill out the registration and use your Vanderbilt email address.
- West Academic This link opens in a new windowIncludes Nutshells, Gilbert's Summaries, Black Letter Outlines, Concise Hornbooks, and other study aid publications related to courses taught in the Law School.
- CALI This link opens in a new windowComputer Assisted Legal Instruction: interactive lessons to accompany almost every class offered in law school. They provide a question-and-answer format to discrete topics, and provide immediate feedback.
1L Study Aids
Civil Procedure in a Nutshell by Call Number: Main Level - Study Aids REF KF8841 .K36 2018ISBN: 9781683281115Publication Date: 2018-01-17Rules of civil procedure govern everything that happens outside of criminal proceedings. This Nutshell provides a road map to navigating civil procedure rules and helps build a foundation for understanding the overall picture. Topics discussed include how to choose the proper court, pretrial and trial preparation, adjudication, judgments, appeals, and specialized multi-party/multi-claim proceedings.
Examples and Explanations for Civil Procedure by Call Number: Main Level - Study Aids REF KF8841 .G58 2018ISBN: 9781454894025Publication Date: 2018-01-22A favorite classroom prep tool of successful students that is often recommended by professors, the Examples & Explanations (E&E) series provides an alternative perspective to help you understand your casebook and in-class lectures. Each E&E offers hypothetical questions complemented by detailed explanations that allow you to test your knowledge of the topics in your courses and compare your own analysis. Here's why you need an E&E to help you study throughout the semester: Clear explanations of each class topic, in a conversational, funny style. Features hypotheticals similar to those presented in class, with corresponding analysis so you can use them during the semester to test your understanding, and again at exam time to help you review. It offers coverage that works with ALL the major casebooks, and suits any class on a given topic. The Examples & Explanations series has been ranked the most popular study aid among law students because it is equally as helpful from the first day of class through the final exam.
Audio on Civil Procedure by Call Number: Law Circulation Desk KF4550 .M55 2010ISBN: 9780314207159Publication Date: 2010-10-14Convenient and effective, Sum and Substance Audio Set on Civil Procedure, 7th presents the essentials of civil procedure in a clear, succinct, time-saving format. Includes quick reference indexing, allowing you to quickly locate all topics in the recording, and informed exam tips to help maximize your performance. Sections discuss: clusters of procedure, citizenship, traditional basis of jurisdiction, constitutional principles, illustrative application, federal court jurisdiction, service of process, venue principles, pleading, sanctions, joinder, counterclaims, class actions, discovery, summary judgment, trial, jury trial, posttrial motions, new trial motions, motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, collateral estoppel, and appeals.
The following selected resources are available through West Academic, a database that includes electronic versions of Nutshells, Gilbert's Summaries, Black Letter Outlines, Concise Hornbooks, and other study aid publications related to courses taught in the Law School. These selected materials are not an exhaustive list of what is available to you through West Academic.
- West Academic This link opens in a new windowIncludes Nutshells, Gilbert's Summaries, Black Letter Outlines, Concise Hornbooks, and other study aid publications related to courses taught in the Law School.
- Acing Civil Procedure by A. Benjamin SpencerMoving beyond the outline format used by most students, this book uses a checklist format to lead students through the questions they need to ask and answer to fully analyze the legal questions they are trying to resolve. It assembles the different issues, presenting a clear guide to procedural analysis that students can draw upon when writing their exams. Other study aids provide sample problems, but this book offers a systematic approach to problem solving.
- Civil Procedure in a Nutshell by Mary Kay KaneRules of civil procedure govern everything that happens outside of criminal proceedings. This Nutshell provides a road map to navigating civil procedure rules and helps build a foundation for understanding the overall picture. Topics discussed include how to choose the proper court, pretrial and trial preparation, adjudication, judgments, appeals, and specialized multi-party/multi-claim proceedings.
Contracts in a Nutshell by Call Number: Main Level - Study Aids REF KF801 .Z9 R62 2017ISBN: 9781634599146Publication Date: 2016-11-15This Nutshell provides a comprehensive guide to the law of contracts. It contains expert explanations of contract concepts under both the common law and Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code. It also includes the basics of the Law of Restitution and an introduction to digital contracting.
Understanding Contracts by Call Number: Main Level - Study Aids REF KF801 .Z9 F46 2018ISBN: 9781531009939Publication Date: 2018-05-23This Understanding treatise is designed for first-year law students enrolled in Contracts. The text explains common law principles of contract law using cases and examples that students commonly encounter in this first-year course. It also explains and illustrates Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, which deal with sales of goods that are frequently covered in Contracts. This edition includes material on the United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods, and the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts, appropriate to a basic course in Contracts, and on modern statutes regarding electronic contracting. The fourth edition contains a revised chapter on the difficult concept of Promissory Estoppel and includes discussions of recent decisions dealing with consumer arbitration clauses. Citations to journal articles have also been updated to reflect recent scholarship on these and other topics.
Sum and Substance Audio on Contracts by Call Number: Law Circulation Desk KF801 .Z9 W52 2007ISBN: 9780314180650Publication Date: 2008-03-25Convenient and effective Sum and Substance audio lecture presents the essentials of contract law in a clear, succinct, time-saving format. Sections discuss: offer and acceptance, consideration, definition, sufficiency, adequacy, forbearance, past consideration, preexisting-duty rule, payment-in-full checks, promissory estoppel, statute of frauds, parole evidence rule, mistake, fraud, duress, undue influence, illegality, incapacity, unconscionability, impossibility, conditions and promises, anticipatory repudiation, third-party beneficiaries, assignment and delegation, and remedies.
The following selected resources are available through West Academic, a database that includes electronic versions of Nutshells, Gilbert's Summaries, Black Letter Outlines, Concise Hornbooks, and other study aid publications related to courses taught in the Law School. These selected materials are not an exhaustive list of what is available to you through West Academic.
- West Academic This link opens in a new windowIncludes Nutshells, Gilbert's Summaries, Black Letter Outlines, Concise Hornbooks, and other study aid publications related to courses taught in the Law School.
- Acing Contracts by Suzanne Darrow-KleinhausThis study aid features an innovative method of content organization. It uses a checklist format to lead students through questions they need to ask to fully evaluate the legal problem they are trying to solve. It also synthesizes the material in a way that most students are unable to do on their own, and assembles the different issues, presenting a clear guide to procedural analysis that students can draw upon when writing their exams. Other study aids provide sample problems, but none offer the systematic approach to problem solving found in this book.
- Contracts in a Nutshell by Rohwer, Skrocki, and MalloyThis Nutshell provides a comprehensive guide to the law of contracts. It contains expert explanations of contract concepts under both the common law and Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code. It also includes the basics of the Law of Restitution and an introduction to digital contracting.
Loewy's Criminal Law in a Nutshell, 5th by Call Number: Main Level - Study Aids REF KF9219.3 .L63 2009ISBN: 9780314194961Publication Date: 2009-08-28This guide helps you gain an overview of and develop perspective on the area of criminal law. It is organized into eight sections for quick reference. Expert discussion explores punishment, specific crimes, and the ingredients of a crime such as mens rea and actus reus. Other topics covered include special defenses, the burden of proof, and inchoate and group criminality. It also reflects on the limitations of criminal law.
Understanding Criminal Law by Call Number: Upper Level REF KF9219 .D74 2012ISBN: 9780769848938Publication Date: 2012-05-01This comprehensive and clearly written Understanding treatise is frequently cited by scholars and courts in their analysis of substantive criminal law. Understanding Criminal Law is designed to be taught in conjunction with any casebook. The topics covered are those most often raised in criminal law casebooks, and coverage of these subjects is meant to complement professors' classroom discussions. The text focuses on the basic elements of, and defenses to, specific crimes such as homicide, rape, and theft, group criminality, and inchoate liability. Understanding Criminal Law also covers theories of punishment, sources of the criminal law, and overarching principles such as legality and proportionality. The common law is emphasized with extensive comparisons to the Model Penal Code and thoughtful examination of the underpinnings of the utilitarian philosophies of substantive criminal law. The text of Understanding Criminal Law encourages students to consider the approach these philosophies would take to a particular matter under discussion, thus providing an excellent learning
Mastering Criminal Law by Call Number: Main Level - Study Aids REF KF9219 .P63 2015ISBN: 9781611635492Publication Date: 2015-04-22Mastering Criminal Law explores the basic principles useful in the study of criminal law, offering real world examples to understand these concepts. It provides a clear and concise consideration of the fundamental structure of a crime including statutory interpretation and sentencing. It has chapters on the typical crimes covered in most criminal law casebooks, namely, homicide, rape, assault and battery, and theft. Additionally, it covers accomplice liability, solicitation, attempt and conspiracy. It also covers defenses, including the right to present a defense. It distinguishes different approaches such as the Common Law and Model Penal Code and provides examples of different state statutes.
This book is part of the Carolina Academic Press Mastering Series edited by Russell L. Weaver, University of Louisville School of Law.
The following selected resources are available through West Academic, a database that includes electronic versions of Nutshells, Gilbert's Summaries, Black Letter Outlines, Concise Hornbooks, and other study aid publications related to courses taught in the Law School. These selected materials are not an exhaustive list of what is available to you through West Academic.
- West Academic This link opens in a new windowIncludes Nutshells, Gilbert's Summaries, Black Letter Outlines, Concise Hornbooks, and other study aid publications related to courses taught in the Law School.
- Black Letter Outline on Criminal Law by Joshua DresslerBlack Letter Outlines are designed to help a law student recognize and understand the basic principles and issues of law covered in a law school course. Black Letter Outlines can be used both as a study aid when preparing for classes and as a review of the subject matter when studying for an examination. Each Black Letter Outline is written by experienced law school professors who are recognized national authorities in their subject area.
- Gilbert Law Summary on Criminal Law by George E. DixThe topics discussed in this criminal law outline are elements of crimes (including actus reus, mens rea, and causation), vicarious liability, complicity in crime, criminal liability of corporations, and defenses (including insanity, diminished capacity, intoxication, ignorance, and self-defense). Also included are inchoate crimes, homicide, other crimes against the person, crimes against habitation (including burglary and arson), crimes against property, offenses against the government, and offenses against the administration of justice.
Real Property in a Nutshell by Call Number: Main Level - Study Aids REF KF570 .B47 2016ISBN: 9781634599207Publication Date: 2015-11-20This concise work discusses most rules covered in real property casebooks. The text is divided into three sections. Part One provides an overview of property interests by covering lost v. mislaid v. abandoned property, adverse possession, gifts, common law estates, future interests, landlord-tenant law, concurrent ownership, marital property rights, easements, profits, licenses, real covenants, and equitable servitudes. Part Two covers conveyancing, including real estate brokers, contracts of sale, deeds, recording, title insurance, and mortgages. Part Three covers a variety of property rights and liabilities, including airspace, water rights, the right to support, agreed boundaries, fixtures, trespass, nuisance, and land use regulation.
Property by Call Number: Main Level - Study Aids REF KF560 .B87 2012ISBN: 9781454802297Publication Date: 2012-01-12Property: Examples & Explanations is a study aid that offers clear textual introductions to legal terms and concepts in property law, followed by examples and explanations that test and apply the reader's understanding of the material covered. Features: Eminently clear and readable text Examples and explanations enable students to test and apply their understanding of the material covered in each chapter Six-part topical organization matches the coverage of Dukeminier/Krier/Alexander/Schill (#1-selling casebook for Property) and corresponds to coverage in most first-year property courses Rich pedagogy includes boldfaced legal terms and visual aids, such as charts and diagrams, especially for common-law estates--a topic that lends itself to diagrammatic presentation Cites principal cases used in most leading casebooks Skilled authorship: Burke is the author of the successful Real Estate E&E and numerous works for practitioners; Snoe has his own West health law casebook New to the Fourth Edition: Overview, examples and explanations revised for greater clarity and effectiveness as needed Language in the text has been simplified where needed for even greater accessibility Expanded coverage of Fixtures Reinforcement of terminology in Estates in Land and in Future Interests Builds on trend in third edition of using illustrative examples in the overview of Future Interests and of Rule Against Perpetuities Rule Against Perpetuities chapter reorganized Restatement (Third) of Property proposals explained in the chapters on Estates in Land, Future Interests, and Rule Against Perpetuities chapters
Questions and Answers by Call Number: Main Level - Study Aids REF KF570 .N34 2014ISBN: 9780769865102Publication Date: 2014-01-01Routledge QandAs give you the tools to practice and refine your exam technique, showing you how to apply your knowledge to maximum effect in an exam situation. Each book contains essay and problem-based questions on the most commonly examined topics, complete with expert guidance and fully worked model answers that help you to: Plan your revision: introducing how best to approach revision in each subject Know what examiners are looking for: identifying and explaining the main elements of each question to help you understand the best approach providing marker annotation to show how examiners will read your answer Gain marks, and avoid common errors: identifying common pitfalls students encounter in class and in assessment providing revision advice to help you aim higher in essays and exams Understand and remember the law: using diagrams as overviews for each answer to demonstrate how the law fits together The series is also supported by an online resource that allows you to test your progress during the run-up to exams. Features include: multiple choice questions, bonus QandAs and podcasts
The following selected resources are available through West Academic, a database that includes electronic versions of Nutshells, Gilbert's Summaries, Black Letter Outlines, Concise Hornbooks, and other study aid publications related to courses taught in the Law School. These selected materials are not an exhaustive list of what is available to you through West Academic.
- West Academic This link opens in a new windowIncludes Nutshells, Gilbert's Summaries, Black Letter Outlines, Concise Hornbooks, and other study aid publications related to courses taught in the Law School.
- Gilbert Law Summary on Property by James E. KrierComprehensive outline on Property, including expert explanations of applicable law and practice exam questions.
- A Short & Happy Guide to Property by Paula Ann FranzeseThe second edition of this efficient and effective guide takes difficult subject matter and makes it accessible and easy to remember. Professor Paula Franzese, a nationally renowned teacher and scholar, sets forth understandable techniques for mastering estates in land and future interests (including the dreaded rule against perpetuities), concurrent estates, landlord-tenant law, servitudes, land transactions, recording system, zoning, and eminent domain. This expanded edition also includes the top ten themes of property law, the rule of capture, and the law of finders. Learn from this nine-time recipient of the Professor of the Year Award and become a property connoisseur!
Torts in a Nutshell by Call Number: Main Level - Study Aids REF KF1250 .Z9 K53 2015ISBN: 9781628105513Publication Date: 2015-07-28A clear, concise, current, and authoritative explanation of all of the most important U.S. tort law doctrines, including those covered in first-year torts courses in law schools. Coverage includes tort law origins and objectives; causation; strict liability; negligence liability and defenses; intentional tort liability and defenses; special liability rules (premises liability, products liability, employers, etc.); damages; tort and contract; immunities; wrongful death and survival; defamation; privacy; misrepresentation.
The Law of Torts by Call Number: Main Level REF KF1250 .Z9 G53 2015ISBN: 9781454850113Publication Date: 2015-01-28A favorite among successful students, and often recommended by professors, the unique Examples & Explanations series gives you extremely clear introductions to concepts followed by realistic examples that mirror those presented in the classroom throughout the semester. Use at the beginning and midway through the semester to deepen your understanding through clear explanations, corresponding hypothetical fact patterns, and analysis. Then use to study for finals by reviewing the hypotheticals as well as the structure and reasoning behind the accompanying analysis. Designed to complement your casebook, the trusted Examples & Explanations titles get right to the point in a conversational, often humorous style that helps you learn the material each step of the way and prepare for the exam at the end of the course. The unique, time-tested Examples & Explanations series is invaluable to teach yourself the subject from the first day of class until your last review before the final. Each guide: helps you learn new material by working through chapters that explain each topic in simple language challenges your understanding with hypotheticals similar to those presented in class provides valuable opportunity to study for the final by reviewing the hypotheticals as well as the structure and reasoning behind the corresponding analysis quickly gets to the point in conversational style laced with humor remains a favorite among law school students is often recommended by professors who encourage the use of study guides works with ALL the major casebooks, suits any class on a given topic provides an alternative perspective to help you understand your casebook and in-class lectures
Torts by Call Number: Law Circulation Desk KF1250 .F46 2010ISBN: 9780314926968Publication Date: 2010-10-14While commuting or exercising learn about battery; assault; false imprisonment; intentional infliction of emotional distress; defense of self, others, property; recapture of chattel, trespass to land, trespass to chattel, conversion, public/private necessity, consent; negligence: duty, breach, proximate cause, joint tortfeasers; damages: nominal, punitive, and compensatory; surviving personal injury actions; wrongful death, wrongful birth/life, strict liability, affirmative defense to negligence with economic advantage, nuisance, misuse of judicial process, products liability, defamation and related torts, invasions of privacy. Information useful to preparing and pressing your case.
The following selected resources are available through West Academic, a database that includes electronic versions of Nutshells, Gilbert's Summaries, Black Letter Outlines, Concise Hornbooks, and other study aid publications related to courses taught in the Law School. These selected materials are not an exhaustive list of what is available to you through West Academic.
- West Academic This link opens in a new windowIncludes Nutshells, Gilbert's Summaries, Black Letter Outlines, Concise Hornbooks, and other study aid publications related to courses taught in the Law School.
- Acing Tort Law by Shubha GhoshThis study aid features an innovative method of content organization. It uses a checklist format to lead students through questions they need to ask to fully evaluate the legal problem they are trying to solve. It also synthesizes the material in a way that most students are unable to do on their own, and assembles the different issues, presenting a clear guide to procedural analysis that students can draw upon when writing their exams. Other study aids provide sample problems, but none offers the systematic approach to problem solving found in this book combined with concise analytical summaries of the leading issues in tort law.
- Hornbook on Torts by Dobbs, Hayden & BublickThis single-volume hornbook provides a comprehensive overview of tort and injury law. The book covers all of the major topics in tort law. Topics include liability for physical injuries, as well as emotional, dignitary, and economic harms. This newly-updated edition includes citations to hundreds of cases and statutes decided over the last decade, as well as references to the Restatement (Third) of Torts.
The Regulatory State by Call Number: Upper Level KD3989 .R44 2010ISBN: 9780199593170Publication Date: 2011-01-29This collection of fifteen essays by leading experts in regulation is unique in its focus on the constitutional implications of recent regulatory developments in the UK, the EU, and the US. The chapters reflect current developments and crises which are significant in many areas of publicpolicy, not only regulation. These include the development of governance in place of government in many policy areas, the emergence of networks of public and private actors, the credit crunch, techniques for countering climate change, the implications for fundamental rights of regulatoryarrangements and the development of complex accountability mechanisms designed to promote policy objectives.Constitutional issues discussed include regulatory governance, models of economic and social regulation, non-parliamentary rule-making, the UK's devolution arrangements and regulation, the credit crisis, the rationing of common resources, regulation and fundamental rights, the European CompetitionNetwork, private law making and European integration, innovative regulator sanctions recently introduced in the UK, the auditing of regulatory reform, and parliamentary oversight and judicial review of regulators. The introductory chapter focuses on testing times for regulation, and the concludingchapter draws ten lessons from the substantive chapters, noting the importance of regulatory diversity, the complexity of networks and relations between regulatory actors and the executive, the new challenges to regulatory habits posed by climate change and the credit crisis, the wider economic andlegal context in which regulation takes place and the accountability networks - including judicial review, parliamentary oversight and audit - within which regulation operates.
Administrative Law and Process in a Nutshell by Call Number: Main Level - Study Aids REF KF5402 .L48 2017ISBN: 9781628103557Publication Date: 2016-12-30This book offers a concise, knowledgeable guide to administrative law. In straightforward, readable prose, the authors not only summarize the dominant statutes and case law in the area, but also discuss informal administrative processes and the background realities of the regulatory state. Students can use the book as a complement to any major casebook, and practitioners will also find it an excellent brief introduction to this complex and important subject.
Federal Regulatory Directory by Call Number: Main Level REF KF5406 .A15 G4ISBN: 1483384772Publication Date: 2015-11-25The Federal Regulatory Directory, Seventeenth Edition continues to offer a clear path through the maze of complex federal agencies and regulations, providing to-the-point analysis of regulations. Information-packed profiles of more than 100 federal agencies and departments detail the history, structure, purpose, actions, and key contacts for every regulatory agency in the U.S. government. Now updated with an improved searching structure, the Federal Regulatory Directory continues to be the leading reference for understanding federal regulations, providing a richer, more targeted exploration than is possible by cobbling together electronic and print sources.
The following selected resources are available through West Academic, a database that includes electronic versions of Nutshells, Gilbert's Summaries, Black Letter Outlines, Concise Hornbooks, and other study aid publications related to courses taught in the Law School. These selected materials are not an exhaustive list of what is available to you through West Academic.
- West Academic This link opens in a new windowIncludes Nutshells, Gilbert's Summaries, Black Letter Outlines, Concise Hornbooks, and other study aid publications related to courses taught in the Law School.
- Acing Administrative Law by Linda D. JellumAcing Administrative Law will be useful to students preparing for exams in both Administrative Law and Leg/Reg courses. The book uses flowchart-style checklists to show students how to analyze administrative law exam questions—in ways that are both efficient and effective (and which do not generally match the sequencing of topics in most admin law courses). For example, students should always begin with a single baseline query when answering an admin law exam question: “Does this agency action involve rulemaking or adjudication?” As with all the Acing books, each chapter begins with a brief review of the important rules and concepts that govern a particular area of administrative law. The review material is followed by a flowchart that provides students with a clear roadmap for answering exam questions. Each chapter includes practice problems with solutions illustrating how to use the flowchart to analyze specific issues. The book concludes with a comprehensive flowchart and a practice problem, so that students can see how all the parts fit together.
- A Short & Happy Guide to Administrative Law by William D. AraizaThis efficient and concise Guide explains complex Administrative Law concepts in accessible language without sacrificing the nuance that distinguishes a superior exam performance from an average one. It follows a logical sequence of topics used by many professors in their classes, starting with the constitutional foundations of the administrative state, continuing through the procedural requirements for agency rulemaking and adjudication, then the rules governing judicial review of agency action, and concluding with agency control over information. The Guide’s treatment of each major topic concludes with “The Takeaway”: a set of bullet points that succinctly summarizes the main issues that topic addresses. In turn, each topic is broken down into chapters, each of which concluding with “The Short Version”: a very short statement of the basic lessons that chapter teaches. These summaries provide quick and easy access to the main points of administrative law, to assist the student preparing both for each class session and for the final exam. This Guide thus can help students at all stages of their encounter with Administrative Law, from the very first day of the class to the night before the final exam.
