Contracts: Reserve Materials

 Understanding Contracts by Jeffrey Ferriell

The regularly-updated entry on Contracts for the Understanding Series, published by LexisNexis. This series is intended to be a universal companion to any given casebook on its subject, providing as straightforward and comprehensive an explanation of the topic as possible - with law students in mind. Likely the most "generalized" study aid series on the market, Understanding is a good choice for those patrons without a more specific need. The most current edition in print will be available in Law Reserve.

 Hornbook on Contracts by Joseph M. Perillo

Hornbooks, published by West Academic, were the first mass-market series of commercial study aid published for American law schools. They are typically authored by well-known casebook authors as direct supplements to those casebooks -  the late Prof. Joseph Perillo was the author of one of the premier Contracts casebooks of the past century - but are useful no matter what casebook a student is using, since the originals, such as Perillo's, tend to be hugely influential on later ones.

 

 Contracts: Examples & Explanations by Brian A. Blum

The interested law student can think of Examples & Explanations as a similar competitor to Understanding, but in this case published by Aspen Publishing (fka Wolters Kluwer). The Examples & Explanations series adopts the direct and explanatory tone of Understanding but typically goes into greater detail, often with numerous hypothetical examples illustrating a concept - hence the name - and a few sample questions. Examples & Explanations is recommended for students who like the Understanding format but wish to go into greater detail.

 

 Contracts in a Nutshell by Claude D. Rohwer, Anthony M. Skrocki, and Michael P. Malloy

The Nutshell series differs from other law school study aids in that it endeavors to provide as simple and lay-friendly an explanation of its subject as possible without losing detail. They are the study aid of choice for students who find themselves, for lack of a better word, completely lost on a topic, but they will not offer the breadth and detail of Understanding or Examples & Explanations. It is recommended to read Nutshell to orient oneself to the basics of a topic, and then move to another study aid for a more substantive discussion.

 

 Contracts (Crunchtime) by Steven L. Emanuel

The Crunchtime series, as the name suggests, seeks to distill a full normal-credit course on the topic in question down into as short an outline as possible for the purpose of last-minute exam preparation. Out of the major study aid series, this is likely to be the least helpful in developing a deep and nuanced understanding of a given topic within the subject as a student goes through a course week-to-week, but is a great tool for focusing a larger review of material at the end of a term.

Notably, the author of this book, Steven Emanuel, is extremely well-regarded for his generalized commercial study aid outlines, so much so that this and several other outline series published by Aspen Publishing (fka Wolters Kluwer) bear his name.

 

 Acing Contracts by Suzanne Darrow-Kleinhaus

The Acing series is another concise study aid series, seeking to distill its subject down to a relatively short length (typically 200 pages or so, compared to 6 or 700 in Understanding or Examples & Explanations) through a "checklist" approach. Acing provides key points the student will need to internalize and simply moves on. Students will need to seek a more in-depth discussion elsewhere but Acing can function similar to a rough outline of a course.

 

 The Glannon Guide to Contracts by Theodore Silver

The Glannon Guides represent the original attempts by Prof. Joseph Glannon to modernize the law school study aid format, and heavy center around sample multiple choice questions as their primary teaching tool. They are strongly recommended as a method for sample testing, as not only will a Glannon Guide serve as a first-rate explanatory study aid, it will introduce the student to the format and tone of question she is likely to encounter in an exam on the subject.

 

 

A Short & Happy Guide to Contracts by David G. Epstein, Bruce A. Markell, & Lawrence Ponoroff

The Short & Happy series is a relatively recent addition to the competitive law school study aid market, and take a lay-friendly approach that's somewhat similar to, though not exactly like, the Nutshell series. Short & Happy is best described as a shortened Understanding aimed at early Undergraduates; it's still technically for law students, of course, but they are written to maximize accessibility and cover the material without making it boring or intimidating. Metaphors and acronyms are far more common than citations to cases or strict terms of art. Strongly recommended as an introductory title.

 

 Concepts and Insights Analysis in the Law of Contracts by Marvin A. Chirelstein

The Concepts and Insights series is a straightforward explanatory series of aids in the style of Understanding but are quite a bit shorter, in the realm of 200 to 250 pages. The purpose is to create as pure a distillation of the subject matter as possible in active contrast to increasingly complex and verbose casebooks.

 

 Contract Law: Flowcharts and Cases, A Visual Guide to Understanding Contracts by Frank J. Doti

This resource is fairly unique in that it contains no authorial narrative whatsoever; instead, it is a series of a few dozen single-page flowcharts outlining major concepts in Contracts, followed by reprints of cases and Restatement sections establishing those rules. Certainly worth a look for any visual learner.

 

Contracts (Casenote Legal Briefs) by Aspen Publishers

The Casenote series is a collection of formal commercial outlines keyed to specific major casebooks on the subject (typically themselves published by Aspen). In this case, the book is keyed to Farnsworth, Young, and Sanger, but still may be of use for other casebooks - there isn't that much variety between them, honestly - or alternatively it can serve as a blueprint for a student's personal outline.