We are excited to announce a partnership with West Academic to introduce a seamless integration of its extensive casebook archive into our intuitive, search-friendly platform. West Academic Casebooks Archive includes an unprecedented collection of thousands of West Academic Casebooks, Hornbooks, and Nutshells that have been instrumental in shaping legal education and guiding legal research for decades. Watch this short video or keep reading to learn more.
About the West Academic Casebooks
Casebooks form the backbone of legal instruction in the United States. In 1871, at Harvard Law School, Christopher Columbus Landgell introduced what would come to be known as the “case method” of legal instruction. Law students would read a selection of cases and try to determine what rule of law was applied by the court. It is designed to teach students how to think like a lawyer. Today, some form of the case method is used in every law school in the United States and casebooks remain the primary vehicle of legal education.
For more than 100 years, West Academic has been one of the major casebook publishers in the United States. Under the West Academic Publishing and Foundation Press brands, West has produced casebooks, treatises, study guides, and other legal materials that have guided the course of legal education, helping countless students succeed in law school and pass the bar exams, while also serving as authoritative, accessible resources for legal professionals looking to expand their skill set. West also introduced their Hornbook and Nutshell series to fill the market demand for shorter, more concise overviews of important legal concepts that help readers grasp high-level principles. Each West casebook is authored by renowned scholars and law professors who are experts in their respective fields.
These volumes have been heavily relied upon for years by law students, faculty, practitioners, government agencies, courts, and law libraries, and now they are available digitally for the first time within the West Academic Casebooks Archive, allowing subscribers to access the most comprehensive collection of these books available without taking up shelf space.
What’s Included in the Archive
This valuable collection consists of the most comprehensive collection of out-of-print and superseded casebooks from West Academic’s renowned American Casebook Series, University Casebook Series, Hornbook Series, and Nutshell Series—excluding only the two latest editions of each title. Once a new edition of a title is published, the third most recent edition will then be added to the database, with our editors continually updating the archive twice a year to add further value to your subscription. Additionally, our team is continuing to collect materials that fall within the embargo eligibility, intending to make the archive collection as comprehensive as possible.
Currently, we have titles published from as early as 1837 up through 2018, with content meticulously organized by imprint. Through the West Academic Casebooks Archive, researchers can trace how legal thought, practice, and research have evolved over the decades with the titles that shaped the education of legal professionals past and present!
An Ideal Resource For:
Legal Research
Study and analyze the development of legal principles and doctrines over time, understanding the precedents that have shaped current legal interpretations.
Scholarly Analysis
Examine the arguments, reasoning, and critiques of legal experts in the past to engage in comparative analysis and contribute to ongoing academic discourse.
Curriculum Development
By accessing older editions of casebooks and reference materials, law professors and educators can achieve a historical perspective that enriches the teaching experience.
Legal History
This database helps preserve the legal knowledge of the past, ensuring that important materials are accessible to future generations of legal professionals and researchers.
Comparative Law
Analyze how legal concepts have been treated in different jurisdictions and have evolved to create a comprehensive understanding of legal practice worldwide.
Featured Content
American Casebook Series
1908-present
West’s American Casebook Series is a collection of legal textbooks used in law school classrooms across the country. Each of these volumes is focused on a specific legal topic and contains an analysis of landmark legal cases, statutes, and more, helping students to develop analytical and critical thinking skills by demonstrating how to apply legal concepts to real-world scenarios.
Titles in this collection include:
- How to Find the Law by Morris L. Cohen (1976)
- Text, Cases and Materials on Sex-Based Discrimination by Kenneth M. Davidson, Ruth Bader Ginsbug, and Herma Hill Kay (1974)
- Finding the Law by Robert C. Berring and Elizabeth A. Edinger (1999)
- Regulation of Broadcasting: Law and Policy Towards Radio, Television, and Cable Communications by Douglas H. Ginsburg (1979)
- Law in Radically Different Cultures by John H. Barton; et. al. (1983)
- Insurance: Materials on Fundamental Principles, Legal Doctrines, and Regulatory Acts by Alan I. Widiss (1989)
Hornbook Series
1893-present
Announced in 1893, the Hornbook Series consists of one-volume legal treatises that each focus on a different foundational subject area of law. These books are typographically designed to help students, legal practitioners, and laypeople alike quickly grasp legal concepts.
Popular titles include:
- Handbook of the Law of Torts by William L. Prosser (1941)
- Handbook of the Law of Antitrust by Lawrence Anthony Sullivan (1977)
- McCormick’s Handbook of the Law of Evidence by Edward W. Cleary (1972)
- The Law of Contracts by John D. Calamari and Joseph M. Perillo (1987)
- Handbook on Criminal Law by Wayne R. LaFave and Austin W. Scott (1972)
- Handbook of the Law of Wills and other Principles of Succession: Including Intestacy and Administration of Decedents’ Estates by Thomas E. Atkinson (1953)
- Handbook on Environmental Law by William H. Rodgers, Jr. (1977)
Nutshell Series
1964-present
The first West Nutshell title, Jurisdiction in a Nutshell–State and Federal, was published in 1964 with 223 pages. The official Nutshell series began in 1968 with a mission to provide concise, summarized overviews of essential legal principles.
Notable titles include:
- Sex Discrimination in a Nutshell by Claire Sherman Thomas
- Historical Introduction to Anglo-American Law in a Nutshell by Frederick G. Kempin, Jr.
- Legal Research in a Nutshell by Morris L. Cohen
- Constitutional Analysis in a Nutshell by Jerre S. Williams
- Jurisprudence: Legal Philosophy in a Nutshell by Surya Prakash Sinha
- Law of Schools, Students, and Teachers in a Nutshell by Kern Alexander and M. David Alexander
University Casebooks Series
1930s-present
Designed for use in the law school classroom, the University Casebook Series offers titles that provide comprehensive coverage of specific topics, including historical and contemporary cases, statutes, and principles. New editions are frequently released to ensure information is up to date.
Titles in this collection include:
- Law, Language, and Ethics; an Introduction to Law and Legal Method by William R. Bishin and Christopher D. Stone
- Hart and Wechsler’s The Federal Courts and the Federal System by Paul Bator; et al.
- Constitutional Law by Gerald Gunther
- Remedies: Cases and Problems by Elain W. Shoben, et al.
Related Product
Bibliography of American Law School Casebooks
HeinOnline’s Bibliography of American Law School Casebooks is a database companion to Douglas W. Lind’s comprehensive casebook index, featuring nearly 10,000 entries spanning from 1870 to current and providing users with an interactive digital list of all casebooks intended for use in law schools and published in the United States. The database version of the resource offers full search capabilities as well as full-text linking to relevant documents where available. Likewise, if a casebook exists within the West Academic Casebooks Archive, it will be hyperlinked within the bibliography database.
Pricing
Subscribers of HeinOnline’s Bibliography of American Law School Casebooks receive a 10% discount on a subscription to the West Academic Casebooks Archive.
Those not subscribed to the Bibliography of American Law School Casebooks can purchase it for a one-time payment of $315 and qualify for a 10% discount on the West Academic Casebooks Archive.
Special Thank You
We extend our deepest gratitude to the following libraries for their generous donations of materials, which have been instrumental in making this product possible:
- University of Washington’s Gallagher Law Library
- Georgetown Law Library
- University of Southern California Law Library
- Yale’s Lillian Goldman Law Library
Your support has been invaluable and greatly appreciated.
NOTE: At the time of this database’s launch, we are still actively locating and adding approximately 950 titles to the West Academic Casebooks Archive. If your library is interested in donating material, please contact us. Your library may receive a discount on this database or a HeinOnline credit if you can provide any of the titles we are missing. Thank you!
