Federal Securities Law Research Guide: Treatises

Treatises are book-length expositions on the law as it pertains to a particular subject – they may be a single volume or a large multivolume set. Treatises may be scholarly in nature or they may be geared toward a legal practitioner, such as a looseleaf service.  Many treatises are available electronically though some are only available in print.

There are different types of treatises with different purposes:

• Legal hornbooks are designed as teaching tools for law students. Hornbooks provide more detailed treatments of particular areas of law than an encyclopedia and they generally contain summaries of landmark cases and other useful details.
   
• Looseleaf services provide tools for practicing lawyers, such as forms, primary legal authority, and analytical material. Looseleaf services are kept in looseleaf binders because they are frequently supplemented.  

This page provides links to both online and print hornbooks and looseleaf services.  When using print material, it is a good idea to make sure you are using the latest edition (looseleaf services are updated regularly).  To see if you have the latest version, you can search for a title in WorldCat and "view all editions" and then see if BLS has the latest edition.  As more material migrates to an electronic platform, the latest versions may be available on Westlaw or Lexis, or as an e-book. 

Click on the sub-tabs above to browse print and online securities treatises and study aids.