PEREZ, LINDA MERCEDES A.

LLB-MBA 1

Text Books and Treatises

Textbooks summarize single specific legal topics. Treatises include textbooks and cover broader
subject areas. Both provide authoritative and thorough treatment of the subject area, and are useful to
those unfamiliar with a subject area. In addition to a summary of and commentary on the law they will
include tables of content, tables of cases and subject indexes.

In addition to print versions of the texts and treatises some are also available in electronic format.
These will be searchable by subject, keyword, title, or author.

Textbooks and treatises are not primary sources of law; however, they can have persuasive
authority, in the courts.

Once you have located some preliminary information in texts or treatises you will have know
some of the expressions or concepts that you will need to continue further with your research

What are Treatises and How are They Useful in Legal Research?
If you know the substantive area of law under which your legal issue arises and want a more indepth analysis of the issue than what you might find in an encyclopedia, a treatise may be the best place
to begin your research. A treatise is a textbook on a given legal subject matter written by an expert in
the field. It may comprise multiple volumes or it may be only a single volume. A single-volume treatise
is often referred to as a hornbook. In fact, you may already be familiar with hornbooks because they are
commonly used by law students as study aids, especially in first-year courses. Some treatises cover a
broad topic and some cover only a very narrow topic. Like other types of secondary sources, treatises can
provide both background information and citations to relevant authority, but their coverage is both
narrower and deeper than that of an encyclopedia.
Some treatises are merely expository, that is they do nothing more than state what the law is.
Other treatises provide an in-depth analysis of the law and include the author's personal insights. Such a
treatise may examine questions like whether the law makes sense, whether the law is just, or whether the
law is outdated and ought to be changed. In the hierarchy of secondary authority, treatises rank very high
- particularly if they are interpretive or critical. They can be cited freely in memos and brief and can be
very effective in bolstering a legal argument.