Textbooks for Family Law Textbooks explain the fundamentals of the law. Family Law textbooks are found in the Library on the Ground floor of the David Hockney Building. The class number is 346.015. Recommended textbooks if you are new to the subject include Beginning Family Law and Herring's Family Law, both of which are also available as E-Books. Click here for a link to your online reading list.
Practitioner Books. These show the practical applications of the law, using case studies, examples and sample worked documents. Titles include Family Law and Practice and Family Law 2018, and are also available as E-Books.
Case reports. Law reports are one of the primary sources of English Law, so it is important that you consult the full text of key cases, and don’t just rely on summaries in textbooks. Law reports publish the key cases in all aspects of law including family law, in bound volumes arranged by year. Hockney Library holds the All England Law Reports, and the historical set of reports The English Reports are in the Moot room in the ATC. For specialist family law reports, use LexisLibrary and run a normal case search to find cases published in the Family Law Reports.
Journals and Newspapers. Journals provide commentary on cases, and advanced discussion of legal issues. They are published weekly, monthly or quarterly, and the majority are now available online. Recommended titles include Cambridge Law Journal, Law Quarterly Review, Modern Law Review and New Law Journal.
Electronic Databases. These provide access to the full text of journal articles, law reports and legislation. You will be expected to start using these early on, so there are guides and tutorials available on the Law Resources Moodle page. As well as LexisLibrary which is the main database for family law, you should also use Westlaw UK (although a lot of the results will be for journal articles and cases published in Lexis), and you may find Community Care Inform: Children useful. This database is used by social workers needing to know the law in areas such as Neglect, Domestic Abuse in families, Safeguarding and Adoption. Information is clear and up-to-date, so it may be useful particularly if you are researching a new area.
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