Skip to Main Content

State and Local Government Law Research Guide: Home

Treatises

Antieau, Chester J., Antieau on Local Government Law, 2d ed. New York: Matthew Bender & Co.,  (6 vols., looseleaf; supplemented three times annually; highly regarded treatise on local government law.) KF5300.A6 A52 5th Floor Stacks. Available and current on LexisAdvance.

Coates, Timothy T., California Government Tort Liability Practice, 4th ed. Berkeley,California: Continuing Education of the Bar, 1999- . KFC332 C35 Research Alcove. Available in the CEB OnLAW database.

League of California Cities, The California Municipal Law Handbook. Sacramento: The League, 2011. This handbook provides municipal law practitioners a ‘source of first resort' in researching a given area of California municipal law. KFC752A49 Research Alcove. It is available in the CEB OnLAW.

Matthews, Thomas and Bryon Matthews, Matthews Municipal Ordinances: Text and Forms, 2nd ed.St Paul, MN: West Group (Clark Boardman Callaghan),  (7 vols. with annual pocket supplements; guide to the law and drafting of municipal ordinances.) KF5313.M342, Research Alcove. Also available on Westlaw.

McQuillin, Eugene, The Law of Municipal Corporations, 3d ed. St. Paul, MN: West Group (Clark Boardman Callaghan),  (20 vols. with annual pocket supplements; definitive work in the field of municipal corporation law.) KF5305.M34 Research Alcove. Also available on Westlaw.

Sands, C. Dallas & Libonati, Michael E., Local Government Law. St Paul, MN: West Group (Clark Boardman Callaghan), 1981-2001. 4 vols., looseleaf; supplemented annually; includes extensive citations to primary and secondary authorities; an excellent treatise on local government law for both municipal attorneys and elected municipal officials.) KF5300.S26 5th FloorStacks. Also available on Westlaw.

Singer, Norman J., Statutes and Statutory Construction, 7th ed. Deerfield, IL: Clark Boardman Callaghan, 2007- (4 vols. with annual pocket supplements. This is the latest edition of Sutherland Statutory Construction and is the leading treatise on the subject.) KF425.S9 2007 Research Alcove. Also available on Westlaw.

The Witkin Legal Institute publishes highly-regarded, comprehensive, multi-volume treatises on California law: Summary of California Law, California Procedure, California Evidence, and California Criminal Law. All Witkin titles are available in the Research Alcove on the 4th Floor, KFC80.W5 2005, and on Westlaw and LexisAdvance.

Also see the annotations to California Code of Civil Procedure sections 1858  Westlaw and 1859  Westlaw , which govern statutory construction in California and to the maxims of jurisprudence in the California Civil Code at sections 3509, et. seq.

For additional listings and evaluative information, see the section on "Municipal Corporations" in: Svengalis, Kendall, The Legal Information Buyer's Guide and Reference Manual, Barrington, R.I.: Rhode Island Law Press, 2013. KF1.S84 Reference Desk.

Research Guides

California Administrative Law - This library publication is a step-by-step guide to finding California regulations, regulatory history, and administrative decisions at the UC Law SF Law Library.

Compiling a California Legislative History - This library publication is a step by step to doing California legislative history research at the UC Law SF Law Library.

Subject Specialist