How to Find Forms

If you are looking for a form to copy and/or use as a jumping off point for a court document or transactional document that you need to write, you may come into the BYU Law Library for help.

For law students, a quick place to look for forms is on a legal research platform. Lexis Practical Guidance and Westlaw’s Practical Law both include example forms of various kinds. Lexis and Westlaw search results can also be filtered to show forms, and both platforms have form books (Several of the most important are on the list at the bottom of this post.) with a wide range of forms for different practice areas.

For attorneys and members of the public, the BYU Law Library provides access to many hard copies of form books in the short shelves across from the windows on the 2^nd floor of the library. In addition to the comprehensive form books listed below, the BYU Law Library has several form books that cover specific practice areas (e.g., Bender’s Personal Injury). When you look at the form books, consider looking at the end of a set for the volume that has the index so that you can more quickly find the type of form you want since many form books have several volumes in their set.

Please note that some of the physical form books are not regularly updated. Some of the form books have a label indicating when they were last updated, and it might be wise to look for other, more recent sources of those forms to verify that no important changes need to be made.

The BYU Law Library also includes a collection of Nolo Legal Guides for members of the public that are representing themselves without an attorney. These are found in the Self-Help section of the Reserve Room (the glass-enclosed room across from the reference desk in the library). Ebook versions of these guides are available through EBSCO’s Legal Information Reference. This database is available to anyone who comes into the law library and uses one of our public computers.

Finally, many state-specific forms can be found on the court websites for the state. These are particularly important resources, as many states have their own specific forms and procedures for court. For Utah, patrons should go here to find the Utah-specific forms: https://www.utcourts.gov/en/forms/forms/court-forms.html?case-type=all.

Comprehensive Form Books and Where to Find Them:

1. American Jurisprudence Legal Forms 2d
   1. What: forms for contracts, leases, wills, etc.
   2. Where: Westlaw, BYU Law Library Form Books
2. American Jurisprudence Pleading and Practice Forms
   1. What: forms for litigation in front of courts or administrative agencies
   2. Where: Westlaw, BYU Law Library Form Books
3. Current Legal Forms with Tax Analysis
   1. What: forms arranged by practice area
   2. Where: Lexis, BYU Law Library Form Books
4. Bender’s Federal Practice Forms
   1. What: forms organized by court rule
   2. Where: Lexis, BYU Law Library Forms Section
5. Federal Procedural Forms, Lawyer’s Edition
   1. What: form book companion to Federal Procedure, Lawyer’s Edition, organized in the same way
   2. Where: Westlaw, BYU Law Library Forms Section
6. West’s Federal Forms
   1. What: forms arranged by court
   2. Where: Westlaw, BYU Law Library Main Collection on the 3rd floor in the shelves between the Conversation Room and the 1L Carrels

Blog Post Co-Authored with Kimberly Farnsworth, who is a 3L at BYU Law School and a Law Library Reference Assistant