Utah Secondary Sources

Secondary sources can be a helpful resource when doing legal research for a class, memo, court document, or paper. Law students, law faculty, attorneys, and pro se patrons can all benefit from secondary sources! These types of sources are not the law per se, but rather discuss and analyze the law. They can be great places to start if you are new to a topic and need an overview or citations to major cases. Not to mention, they can save time as they are a one-stop shop for a lot of great information. 

For Utah law, there are several great secondary sources that can be helpful, but there are also some limitations. Let’s discuss: 

Legal Encyclopedias

First, there is no Utah Legal Encyclopedia available. There are encyclopedias for many states, and two for general American law, but not one specifically for Utah. 

Legal Treatises

But, there are several Utah Legal Treatises that give an overview of specific areas of Utah Law.

For those listed below, we have provided links to them at the BYU Law Library, the University of Utah’s Law Library, and the Utah State Law Library and have notated if their version is from a different year. Additionally, we have listed if it is available on Lexis or Westlaw for our law students to access them electronically.

• Katherine D. Black, et al., Family Law in Utah (4th ed. 2012) 
  • Available at: BYU, U of U, and Utah
• H. Reese Hansen & Stanley D. Neeleman, Utah Probate System (2d ed. 2005) 
  • Available at: BYU U of U, and Utah.
• Richard Collin Mangrum & Dee Benson, Mangrum & Benson on Utah Evidence (2022–2023 ed.)
  • Available at: BYU, U of U, Utah (2021–2022 ed.), and Westlaw
• David A. Thomas, Utah Civil Practice (2022 ed.) 
  • Available at: BYU, U of U, Utah (2021 ed.), and Lexis
• David A. Thomas & James H. Backman, Utah Real Property Law (2021 ed.) 
  • Available at: BYU (2014 Supp.), U of U, Utah (2014 Supp.), and Lexis
• Randall Bunnell, Utah Auto Law (2009) 
  • Available at: BYU (2012 Supp.), U of U, Utah (2021 Supp.), and Lexis
• Kory Staheli & Steve Averett, Utah Marriage & Divorce Laws (2022) 
  • Available for Free Online
• Robert S. Tippett, The Utah Law of Trusts & Estates: A Comprehensive Online Legal Reference Treatise
  • Available for Free Online

Practice Materials

There are Utah practice materials available as well. Practice materials are guides to specific types of legal practice such as trial work or corporate law.

• David W. Scofield, Trial Handbook for Utah Lawyers (1994, Supp. 2023–2024) 
  • Available at: BYU, U of U and Utah
• Preston C. Regehr, Utah Limited Liability Company: Forms and Practice Manual (2d ed. 2007) 
  • Available at: BYU and U of U

Form Books

Utah does not have an official “Utah Form Book,” but the Utah Courts have a web page of forms to file in court. These are generally forms for motions or other court documents that pro se litigants are most likely to file. But they can be useful in a variety of circumstances beyond pro se representation.  

• Utah Courts Form Webpage: https://www.utcourts.gov/en/forms.html

Written by: Emma Hackett (3L and BYU Law Library Reference Assistant), Margaret Jarvis (3L and BYU Law Library Reference Assistant), and Annalee Hickman Pierson (Head of Reference and Faculty Services at the BYU Law Library)