Concise Hornbooks (Principles of ...) series (West Academic)—briefly covers the main points and focuses on materials covered in a typical law school course on a given topic.
[Law/Topic] in a Nutshell series (West Academic)—concise narrative explanations of major doctrines in an area of law. They offer a good introduction to key concepts and legal terminology and jargon.
Understanding [Law/Topic] series (LexisNexis)—concise explanations of the basic contours of an area of law. They tend to be more extensive than the Nutshells and include more references to cases.
Commercial outlines—useful to supplement readings in preparing for class discussion (or to review for exams). Some outlines are "keyed" to particular casebooks, correlating course readings pages to the relevant outline section. Examples include Emanuel Law Outlines (Aspen), Gilbert Law Summaries and Black Letter Outlines (West Academic), and Outlines for all 1L courses plus several upper level topics in Quimbee (see setup instructions—don't use free trial!).
Hypos and analysis—questions (multiple-choice, T/F, and/or short-answer) with answers and analysis to describe doctrine, test comprehension, and prepare for class discussion or exams. Examples include Examples & Explanations (E&E) series (Aspen), Questions & Answers (Q&A) series (LexisNexis), and Multiple Choice Questions for all 1L courses plus several upper level topics in Quimbee (see setup instructions—don't use free trial!).
Case summaries—expert analysis of the case excerpts used in course readings, "keyed" to particular casebooks, used to understand or review key concepts and prepare for class discussion. Examples include the Casenote Legal Briefs series (Aspen), High Court Case Summaries series (West Academic), and Case Briefs (also viewable by Casebooks for case summaries keyed to various course textbooks) for all 1L courses plus several upper level topics in Quimbee (see setup instructions—don't use free trial!).
Many of the online platforms for study aids include materials designed specifically for exam preparation, often including practice questions and sample answers—e.g., Emanuel's CrunchTime (Aspen), Q&A (LexisNexis), Exam Pro and Acing (West Academic), and Essay Practice Exams for all 1L courses plus several upper level topics in Quimbee (see setup instructions—don't use free trial!).
Hornbooks series (West Academic)—explanatory texts addressing the major questions taught in law school in a given area of law. They often provide explanations relevant to the questions presented by casebooks used as course readings.
Treatises—detailed examination of covered areas of law, useful for explanation or further research. The tabs under "for 1L Courses" in this guide point out major treatises for each of the first-year required courses, and the Treatise Finders from Georgetown Law offer tips for many other areas of law.