What to Do With Old Law Books

Old law books (codes, statutes, case reporters and practice treatises) have almost no resale value, because the law changes constantly and a superseded volume is legally useless. Law libraries generally decline donated reporter and code sets; one national exception is Books For Africa's law book program, which accepts some recent law books in excellent condition. Most of the rest ends up as paper recycling, once anything confidential has been pulled out for shredding. In the Albuquerque metro, I take law libraries of any size, in any condition, with free pickup. If you're closing a practice or donating a law firm library, settling an attorney's estate, or clearing a home office, here is exactly how to handle the books, including the one step involving client confidentiality you must not skip.

Published June 2026 · By Josh Eldred, New Mexico Literacy Project · Free pickup: 505-250-3804

Fastest way to clear them: the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, a covered box outside the gate, by the road, takes whatever fits, any hour, any condition. Too much for the box? Come 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., when someone is there to help unload, or get on a free pickup route. Directions.

The hard truth about law book values

No category of book loses value faster than legal publishing. Statutes are amended every session; case reporters are continuous; treatises are updated with pocket parts and annual supplements that make last year's volume not just outdated but actively misleading. A practitioner who relies on a superseded volume risks malpractice, so the professional market simply will not touch old editions. West reporters, state codes, Am. Jur., C.J.S., regional digests, looseleaf services — these were enormously expensive when new and are worth essentially nothing used. Many sets cost more to ship than anyone will pay for them.

This is compounded by the shift to digital. Westlaw, LexisNexis, and free public databases have made the physical library redundant for day-to-day practice, which is exactly why so many retiring attorneys and downsizing firms find themselves with a wall of beautiful, worthless books and nowhere to send them.

Which law books actually have value

A narrow band genuinely does, and it has nothing to do with how impressive a reporter set looks:

Early and antiquarian legal works. Early editions of William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, early American legal treatises, and foundational works of jurisprudence are collected as rare books. Genuinely 18th- and 19th-century legal imprints belong in the antiquarian category, not the recycling bin.

Historically significant or association copies. Books owned, signed, or annotated by a notable judge or attorney, or tied to a famous case, can carry collector interest as historical artifacts rather than as legal references.

Territorial and early state law. Early New Mexico territorial statutes and the first codes of a state can matter to legal historians and special collections — a regional-history value entirely separate from any legal utility.

First: separate anything confidential

Why nobody else will take them

Law libraries deaccession old sets; they don't acquire them. The Maryland State Law Library, for example, says it usually cannot accept regional reporter sets, the Maryland Annotated Code, digests, or large secondary sets such as legal encyclopedias and the American Law Reports. Other firms already moved to digital. Thrift stores tend to turn them away: heavy, unsellable, space-eating. Even recyclers can balk at the volume and the hard bindings. The result is that a retiring attorney's life's library, which represented a fortune when new, becomes one of the single hardest things to give away. That gap is exactly what this service is for.

A national program worth knowing about. Books For Africa's Jack Mason Law & Democracy Initiative sends law books to law schools, bar associations, courts and legal NGOs in Africa. It accepts new or gently used law books no more than 15 years old and in excellent condition, in subjects like common law, business and intellectual property law, human rights, and legal theory or history, plus law dictionaries and encyclopedia sets. It does not take federal or state reporter series, U.S. statutory subjects such as tax or bankruptcy, rule books, CLE booklets, study guides, three-ring binders or sets with missing volumes, and it asks donors to deliver or ship the books to its warehouse and help pay to ship them overseas. In a typical practice library, the reporters and code sets that fill most of the shelves won't qualify.

I accept entire law libraries

Reporter sets, code sets, treatises, looseleaf binders, a single shelf or an entire office wall — any condition, free pickup anywhere in the Albuquerque metro. Law books are heavy and there's usually a lot of them, so this is precisely the kind of job I'm set up for: I'll bring the trailer, load it, and haul it, so you don't move a volume. Anything with genuine antiquarian or historical value is set aside; the rest is recycled responsibly so a wall of paper stays out of the landfill.

Recycling, as a last resort

The paper in law books is recyclable, but the sheer weight and the hard bindings make a large set a real project to recycle yourself. A curbside cart only holds so much, and local guidance in Albuquerque is to remove the binding from hardbound books before they go in the blue cart, because the glue doesn't recycle. For most people, free pickup is simply easier and ensures the recyclable paper actually gets recycled rather than landfilled. I handle the sorting and the recycling on the back end (my notes on recycling books in Albuquerque cover the details).

Frequently asked questions

Are old law books worth anything?

Almost never — superseded legal volumes are legally useless and unsellable. The exceptions are early/antiquarian legal works (e.g., early Blackstone), historically significant copies, and early territorial/state law.

Where can I donate old law books?

Law libraries and thrift stores generally won't take superseded sets. Books For Africa's law book program accepts some recent law books (15 years old or newer, excellent condition, no reporter series or U.S. statutory subjects) that donors deliver or ship to its warehouse. In the Albuquerque metro, I take entire law libraries in any condition, with free pickup. Call or text 505-250-3804.

Should I shred annotated legal materials?

Yes. Anything with client information or privileged notes must be shredded, not donated. Separate confidential working files from the published books first.

Can I recycle old law books?

The paper is recyclable, but heavy bound sets are hard to recycle curbside; free pickup is usually easier, and I recycle what can't be reused.

What can I do with old law school casebooks?

Casebooks and study aids date quickly, and law libraries rarely add donated ones; the UNM Law Library's gift policy, for example, says it does not add casebooks to its collection. Books For Africa takes some recent law teaching books, though not study guides or outlines. In the Albuquerque metro, I take them all free; my page on law textbook donations has the details.