There are a number of major publishers of California legal materials, often called "treatises". You should be aware of the following:
CEB - Continuing Education of the Bar is a nonprofit organization jointly sponsored by the State Bar and the University of California publishing on a wide range of practice areas. CEB's popular "Action Guides" provide detailed practice-oriented guidance. CEB OnLaw is the online platform for all CEB publications.
Matthew Bender is owned by LexisNexis and publishes California materials in a wide range of topics including business organizations, litigation, transactional, employment and environmental - all titles are also available online through Lexis.
The Rutter Group is a brand owned by West, a Thomson Reuters business and publishes the California Practice Guides series in a variety of specialized topics. All Rutter Group titles are available online through Westlaw.
Most California practice materials (“treatises”) have useful finding aids to help you find your topic. Look for the index, table of statutes/regulations or table of cases to locate on-point content especially when you have a keyword, statute (code section), regulation or case name as a starting point.
How is a practice set different from a regular treatise?
Practice materials tend to have supplemental materials such as current awareness resources (newsletters, etc.), forms, litigation checklists, and are frequently updated via loose-leaf services. A regular treatise (such as Chemerinsky's treatise on constitutional law) will have none of these and are generally bound volumes.