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Related Discussions
4 Likes
Books to read before law school
PARHAM1373
Free Trial Member
I’m starting law school in September (in Canada) and I was wondering if anyone had recommendations on books to read before starting 1L.
If you also have personal advice about how to handle first year, i would appreciate that too!
Thank you!
Comments
Lots of people recommend Getting to Maybe. It's a quick read and not too taxing.
Some recommend the LEEWS course, but I'm not sure if it's worth the money. A friend gave me the book from it and I'm reading that. It seems informative about the structure of law school exams. It also does a good job of providing a structured approach to how to tackle them without panicking.
You can also get the supplements for your classes ahead of time and read those. I'm going to do this in at least one of my classes with the goal of starting to take practice exams earlier in the semester for that class. Many people say reading any substantive material about the law as a 0L is over the top though.
I'm a fellow 0L though so take this with a grain of salt.
I figure I have to prep for law school right the first time. I ended up finding 7sage for my retake of the LSAT, but there is no retake of your first semester of exams. So do your research on 0L prep!
Haven't gotten it yet, but I've seen recommendations for Law School Confidential by Robert Miller.
Getting to Maybe is on my list to buy as well.
I have a lot of free time before starting 1L...
These are the books I've read so far:
(1) 1L of a Ride: A Well-Traveled Professor's Roadmap to Success in the First Year of Law School (Career Guides) (3e)
(2) The Elements of Legal Style (2e)
(3) Chapter eight of Garner on Language & Writing
Books that I'm still working on:
- Getting To Maybe: How to Excel on Law School Exams
- Logic for Lawyers : A Guide to Clear Legal Thinking (3e)
- Law School Exams: Preparing and Writing to Win (2e)
I have enjoyed reading 1L of a ride, 1L the novel, Getting to Maybe, and Letters to a Young Lawyer.
Also this: http://hls.harvard.edu/dept/ocs/prospective-students/recommended-reading/
I was gonna recommend Law 101 by Jay M. Feinman, which offers a great summary of the American legal system. I think it's even offered as required reading for some law schools. However, I realized you're attending in Canada, so not sure how much use you can get out of it. You may still find it interesting and applicable, regardless.
You can never go wrong brushing up on some writing mechanics with Strunk and White's Elements of Style. Best of luck!
I’ve browsed through many reading lists and most seem to recommend Getting to Maybe, Law School Confidential, and One L.
Thank you! I’ll get started checking these out! If anyone else has advice on readings or just advice on 1L please share for us all
I found this too:
https://www.law.uconn.edu/sites/default/files/summer-reading-list-2015.pdf
24 Hours with 24 Lawyers was a fun read. It gives a brief autobiography of 24 different lawyers - interesting but not necessarily insightful.
I'd recommend "The Legal Analyst." It's pretty accessible, but provides some really great insight into the legal system and how legal decisions are made. They handed copies out to all admitted students at UT admitted students day.
I'd also second Law 101. Because I don't want to ask stupid in my 1L classes. :B
I've found Getting to Maybe to be a good enough read so far. It also makes me impressed with my future self who will understand the issues that are being discussed.
I got Law School Insider on some other rec and so far I am annoyed; he's kind of a dudely boy with annoying asides and not a lot of useful, generalizable info. Maybe useful if you're going to Cornell or really looking for an overview of his experience but he doesn't present a very broad vision. He keeps talking about how he wrote it on vacation and you can tell. The font on the edition I have is also weirdly tiny and hard to read.
My friend gave me 1L for my birthday and it was kiiiiiind of hilarious and I felt bad for his wife but I enjoyed it more than Law School Insider.
I'm continuing reading my way through what the library has and I will happily provide reviews!
Two basic technical books on grammar and logical fallacies:
With Good Reason: An Introduction to Informal Fallacies by Morris S. Engel
Clean Well-lighted Sentences: A guide to Avoiding the Most Common Errors in Grammar and Punctuation
The above two titles are short and sweet.
Just for fun:
Aristotle's Rhetoric
Currently reading Getting To Maybe. Definitely a good read. I'd also recommend 1L of a Ride and Law School Confidential.
The Bramble Bush is another book that was recommended to me. Its a book on Law School Lectures, definitely seems interesting.
Hi fellow Canadian! For Canadian law, I think you'd enjoy and gain a lot from reading Stephen Waddams, Introduction to the Study of Law. Waddams is an expert on contracts and his book is reader-friendly. I read it prior to law school and liked it. Don't overburden yourself too much before law school, though. Enjoy your freedom and reserve your reading superpowers for when it counts most.
Following up to give my thoughts on the books I've tackled.
(1) It was okay. It gives you a bit of a preview of the different aspects of law school, but it isn't going to be the reason why you kill 1L.
(2) Fantastic book. It was really hard for me because I'm very weak in Standard Written English. I liked the work so much that I ordered two of the authors other works, and I will be ordering a third soon. Oh yeah I should mention that this book isn't directly related to 1L. But it's going to help you improve as a writer. And I think some of the ideas will even help you with the LSAT.
(3) Supra
(4) Haven't started it
(5) I'm in the middle of this. At times it is a bit dull, but if you can get a used copy for a decent price I'd suggest it. I feel like it's the kind of book that will help you throughout your legal career. Also I think this book overlaps well with the LSAT. If you want a leisure reading that is related to the LSAT, this is a great choice.
(6) This book came highly recommended from Garner. It's a solid choice, and I think more informative than 1L of a ride.
I've suggested Brain Rules by John Medina to about 600 people now, and so far I haven't had a single person do anything but rave about it. I do so for a number of reasons, particular as it explains how we best retain, retrieve information etc. across the board, but also because I don't think the word "law" is in there once. Which will be a blessing for many soon I suspect.