One of the blogs I read in anticipation of my first year was authored by an obviously succesfull student and he recommended this book. Shame he is a commie. An outline on your first year with a solid emphasis on legal writing, outlining and exams. I found the legal writing section to be very useful because I didn't have a very good legal writing professor. Some cold hearted conservatives argue that academia is where professionals who couldn't hack it in the big times end up earning their bread. If law school professorships are where dejected high power attorneys get banished, then the dregs of this barrel of dejection are inhabited by your legal writing professor and probably your career placement director. The greatest academic surprise I encountered my first semester of law school was how much effort and time learning legal writing would take on my own. This book will help you learn the formula your whacky and/or drunk legal writing professor is looking for. Unfortunately, legal writing professors are zany and ineffective in their own individual ways so the help this book provides will be minimal. Legal writing's importance cannot be overrated, any help is good help. The glossary found at the end of this 130 page outline should supplement any need for a copy of Black's Law Dictionary but waste your money if you want; Westlaw has a copy online.
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One of the blogs I read in anticipation of my first year was authored by an obviously succesfull student and he recommended this book. Shame he is a commie. An outline on your first year with a solid emphasis on legal writing, outlining and exams. I found the legal writing section to be very useful because I didn't have a very good legal writing professor. Some cold hearted conservatives argue that academia is where professionals who couldn't hack it in the big times end up earning their bread. If law school professorships are where dejected high power attorneys get banished, then the dregs of this barrel of dejection are inhabited by your legal writing professor and probably your career placement director. The greatest academic surprise I encountered my first semester of law school was how much effort and time learning legal writing would take on my own. This book will help you learn the formula your whacky and/or drunk legal writing professor is looking for. Unfortunately, legal writing professors are zany and ineffective in their own individual ways so the help this book provides will be minimal. Legal writing's importance cannot be overrated, any help is good help. The glossary found at the end of this 130 page outline should supplement any need for a copy of Black's Law Dictionary but waste your money if you want; Westlaw has a copy online.
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This book is great for someone who is just learning how to think while in law school. While some of the reviews claim that it lacks substance, this book is not trying to lay out for you everything you should do in law school. It is sensitive to the fact that different people learn differently and so some things are going to be different. However, the basic tools it is laying out for you are the necessary tools to have a head start. I found that each page was jammed packed with tid bits on what not to worry about, what to focus on, what little things mean that will just make it easier when you get your books and feel overwhelmed... basically, it is not a step-by-step guide on how to be the best law student possible - that is up to you, but it gives you the tools to understand what you are supposed to be looking for and what not to stress about.

Get it, if you are a worrisome person like me who likes to plan ahead, this book will help you create a clear vision of the basics, tell what not to worry about, and one of the most important things, show you how to write a brief. I found it very useful and am glad I read it!

p.s. I am only giving it 4 and not 5 because I would have liked for them to come up with more examples than they did, but if you are an intelligent person (and you obviously are if you are going to law school) then you will be able to figure these things out and remember them for yourself.

This book is great for someone who is just learning how to think while in law school. While some of the reviews claim that it lacks substance, this book is not trying to lay out for you everything you should do in law school. It is sensitive to the fact that different people learn differently and so some things are going to be different. However, the basic tools it is laying out for you are the necessary tools to have a head start. I found that each page was jammed packed with tid bits on what not to worry about, what to focus on, what little things mean that will just make it easier when you get your books and feel overwhelmed... basically, it is not a step-by-step guide on how to be the best law student possible - that is up to you, but it gives you the tools to understand what you are supposed to be looking for and what not to stress about.

Get it, if you are a worrisome person like me who likes to plan ahead, this book will help you create a clear vision of the basics, tell what not to worry about, and one of the most important things, show you how to write a brief. I found it very useful and am glad I read it!

p.s. I am only giving it 4 and not 5 because I would have liked for them to come up with more examples than they did, but if you are an intelligent person (and you obviously are if you are going to law school) then you will be able to figure these things out and remember them for yourself.

This is a good book --- but as a current law student, the best book I've found was "Law School Confidential (Revised Edition): A Complete Guide to the Law School Experience: By Students, for Students," written by Robert H. Miller; ISBN: 0312318812. That book covers every stage of law school. It is organized so students can read relevant topics at the precise period a student needs to know the information. For example, the middle of "Law School Confidential" addresses issues faced by readers in the second-year of their law school career.

Law school tips and advice can also be found numerous places on the web, including www.toplawstudent.com.

That said, this book has some great advice and is easy to read. As a gift to an incoming law student, it certainly wouldn't disappoint.

This book is written on the level of People magazine and has a very trendy feel to it. I used this book at a top 25 law school and found it to be largely useless, if not detrimental.

At BEST this book will give you some idea as to what law school work will sorta maybe look like. Otherwise, I think there's absolutely nothing good in this thin volume that you can't get in more detail in a ten minute conversation with someone who's already in law school.

Nearing completion of my first semester of law school, I can say that the gross majority of advice in this book was totally incorrect. It was actually detrimental to me to read this book.

Nearing completion of my first semester of law school, I can say that the gross majority of advice in this book was totally incorrect. It was actually detrimental to me to read this book.

I have only recently started my first year, so I can't say that it helped me ace my first year, but I did think that the book provided a number of helpful tips. Since there is an auro of mystery surrounding the first year of law school, the sections on the socratic method, briefing cases, outlining and studying for exams provide direction as to how to spend your time wisely, and to stay on top of your reading by directing your study efforts. Again, not groundbreaking advice, but helpful.

I'm an incoming law student currently working my way through the book. The book conveys basic success strategies for law school in a very straightforward manner. The chapters ("steps") are short and easy to digest in one sitting.

However, the authors seem to buy into the "Paper Chase," "1L," "Law-Review-or-Bust" view of law school and don't offer advice on how to cope with the inevitable stressors of law school. Quite simply, they could be kinder and more human.

A useful resource, but I doubt reading the book will increase my overall success in law school.

This book gives you a great overview of the very basics of what law students will need to learn quickly and will not be taught. Get this book to have an understanding of what type of things you will be studying, how to write briefs, and how to outline and study for exams. Also gives you the basics of citations, what you need to know, and what not to worry about... A must read for new law students who want to ease their anxiety!

This book teaches you what you need to focus on in your first year of law school, but even better, it points out all the things you should ignore. For example, the author recommends using electronic databases to cross-reference topics for legal research and warns how counter-productive it is to wander through a legal library without first using the databases to narrow your search. The subjects are thoroughly covered and at the end of each chapter there is a "Dicta" column that sums up all the things that rookies waste time trying to learn.
It's a heck of a value and a good guide for your first year preparations.

I read this book in one day because I couldn't put it down. It is a really helpful book for pre-one L's, and for one L's. It contains great explanations about course work and tests in law school ,that are not typically taught by Law Professors. I am so much more aware of what to expect during my first year.

this is the best book for pre-law and 1L students....ignore everyone else's advice. This book condenses advice down to a thin book.

There are so many books out there about succeeding in law school. Save your time and money and just read this one. Everything you need to know is here- in plain English. The authors have written a short and sweet book that is easier, quicker and a lot more helpful than books out there that are twice as long. The examples on briefing and outlining are wonderful and you can refer to them throughout your first couple of months of study. Don't waste any more time- you already have enough to do- just buy this book!

I am going to law school next fall, so I don't know if the material is "right on" to law school success. However, I have read a few books on the "law school experience" and I enjoyed this one for a couple reasons. First, there is no legalese here -- they write in simple, plain English. As such, it is a very easy read. Second, the strategies are very straight-forward. For example, they outline a 4-step process for briefing cases that is succinct, easy to follow, and describe what to focus on (and, what not to focus on). What strikes me unusual about this book is that is both very informative and very readable. Highly recommended.

I am a recent law school graduate. This book is solid and easy to read. The info on outlining and study guides is generally excellent. I disagree with the authors that you should wait until the semester is half over to start outlining, however. That will lead to unnec. anxiety, too much work at once, and possible procrastination or non-completion of the outline--the worst possible thing a 1L can do. I started outlining right away and made outstanding grades (when I was finally smart enough to outline). At least start by end of the first month. Just look at the syllabus or the textbook's table of contents to see the big picture.
Also, this book excessivley discusses legal research and writing. You will get all you need on that subject from your LRW class. Just keep up, and knock out assignments ahead of time. Your LRW textbook ought to discuss strategies as to timely completion of assignments. That is the most important thing with LRW. Oh, and stop doing research and start writing sooner rather than later. Hand in complete, organized rough drafts, and your instructor will point you in the right direction. You aren't expected to know everyhting as a 1L. Believe in yourself throughout the entire law school experience, reflect daily on your goals and situation, seek to quickly master new challenges, and minimize outside noise and distractions, at home and at school.

Having graduated with high honors from one of the top five law schools, I can attest to the book's straight-forward approach to law school exams. I applied the book's approach as follows: (1) read only those assignments provided by the professor (ignore commercial outlines, etc.); (2) take extensive notes of everything the professor says in class (and do not write down any student comments or student answers to Socratic questions); (3) organize your notes of the professor's lectures into your own outline; (4) read the professor's prior exam files, including any student answers selected by the professor as "model answers"; and (5) practice taking the professor's old exams in the few days leading up to exam day. The rationale is that your professor will be looking for you to spot those issues that he or she views as important. The more of these issues you spot, the higher your exam grade will be. Ditch those commercial outlines and study group meetings. In addition to Acing Your First Year of Law School, you should also prepare for law school by conditioning yourself to what its competition will feel like. Two excellent books that accomplish this are Scott Turow's One L (Harvard in the 1970s) and Scott Gaille's The Law Review (2002 book about competition at The University of Chicago Law School). Good luck!

I bought this book shortly before beginning law school, and while it seemed adequate at first, it seemed less so once I was actually taking classes. Different professors expect different things: one suggests briefing your cases for "at least the first few weeks of class," not a whole year; another demands that your case briefs be so exhaustively detailed that you wonder why you're bothering to write briefs at all when they end up almost as long as the cases themselves. The case that the authors brief in the book is much shorter and more straightforward than most of the cases I've had to read so far. The authors might have served their audience better if they had also included an example of their approach to a longer, more confusing case.

Another shortcoming of this book is that it gives no advice on multiple-choice exams. Of my four classes this semester, one will have a final exam that is exclusively multiple-choice and another will be half multiple-choice. State bar exams have also moved toward more multiple-choice questions. Including a strategy for taking this type of test would have been helpful to readers.

The rest of the information in this book is appreciated, especially the advice on thinking for yourself, using study aids, outlining, and preparing for essay exams. The dicta columns help you know what not to worry about. The authors' repetition of "You know better" gets a little old, but it doesn't detract too much from the what's valuable in this book.

Follow-up: Waiting until six weeks into the semester to begin outlining is a mistake. It's best to do it weekly, while the information is fresh. It's overwhelming to feel behind on outlining when you've got other pressing things, like writing assignments, to worry about.

Law school is an enormous amount of work. Understanding its complexity and demands requires a substantial body of text. Trying to convey the intensity of the law school experience and the breadth of material you will need to learn is hard to convey in a "follow-these-ten-steps-to-certain-success" format. While most of what this book suggest will likely work for the aspiring law student, it will only work if the aspiring law student has a context in which to apply the suggestions. This sounds a little vague; I suggest reading _Getting to Maybe_ by Richard Fischl and Jeremy Paul. It has the substance and contextual relevance that this book does not.

Yes, it does have solid info. Yes, it will be helpful, and sure, you can find these things out on your own -- after you've gotten a few bad grades!!! So why let the worst happen when it's all nicely condensed in great format in this book? I suggest adding it to your "pre-law school library" if you can - and to your "law school references" if you're already there!