1L Textbook List Forum
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1L Textbook List
Sorry if I'm posting this in the wrong section. It didn't quite fit into any of the other categories.
I am interested in putting together a list of books used for the class of 2012 1L curriculum across the country. It is not meant to be a comprehensive list by any measure. What I am after is a thorough list of books used in the following 5 courses:
Civil Procedure
Contracts
Tort
Criminal Law
Property
I'm only interested in these 5 courses, seeing as they are the only 5 that are consistent.
Now, I recognize that different professors use different books, but I'm hoping that with enough people responding from enough schools, I'll have a good list of books for each course.
So please, list your school, list the classes you're taking, and list the textbook being used for that class (note: I am not interested in readers--seeing as I can't get them).
Also, I am only interested in top 30 law schools.
Finally, if anyone is aware of any kick-ass 1L review books aside from BarBri and Kaplan's packages, I would like to know about those as well.
Thank you everyone for sharing this information.
ps: in case anyone wants to know why I am doing this, I am applying to law schools this fall and am looking to "study" the standard 5 1L courses before going to law school next year. I know that classes are taught VERY differently from school to school--even within the same school--but I don't see any disadvantages to doing A 1L before starting. After all, I'll be done with apps by October (hopefully) and until next September is a long way out.
over and out...
I am interested in putting together a list of books used for the class of 2012 1L curriculum across the country. It is not meant to be a comprehensive list by any measure. What I am after is a thorough list of books used in the following 5 courses:
Civil Procedure
Contracts
Tort
Criminal Law
Property
I'm only interested in these 5 courses, seeing as they are the only 5 that are consistent.
Now, I recognize that different professors use different books, but I'm hoping that with enough people responding from enough schools, I'll have a good list of books for each course.
So please, list your school, list the classes you're taking, and list the textbook being used for that class (note: I am not interested in readers--seeing as I can't get them).
Also, I am only interested in top 30 law schools.
Finally, if anyone is aware of any kick-ass 1L review books aside from BarBri and Kaplan's packages, I would like to know about those as well.
Thank you everyone for sharing this information.
ps: in case anyone wants to know why I am doing this, I am applying to law schools this fall and am looking to "study" the standard 5 1L courses before going to law school next year. I know that classes are taught VERY differently from school to school--even within the same school--but I don't see any disadvantages to doing A 1L before starting. After all, I'll be done with apps by October (hopefully) and until next September is a long way out.
over and out...
- Farfan1
- Posts: 78
- Joined: Tue Jun 23, 2009 7:49 am
Re: 1L Textbook List
Great post, I will also be doing nothing but obssessing from Oct till Aug 2010. I had thought about getting the highest ranking books on each subject on Barnes and Noble's website.
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Re: 1L Textbook List
OP, what do you mean by BarBri and Kaplan's packages?86revolt wrote:Sorry if I'm posting this in the wrong section. It didn't quite fit into any of the other categories.
I am interested in putting together a list of books used for the class of 2012 1L curriculum across the country. It is not meant to be a comprehensive list by any measure. What I am after is a thorough list of books used in the following 5 courses:
Civil Procedure
Contracts
Tort
Criminal Law
Property
I'm only interested in these 5 courses, seeing as they are the only 5 that are consistent.
Now, I recognize that different professors use different books, but I'm hoping that with enough people responding from enough schools, I'll have a good list of books for each course.
So please, list your school, list the classes you're taking, and list the textbook being used for that class (note: I am not interested in readers--seeing as I can't get them).
Also, I am only interested in top 30 law schools.
Finally, if anyone is aware of any kick-ass 1L review books aside from BarBri and Kaplan's packages, I would like to know about those as well.
Thank you everyone for sharing this information.
ps: in case anyone wants to know why I am doing this, I am applying to law schools this fall and am looking to "study" the standard 5 1L courses before going to law school next year. I know that classes are taught VERY differently from school to school--even within the same school--but I don't see any disadvantages to doing A 1L before starting. After all, I'll be done with apps by October (hopefully) and until next September is a long way out.
over and out...
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- Posts: 264
- Joined: Thu Oct 23, 2008 7:47 pm
Re: 1L Textbook List
A.) I hope this is a flame, but i'll move forward as if it were not86revolt wrote:Sorry if I'm posting this in the wrong section. It didn't quite fit into any of the other categories.
I am interested in putting together a list of books used for the class of 2012 1L curriculum across the country. It is not meant to be a comprehensive list by any measure. What I am after is a thorough list of books used in the following 5 courses:
Civil Procedure
Contracts
Tort
Criminal Law
Property
I'm only interested in these 5 courses, seeing as they are the only 5 that are consistent.
Now, I recognize that different professors use different books, but I'm hoping that with enough people responding from enough schools, I'll have a good list of books for each course.
So please, list your school, list the classes you're taking, and list the textbook being used for that class (note: I am not interested in readers--seeing as I can't get them).
Also, I am only interested in top 30 law schools.
Finally, if anyone is aware of any kick-ass 1L review books aside from BarBri and Kaplan's packages, I would like to know about those as well.
Thank you everyone for sharing this information.
ps: in case anyone wants to know why I am doing this, I am applying to law schools this fall and am looking to "study" the standard 5 1L courses before going to law school next year. I know that classes are taught VERY differently from school to school--even within the same school--but I don't see any disadvantages to doing A 1L before starting. After all, I'll be done with apps by October (hopefully) and until next September is a long way out.
over and out...
B.) are you serious?
C.) dont waste your time
D.) if you really want to do anything, buy the E&E's and read those...reading a casebook would do very little for you at this point
E.) if you reaaaaaaaaallllly need to know, just go into amazon and type a subject like "Property" into the search tool and that will pretty much give you the commonly used casebooks for these classes
- sentinal5656
- Posts: 371
- Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:54 pm
Re: 1L Textbook List
jrock12 wrote:A.) I hope this is a flame, but i'll move forward as if it were not86revolt wrote:Sorry if I'm posting this in the wrong section. It didn't quite fit into any of the other categories.
I am interested in putting together a list of books used for the class of 2012 1L curriculum across the country. It is not meant to be a comprehensive list by any measure. What I am after is a thorough list of books used in the following 5 courses:
Civil Procedure
Contracts
Tort
Criminal Law
Property
I'm only interested in these 5 courses, seeing as they are the only 5 that are consistent.
Now, I recognize that different professors use different books, but I'm hoping that with enough people responding from enough schools, I'll have a good list of books for each course.
So please, list your school, list the classes you're taking, and list the textbook being used for that class (note: I am not interested in readers--seeing as I can't get them).
Also, I am only interested in top 30 law schools.
Finally, if anyone is aware of any kick-ass 1L review books aside from BarBri and Kaplan's packages, I would like to know about those as well.
Thank you everyone for sharing this information.
ps: in case anyone wants to know why I am doing this, I am applying to law schools this fall and am looking to "study" the standard 5 1L courses before going to law school next year. I know that classes are taught VERY differently from school to school--even within the same school--but I don't see any disadvantages to doing A 1L before starting. After all, I'll be done with apps by October (hopefully) and until next September is a long way out.
over and out...
B.) are you serious?
C.) dont waste your time
D.) if you really want to do anything, buy the E&E's and read those...reading a casebook would do very little for you at this point
E.) if you reaaaaaaaaallllly need to know, just go into amazon and type a subject like "Property" into the search tool and that will pretty much give you the commonly used casebooks for these classes
Even E&E's can be a waste of time. Lots of professors don't even cover half the E&E.
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- Posts: 124
- Joined: Mon Feb 02, 2009 8:33 pm
Re: 1L Textbook List
BarBri and Kaplan have 1L review books.clint4law wrote:
OP, what do you mean by BarBri and Kaplan's packages?
As for the "don't waste your time" comments: I understand not reading casebooks because different professors teach differently and cover different material. But aren't there some underlying basic concepts taught in each class that would be useful to know when you go into the class (i.e. definitions, principles, etc)? I'll give an example (though it won't apply since it's more of a Con Law topic and might not be applicable to other classes): if you're about to enter a Con Law class, which covers Constitution's equal protection clause, wouldn't it be helpful to have read the different ways that the Court has interpreted the equal protection clause before entering the class? Yes, maybe you won't know everything that is going to be taught, but you have spent some time thinking about it and therefore are able to have a more intelligent opinion on it when it's being covered in the class.
So I guess my goal here is different than most people who want to study before 1L in that I'm not planning on having already known the material before I enter. I presume that maybe if I read the casebooks, E&Es, or maybe some casebooks, I'll be able to think critically about the material taught in each class and that will give me an advantage going into the course, not necessarily knowing everything that is going to be taught.
Let me know if you've already been through 1L and think I'm wrong.
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Re: 1L Textbook List
i'll just give it one more shot since i was the one who made the 'dont waste your time' comment...
i'll say first...remember, you are going to law school (and paying as much as you are) to be taught the law/how to apply the law/how to be a lawyer...trying to learn some of these things (or at least the basics) beforehand is fine, but just keep the first part in mind when deciding your strategy for 1L prep
secondly, i think your first course of action should be picking up one of the classic pre-1L books, like Getting to Maybe...i am not trying to talk condescendingly (as I am only into my third week of 1L myself), but seeing you type something like 'But aren't there some underlying basic concepts taught in each class that would be useful to know when you go into the class (i.e. definitions, principles, etc)?' as you did strikes me very much to the way undergrad education is instructed (Getting to Maybe touches on this point a lot) and very different from that of the way law school is instructed
with that being said, casebooks (which all law schools across the country use) are exactly what they say they are-->books full of cases...they lack a lot of the commentary/explanation of actual principles/definitions typical of the textbooks we all used in undergrad...if you think you can/want to read the cases and try to extract the rules of law/etc. out of them on your own, then i say go for it, you're much more ambitious than i was
but i think in the end you are looking for something a bit more general (like an intro to law type book) possibly supplemented with something like an E&E, which will give you course specific material
i'll say first...remember, you are going to law school (and paying as much as you are) to be taught the law/how to apply the law/how to be a lawyer...trying to learn some of these things (or at least the basics) beforehand is fine, but just keep the first part in mind when deciding your strategy for 1L prep
secondly, i think your first course of action should be picking up one of the classic pre-1L books, like Getting to Maybe...i am not trying to talk condescendingly (as I am only into my third week of 1L myself), but seeing you type something like 'But aren't there some underlying basic concepts taught in each class that would be useful to know when you go into the class (i.e. definitions, principles, etc)?' as you did strikes me very much to the way undergrad education is instructed (Getting to Maybe touches on this point a lot) and very different from that of the way law school is instructed
with that being said, casebooks (which all law schools across the country use) are exactly what they say they are-->books full of cases...they lack a lot of the commentary/explanation of actual principles/definitions typical of the textbooks we all used in undergrad...if you think you can/want to read the cases and try to extract the rules of law/etc. out of them on your own, then i say go for it, you're much more ambitious than i was
but i think in the end you are looking for something a bit more general (like an intro to law type book) possibly supplemented with something like an E&E, which will give you course specific material
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Re: 1L Textbook List
jrock. Thanks for the thorough description. I must admit: as much as I want to suspend my undergrad-like thinking about how law school classes are taught, I'm still bound by my undergrad experience since it is the only thing I know.
And I agree that blindly reading casebooks without knowing how to apply them is pointless. But the advantage I have is having a handful of close friends who are just about to start 1L and I'm hoping to study the material with them, i.e. have them walk me through their lectures and share notes and discuss the cases. Hence why I think the standard 'don't study before 1L' might not apply to my case since my friends will relay the lectures to me and allow me to read the cases and apply the principles to them at the same time. If anyone thinks this is still a bad idea, please let me know as I keep an open mind on this strategy.
But I do think you're right. I will first read standard 1L books (Getting to Maybe, Law School confidential), then read BarBri's 1L review books since they do very basic stuff, and THEN I'll go through the casebooks with friends and learn to apply the doctrines, principles, statutes, etc.
I know I'm very crazy, but I have every intention of kicking some notorious ass at 1L.
And I agree that blindly reading casebooks without knowing how to apply them is pointless. But the advantage I have is having a handful of close friends who are just about to start 1L and I'm hoping to study the material with them, i.e. have them walk me through their lectures and share notes and discuss the cases. Hence why I think the standard 'don't study before 1L' might not apply to my case since my friends will relay the lectures to me and allow me to read the cases and apply the principles to them at the same time. If anyone thinks this is still a bad idea, please let me know as I keep an open mind on this strategy.
But I do think you're right. I will first read standard 1L books (Getting to Maybe, Law School confidential), then read BarBri's 1L review books since they do very basic stuff, and THEN I'll go through the casebooks with friends and learn to apply the doctrines, principles, statutes, etc.
I know I'm very crazy, but I have every intention of kicking some notorious ass at 1L.
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