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Not sure if it really goes here, but I was wondering if there any universally recommended books for 1L. I've surfed around old posts here, because I seem to remember a master thread on this, but I couldn't find anything definitive. I'm not really interested in reading them this summer (though I might peek into a book or two), but I'd like to space out my buying so I don't have to borrow the money for books.

Fark-o-vision wrote:Not sure if it really goes here, but I was wondering if there any universally recommended books for 1L. I've surfed around old posts here, because I seem to remember a master thread on this, but I couldn't find anything definitive. I'm not really interested in reading them this summer (though I might peek into a book or two), but I'd like to space out my buying so I don't have to borrow the money for books.

I read planet law school. It made me completely neurotic. I found that other students were nowhere near as psycho as the book had led me to believe. In hindsight, Its hard to say if reading it was a good idea. It gave me a lot of anxiety, but motivated me to work really hard and do well.

Thanks, but I was actually wondering if there was a universally accepted list of text books. I could probably buy a book for class every two weeks or so, but if I wait to get on campus I'll just have to use loan money for them (not a great saver).

Unfortunately you don't know which case book your professor will use. There are some common ones but none are used by everyone. As far as supplements, the same applies. Sorry, gotta wait. Why don't you just save the money instead of buying now.

A lot of people suggest Getting to Maybe. I didn't find it all that helpful, but still a lot of people suggest it.

All you really need is TLS.

Pro tip: Buy the old edition of the casebooks. New ones go for about 150, used old editions I've paid between 2 and 6. You can find the new editions table of contents online, or just look at someone elses casebook to see what cases are different (typically not too many). As far as 0L reading, I can't imagine any being valuable, but you may find it interesting. Maybe just watch a bunch of Law and Order.

TTTLS wrote:All you really need is TLS.

This. I attribute a lot of my success during 1L to TLS directly.

Regarding supplements, how will we know which are the best for our particular teacher or case book? Do the professors recommend supplements as well? I was hoping to pick up some used supplements now, so I could have more options (I don't like too much writing or highlighting in my books)--is it even worth it, or am I potentially wasting money on books i won't really use?

Not enough 1Ls recognize the value of used textbooks. Particularly if you can find a text used for that professor it might include a lot of what the professor found important highlighted or underlined or noted.

Fark-o-vision wrote:Not sure if it really goes here, but I was wondering if there any universally recommended books for 1L. I've surfed around old posts here, because I seem to remember a master thread on this, but I couldn't find anything definitive. I'm not really interested in reading them this summer (though I might peek into a book or two), but I'd like to space out my buying so I don't have to borrow the money for books.

Try, oh I don't know, saving money for books?

omega918 wrote:Regarding supplements, how will we know which are the best for our particular teacher or case book? Do the professors recommend supplements as well? I was hoping to pick up some used supplements now, so I could have more options (I don't like too much writing or highlighting in my books)--is it even worth it, or am I potentially wasting money on books i won't really use?

Ask students that have had the professors you're assigned. I bought a ton of supplements my first year, but the only ones I found extremely helpful were understanding property and understanding crim. I found the E&Es to be a waste of time. Commercial outlines were helpful to fill in gaps in your notes/own outline, but I've never found them to be helpful enough to justify their price tag.

There's really no point in reading stuff before you get to school. You'll have no idea what's important in the cases you read or what's going on.

I read casebooks for the first couple of weeks, then I gave up that because I felt I was wasting my time. Basically, a good hornbook is your textbook, and to know what's going on in class, I used High Court Case Summaries. It puts cases in plain English and makes it much faster to go through. Also, don't brief cases; it's a huge waste of time.

canesfan1986 wrote:There's really no point in reading stuff before you get to school. You'll have no idea what's important in the cases you read or what's going on.

I read casebooks for the first couple of weeks, then I gave up that because I felt I was wasting my time. Basically, a good hornbook is your textbook, and to know what's going on in class, I used High Court Case Summaries. It puts cases in plain English and makes it much faster to go through. Also, don't brief cases; it's a huge waste of time.

This should be followed with a YMMV. What works for some people doesn't work for others. There are some people who need to brief - some people don't. One size fits all doesn't work for law school.

thelaststraw05 wrote:

canesfan1986 wrote:There's really no point in reading stuff before you get to school. You'll have no idea what's important in the cases you read or what's going on.

I read casebooks for the first couple of weeks, then I gave up that because I felt I was wasting my time. Basically, a good hornbook is your textbook, and to know what's going on in class, I used High Court Case Summaries. It puts cases in plain English and makes it much faster to go through. Also, don't brief cases; it's a huge waste of time.

This should be followed with a YMMV. What works for some people doesn't work for others. There are some people who need to brief - some people don't. One size fits all doesn't work for law school.

Yes, of course, but I still have a hard time seeing how briefing is useful. I think the time saved by not briefing is more valuable than what one could gleam from briefing. For my casebooks, the High Court series was the way to go. Saved me tons of time.

canesfan1986 wrote:Yes, of course, but I still have a hard time seeing how briefing is useful. I think the time saved by not briefing is more valuable than what one could gleam from briefing. For my casebooks, the High Court series was the way to go. Saved me tons of time.

I don't mean to say that it definitively is valuable. Only that some people like it. I think the primary reason they like it is that when they are putting together an outline at the end of the semester it makes it go faster. Your own brief will jog your memory about the case better than someone else's words.

I think the most important thing to do is keep your eye on the exams at the end of the year. We had one prof where we were not allowed any outside materials (including outlines) on the exam. The people who had made case cards (essentially minibriefs on flash cards) throughout the semester were at an advantage.

canesfan1986 wrote:Yes, of course, but I still have a hard time seeing how briefing is useful.

Some professors give credit for citing and analogizing to cases on exams. This alone is reason enough to write a little mini-brief on assigned cases. Not much, just the key facts and holding/relevant law.

thelaststraw05 wrote:Not enough 1Ls recognize the value of used textbooks. Particularly if you can find a text used for that professor it might include a lot of what the professor found important highlighted or underlined or noted.

I took the completely opposite view. You never know who had the book before you. It could have been a complete idiot, highlighting all the wrong shit or focusing on unimportant details. And a book full of highlights makes it more difficult for you to highlight what you found important. I only bought new textbooks, i only underlined in pencil, and I don't regret it in the least. You've got to spend money to make money.

InGoodFaith wrote:

Fark-o-vision wrote:Not sure if it really goes here, but I was wondering if there any universally recommended books for 1L. I've surfed around old posts here, because I seem to remember a master thread on this, but I couldn't find anything definitive. I'm not really interested in reading them this summer (though I might peek into a book or two), but I'd like to space out my buying so I don't have to borrow the money for books.

Try, oh I don't know, saving money for books?

Even more important than correcting your weaknesses is identifying them, no? Of course, I'll save for some, but it would just make it easier on me if there was a master list of supplements or casebooks or whatever. Then I could buy them as I went along, instead of trying to resist the temptation.

Still, being a sarcastic dick is appreciated. I'm serious. The internet would be a worse place without people like you.

NotMyRealName09 wrote:

thelaststraw05 wrote:Not enough 1Ls recognize the value of used textbooks. Particularly if you can find a text used for that professor it might include a lot of what the professor found important highlighted or underlined or noted.

I took the completely opposite view. You never know who had the book before you. It could have been a complete idiot, highlighting all the wrong shit or focusing on unimportant details. And a book full of highlights makes it more difficult for you to highlight what you found important. I only bought new textbooks, i only underlined in pencil, and I don't regret it in the least. You've got to spend money to make money.

I think both of these are valid points. I had a lit class that assigned something like 800 pages of reading a week, but I was lucky enough to get a used book that had been highlighted and had notes in it. Generally, I've had good luck being able to parse through good note taking and bad (you can generally tell just by looking at the choices they make on a consistent basis. Good note takers have good note taking skills, regardless of the class or subject matter), but I can see how it would easily screw people up.

NotMyRealName09 wrote:You never know who had the book before you. It could have been a complete idiot, highlighting all the wrong shit or focusing on unimportant details. And a book full of highlights makes it more difficult for you to highlight what you found important.

I got a used Contracts book like this. The previous owner was a complete moron with the highlighting, and apparently felt it necessary to beat his books with a baseball bat when they were naughty. The first third of the book was falling out of the binding. Many pages were more than 90% highlighted. Some pages were in technicolor, and others were simply scribbled over in a purple so dark you could barely read the text through it. (Mind you, I paid like $15 for this thing, and I knew it would be shitty quality. My only other choice was to buy for like $120 new, which wasn't happening.)

That was by far my worst used text. Nearly all my books for 1L were used, and I ended up saving probably more than a thousand bucks over new. Worth it for the minor annoyances.