Best supplement for Contracts? Forum

[BSEE]

Glannon's E&Es for torts/civ pro has gone well so far, but what is regarded as a very good supplement for contracts?

Is the E&E for contracts any good?

[ALilMusicFactry]

http://www.amazon.com/Concepts-Analysis ... 1587781972

Skip the E&E. Chirelstein is where it's at. Much shorter than an E&E as well.

[CourierTwelve]

Chirelstein is good. I read it in a weekend and it made the first day of contracts a lot more comfortable.

[06072010]

Skip the E&E. Chirelstein is where it's at. Much shorter than an E&E as well.

Credited.

[BSEE]

Thanks all. Seems to be fairly unanimous.

[KennyinGrinnell]

my professor last year recommended Calamari and Perillo's hornbook.

It was the best thing ever for my course. Just go ask the professor what they recommend.

[Garinold]

As I am looking for a Contracts supplement I'm resurrecting this thread. I have been assigned Contracts by John P. Dawson, William Burnett Harvey Casebook, and a Selections for Contracts: Uniform Commercial Code, Restatement 2d by E. Allan Farnsworth.

I have come to see the Chirelstein book recommended everywhere, however recently I heard from someone that it really shines if your professor/course is very common law focused. If your professor/course is very UCC focused, this book isn't all that great. Is that true? And if so what supplement would be better for a course that is going to be more UCC focused?

[Garinold]

As I am looking for a Contracts supplement I'm resurrecting this thread. I have been assigned Contracts by John P. Dawson, William Burnett Harvey Casebook, and a Selections for Contracts: Uniform Commercial Code, Restatement 2d by E. Allan Farnsworth.

I have come to see the Chirelstein book recommended everywhere, however recently I heard from someone that it really shines if your professor/course is very common law focused. If your professor/course is very UCC focused, this book isn't all that great. Is that true? And if so what supplement would be better for a course that is going to be more UCC focused?

No one has any input?

[philo-sophia]

Best supplement for Contracts?

Adderall.

[hbb]

Are you sure that you need a supplement geared toward the UCC? The casebook you are using is just a standard 1L common law K's text.

edit: to clarify, contracts is often divided into Contracts I, which focuses on the common law, and Contracts II, which focuses on the sale of goods under the UCC (and may delve into leases). A Contracts I course will likely discuss the UCC to some extent, but not to the point that an additional supplement will be of any value. That being said, for the UCC, the E&E on Sales and Leases is not bad KII supplement.

[Garinold]

Are you sure that you need a supplement geared toward the UCC? The casebook you are using is just a standard 1L common law K's text.

edit: to clarify, contracts is often divided into Contracts I, which focuses on the common law, and Contracts II, which focuses on the sale of goods under the UCC (and may delve into leases). A Contracts I course will likely discuss the UCC to some extent, but not to the point that an additional supplement will be of any value. That being said, for the UCC, the E&E on Sales and Leases is not bad KII supplement.

I didn't think of that. So generally speaking K1 is Common-law, and K2 is the UCC provisions? You think the E&E is a good supplement for Contracts though? I haven't heard a single good thing about it from anyone.

[hbb]

So generally speaking K1 is Common-law, and K2 is the UCC provisions?

This is often the case, but of course there are exceptions. Your typical 1L Fall Semester Contracts class will likely discuss the UCC to some extent, because there are significant differences between the UCC and the common law in a few key areas.

You think the E&E is a good supplement for Contracts though? I haven't heard a single good thing about it from anyone.

I didn't think the E&E was helpful at all, but for that matter Chirelstein didn't really strike me as particularly useful either: I never did find a supplement for Contracts I really felt added much to my understanding of the subject. I just read the cases closely and followed the class discussions carefully - my professor was very good at drawing out the key points through the socratic dialogue.

My advice would be to check out Chirelstein from the library and give it no more than a quick once over, just to give you a rough idea of the big picture. After that, just focus on what you are assigned in class. If you aren't having any problems grasping the concepts, and feel like you know where your professor is headed in class discussions, then there is no need to worry about supplements. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[annapavlova]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... =3&t=26949

[amorphousbulge]

Chirelstein's is quite helpful if you have him for contracts

[Garinold]

Any other suggestions besides Chirelstein?

[ChattelCat]

I thought the E&E for contracts was fantastic. His answers are somewhat long but give you a really good idea of what an A exam answer would look like. I didn't use Chirelstein because my casebook author had his own hornbook (Farnsworth). I read through the hornbook but honestly the E&E is what really helped me learn contracts.

[Garinold]

I thought the E&E for contracts was fantastic. His answers are somewhat long but give you a really good idea of what an A exam answer would look like. I didn't use Chirelstein because my casebook author had his own hornbook (Farnsworth). I read through the hornbook but honestly the E&E is what really helped me learn contracts.

I've heard a lot of bad feedback about it, mostly in comparison to the two Glannon E&Es though. Does the Contracts E&E really cover a substantial amount of material?

EDIT: the reason why I ask is that I really need some help here picking out a supplement. I have already went through the 4 part test with this class (1: Has the professor written a supplement? 2: Has the professor recommended a supplement? 3: Has the author of the Casebook written a supplement? 4: Is there a supplement keyed to the Casebook?) and have come up dry. As far as Chirestien is concerned, I've heard that the supplement is short on the UCC. As far as the Contracts E&E is concerned I've heard nothing but terrible things about it. As far as hornbooks go I'm worried about reading one that will treat certain topics/issues in ways the professor disagrees w/ (my Casebook: --LinkRemoved--). What should I do?

[snotrocket]

Farnsworth should work well if you want something heavier and more authoritative than the E&E. Unlike most supplements, Farnsworth actually gets cited by the courts once in a while. If you want the smallest thing that could possibly help (a little bit, anyway), then Chirelstein is not useless. If you think the E&E sucks but still want something around that level, just go with the Emanuel. In the end it doesn't matter that much what you read to get a handle on the black letter law, just as long as you read something. There truly is no silver bullet for this. The only thing you absolutely NEED are practice exams and some sort of multiple choice Q&A book to drill yourself when you get down to the end. If your prof doesn't give practice exams, then try other profs who taught it recently at your school. For multiple choice question, pick up any recent Bar/Bri or PMBR MBE review books, or try the Finz Multistate Method.

[nifer327]

While I agree that the Contracts EE is not nearly as useful as other EEs, I didn't find it totally useless. I bought the EE for EVERY course, and made sure to do each problem in the back, even if I never bothered reading the chapter.

[devil84]

I thought the E&E for contracts was fantastic. His answers are somewhat long but give you a really good idea of what an A exam answer would look like. I didn't use Chirelstein because my casebook author had his own hornbook (Farnsworth). I read through the hornbook but honestly the E&E is what really helped me learn contracts.

I've heard a lot of bad feedback about it, mostly in comparison to the two Glannon E&Es though. Does the Contracts E&E really cover a substantial amount of material?

EDIT: the reason why I ask is that I really need some help here picking out a supplement. I have already went through the 4 part test with this class (1: Has the professor written a supplement? 2: Has the professor recommended a supplement? 3: Has the author of the Casebook written a supplement? 4: Is there a supplement keyed to the Casebook?) and have come up dry. As far as Chirestien is concerned, I've heard that the supplement is short on the UCC. As far as the Contracts E&E is concerned I've heard nothing but terrible things about it. As far as hornbooks go I'm worried about reading one that will treat certain topics/issues in ways the professor disagrees w/ (my Casebook: --LinkRemoved--). What should I do?

My professor used the same book; I used Chirelstein and got an A in the class. That book is not super UCC heavy like some others; your professor might give additional readings dealing with the UCC, but at least based on my experience, for the Dawson/Harvey book, you cannot go wrong with Chirelstein.

[ChattelCat]

I thought the E&E for contracts was fantastic. His answers are somewhat long but give you a really good idea of what an A exam answer would look like. I didn't use Chirelstein because my casebook author had his own hornbook (Farnsworth). I read through the hornbook but honestly the E&E is what really helped me learn contracts.

I've heard a lot of bad feedback about it, mostly in comparison to the two Glannon E&Es though. Does the Contracts E&E really cover a substantial amount of material?

EDIT: the reason why I ask is that I really need some help here picking out a supplement. I have already went through the 4 part test with this class (1: Has the professor written a supplement? 2: Has the professor recommended a supplement? 3: Has the author of the Casebook written a supplement? 4: Is there a supplement keyed to the Casebook?) and have come up dry. As far as Chirestien is concerned, I've heard that the supplement is short on the UCC. As far as the Contracts E&E is concerned I've heard nothing but terrible things about it. As far as hornbooks go I'm worried about reading one that will treat certain topics/issues in ways the professor disagrees w/ (my Casebook: --LinkRemoved--). What should I do?

I'm really surprised to hear that you've heard so much negative feedback about the contracts E&E. I've seen lots of people on this board sing its praises actually. Most likely you should wait until you get your syllabus. For me, the contracts E&E covered everything and then some. We hardly touched on the UCC - but that was just the way my prof teaches. Also, I would think that your law library would have copies of Chirelstein (ours also has E&E's that you can check out for one day - not sure how common that is) so you can look through them once classes start and figure out what's going to work and what isn't. Plus hornbooks are not always the best supplements. I thought they were much less useful than supplements with questions and answers where I could actually practice applying the law I had learned instead of just passively reading about it. But that totally depends on how you learn.

[Mark71121]

chirelstein & krunchtime

[reverendt]

I liked the E&E.
It helped me get my highest grade thus far (and highest in the class...)

[strawberrysmoothie]

I see how some people would not like the Blum E&E for contracts (maybe a little slimmer, less insightful than Glannon), but I really liked it. This is how I used it though: I read through the whole thing in a few sittings at the very end of my course to make sure I had a high-level overview of the whole course and could readily spot any major issues. I think that helped me synthesize the major points and put the course into more focus after I had been getting into the trees for awhile. For more nitty gritty details, I used the Farnsworth hornbook, which I REALLY liked (almost too much detail, in a good way).

I took a look at Chirelstein and did not find it helpful at all. That, though, may only be because by the time I picked it up (about 1/3 or 1/2 way through the semester), I was already looking at the Farnsworth hornbook and Emanuel's for the big picture, and felt that Chirelstein was more of an 'intro to K's' kind of book. I didn't think it was very strong on the details; was much more of a big-picture overview.
FWIW, I got an A+ in the class. Caveat - everyone learns differently, of course.

[Hodgy]

For those who know, are Chirelstein and Dobbs closely related? I ask this because my professor suggested Dobbs but if Chirelstein is closely related and much shorter I of course would prefer that.