Any books I should read before law school starts?? Forum
- nonunique
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Re: Any books I should read before law school starts??
Read Chirelstein. Contracts and Con specifically.
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Re: Any books I should read before law school starts??
EDIT:Is this acceptable to professors, who may expect the conclusion at the end? Has anyone else read that book and applied its techniques during an exam?
I'd ask your professor. My torts professor preferred ICRA, my con law professor said he'd take off points if you wrote ICRA, because he specifically wants IRAC.
- Corsair
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Re: Any books I should read before law school starts??
LEEWS is very good. Try to go at Spring Break your first semester. Prior to school don't worry about any specific courses. Instead try to work on your writing skills and legal research. West and Lexis both have free tutorials. Grab E&E's off of Amazon when you do start school and pay more attention to them than to your casebook. Don't get bogged down briefing cases. Instead pull the briefs off Lexis.Ethan826 wrote:To echo Mobb_Deep's question--
I just read Delaney's How to Do Your Best on Law School Exams. He recommends CIRI(P) instead of IRAC: Conclusion, Issue, Rule, Interweaving (of the facts with the elements constituting the cause of action), and as necessary, Policy.
If A threw a rock at B that B was unaware of until being struck by it, Delaney would format the answer more or less as follows:
A Liable to B for the Intentional Tort of Battery
The issue is whether A is liable to B for battery for throwing a rock, unobserved, that hit B. Battery requires the intentional and unprivileged harmful or offensive contact with another. A demonstrated the intent to harm B by throwing the rock, and B suffered a harmful contact when the rock hit him.
A Not Liable to B for the Intentional Tort of Assault
The issue is whether A is liable to B for assault. Assault requires intentionally causing the imminent apprehension of a harmful or offensive contact with another. Because B was not aware of the rock having been thrown until it struck him, he did not apprehend the imminent contact. The tort of assault serves the purpose of protecting individuals from the fear of unwanted contacts, and thus does not apply to a situation in which an individual does not apprehend the contact before it occurs.
Is this acceptable to professors, who may expect the conclusion at the end? Has anyone else read that book and applied its techniques during an exam?
Also, has anyone used the other PLS II recommendation of LEEWS? I've heard mixed things.
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Re: Any books I should read before law school starts??
Thanks. One of my friends who's in his last semester at NYU was kind enough to give me all of his E&E books.
What are your thoughts about the recorded version of the LEEWS program?
Has anyone followed the PLS II study schedule before school started and derived an advantage from having done so?
Also, while his advice about books seems good, I got a pretty big sense of sour grapes from the PLS II author, with him charging professors of acting in bad faith, intentionally deceiving students as to what's most important. What seems perhaps more reasonable is that professors use class time to emphasize one aspect of learning best facilitated by classroom interaction (e.g., policy implications, abstract theory, etc), and use exams to verify and enforce another aspect of learning that is achievable by individual study (e.g., black letter law). Or is that naive?
What are your thoughts about the recorded version of the LEEWS program?
Has anyone followed the PLS II study schedule before school started and derived an advantage from having done so?
Also, while his advice about books seems good, I got a pretty big sense of sour grapes from the PLS II author, with him charging professors of acting in bad faith, intentionally deceiving students as to what's most important. What seems perhaps more reasonable is that professors use class time to emphasize one aspect of learning best facilitated by classroom interaction (e.g., policy implications, abstract theory, etc), and use exams to verify and enforce another aspect of learning that is achievable by individual study (e.g., black letter law). Or is that naive?
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Re: Any books I should read before law school starts??
This strikes me as very reasonable (note: 0L speaking).What seems perhaps more reasonable is that professors use class time to emphasize one aspect of learning best facilitated by classroom interaction (e.g., policy implications, abstract theory, etc), and use exams to verify and enforce another aspect of learning that is achievable by individual study (e.g., black letter law). Or is that naive?
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Re: Any books I should read before law school starts??
What I have found is that good lawyers do not necessarily make good teachers. I don't know if it is sour grapes or just trying to open your eyes. If the schools and professors did their jobs, why would there be such a market for E&E, Leews, Bar-Bri, etc. You will have good professors and you will have some that can't even answer their own test. Your best source of information is from upper level students that have had that professor. Most will be glad to help if you will just ask.Also, while his advice about books seems good, I got a pretty big sense of sour grapes from the PLS II author, with him charging professors of acting in bad faith, intentionally deceiving students as to what's most important.
- themillsman22
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Re: Any books I should read before law school starts??
PLS II is a little on the negative and bitter side, but it's important to rememer that doesn't make the observations any less true. Even if it's not as bad as presented in the book, the stories and testimonials aren't entirely contrived. People are having bad experiences, and it behooves 1Ls to at least be prepared for these possibilities.
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Re: Any books I should read before law school starts??
is "law school insider" that a lot of the threads suggest this book?
http://www.amazon.com/Law-School-Inside ... 0972376607
http://www.amazon.com/Law-School-Inside ... 0972376607
- edcrane
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Re: Any books I should read before law school starts??
I don't think this is reasonable, honestly. If the professor gives you no clue that she intends to test you on something tangential to reading and classes, she's screwing everyone over. But really, I never got the impression that my professors wanted to surprise anyone. Indeed, many volunteered information about how to approach and answer their exams. On some level, I think professors derive some personal satisfaction from seeing their students perform objectively well, notwithstanding the curve.Ethan826 wrote: What seems perhaps more reasonable is that professors use class time to emphasize one aspect of learning best facilitated by classroom interaction (e.g., policy implications, abstract theory, etc), and use exams to verify and enforce another aspect of learning that is achievable by individual study (e.g., black letter law). Or is that naive?
I should add that professor comments are invaluable. For example, at one review session, our professor answered questions submitted via email but then used the last 5 minutes to talk about the "big themes" of criminal law. The last few substantive sentences she spoke took the form of questions to the class. These questions, which she left open for us, turned out to be major components of the test. Had I not attended the review session and taken notes on her comments, I probably wouldn't have taken the time to think about or research these policy points before the exam. But since I did attend the class, and she had dropped a number of hints about the importance of policy over BLL, I spent my last 5 hours of review time perusing law review articles addressing these themes and was completely prepared when the issues popped up on the exam. I trusted my professor and it turned out well.
Last edited by edcrane on Fri Jul 24, 2009 1:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
- underdawg
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Re: Any books I should read before law school starts??
agreed
if a prof talks about policy all the time, you can bet your britches that you want to talk some policy on the exam. i haven't had a prof that was out to screw us over. at worst, they are just painfully boring
if a prof talks about policy all the time, you can bet your britches that you want to talk some policy on the exam. i haven't had a prof that was out to screw us over. at worst, they are just painfully boring
Last edited by underdawg on Sun Jan 28, 2018 2:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- jackassjim
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Re: Any books I should read before law school starts??
War and Peace
- Ken
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Re: Any books I should read before law school starts??
The following new article reviews the best 3 books for law school exam preparation and provides a thorough review and therefore a lot of great advice in the article itself:
http://www.top-law-schools.com/law-scho ... uides.html
http://www.top-law-schools.com/law-scho ... uides.html
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- ddp
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Re: Any books I should read before law school starts??
jackassjim wrote:War and Peace
Epic!
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