BEST 1L HORNBOOKS? Forum

[APHill]

Could anyone share their opinions on best hornbooks for a 1L student - civ pro, criminal, tort, property, etc?

[MeTalkPrettyOneDay]

Civ Pro - Glannon (the Examples & Explanations series)
Torts - Glannon (the Examples & Explanations series). If you don't like E&E, try Abraham's "The Forms and Functions of Tort Law"
Contracts - Chirelstein. (Don't bother with the E&E for Ks. I think I derived negative utility from the Ks E&E. It was more a waste of time than anything. But Chirelstein is awesome.)

[APHill]

Civ Pro - Glannon (the Examples & Explanations series)
Torts - Glannon (the Examples & Explanations series). If you don't like E&E, try Abraham's "The Forms and Functions of Tort Law"
Contracts - Chirelstein. (Don't bother with the E&E for Ks. I think I derived negative utility from the Ks E&E. It was more a waste of time than anything. But Chirelstein is awesome.)

thanks, what about criminal, property, constitutional?

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Understanding Criminal Law -- Dressler
Constitutional Law: Principles and Policies -- Cherminksy

[MeTalkPrettyOneDay]

I haven't heard anything great about any of the property hornbooks. The E&E (by Burke and Snoe) is ok, but it isn't fantastic... it might be the least bad of the options for real property.

Dressler and Chemerinsky are both good suggestions. Yes, the Chemerinsky book is nearly 1,200 pages, but it's very, very good.

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Dressler and Chemerinsky are both good suggestions. Yes, the Chemerinsky book is nearly 1,200 pages, but it's very, very good.

You'll only use the first 300 in ConLaw I. You save money by not needing to buy another hornbook when you take ConLaw II (or III, if your school offers it)

[Renzo]

I wouldn't call any of the things suggested thus far "hornbooks."

[MeTalkPrettyOneDay]

Dressler and Chemerinsky are both good suggestions. Yes, the Chemerinsky book is nearly 1,200 pages, but it's very, very good.

You'll only use the first 300 in ConLaw I. You save money by not needing to buy another hornbook when you take ConLaw II (or III, if your school offers it)

Haha, I wish... we've covered way more than that...

I wouldn't call any of the things suggested thus far "hornbooks."

Fair point. I assumed OP meant E&Es and other supplements, but I may have misinterpreted his question. OP, if you're looking for textbook-style policy discussions, the books we've suggested aren't what you want (except Chemerinsky, maybe). If you're looking for supplements that will save you time and fill in broad gaps in your casebook, then the above suggestions are spot-on.

[APHill]

i am looking for a supplement that will save me time and fill broad gaps...what is the difference between hornbook and textbook? is a casebook considered a textbook?

In my ls they only assign required casebooks, but thats it.

[T14_Scholly]

In order to succeed as a 1L, you should read all of the above-mentioned books during your 0L summer.

[kalvano]

The best ones are the free ones in the library.

[Bustang]

In order to succeed as a 1L, you should read all of the above-mentioned books during your 0L summer.

You're an evil person.

[vanwinkle]

Civ Pro - Glannon (E&E)
Contracts - Chirelstein
Torts - Abraham
Con Law - Chemerinsky
Property - Singer

I don't have a favorite study guide for Crim Law because I ended up using a commercial outline written by my prof, and I think it was useful more because it was written by my prof than anything. I liked it but I'm not sure it'd be useful for anyone else.

[MarkL234]

.

[Renzo]

i am looking for a supplement that will save me time and fill broad gaps...what is the difference between hornbook and textbook? is a casebook considered a textbook?

In my ls they only assign required casebooks, but thats it.

All law schools only assign casebooks, but that's because they are trying to make it hard on you to figure out what's going on.

Hornbooks are one volume treatises written primarily for law students on subjects typically covered by law school courses. Unlike casebooks, which are collections of cases (or parts of cases) chosen to help illustrate and stimulate discussion about legal issues, hornbooks attempt to summarize and explain the law in a specific area. Perhaps the best-known hornbooks are those published by West in "West's Hornbook Series," which are easily identifiable by their distinctive green bindings and include titles such as Civil Procedure by Professors Friedenthal, Kane and Miller, and Uniform Commercial Code by Professors White and Summers.

Study guides such as West's Nutshell Series and Black Letter Series, and Aspen Publisher's Examples and Explanations Series, also try to explain the law in a much more straightforward manner than casebooks. Study guides, though, are written in a less scholarly manner than hornbooks and tend to focus on the basic issues without providing detailed analysis. For example, hornbooks are often heavily footnoted, whereas many study guides do not contain any footnotes at all.

[APHill]

In order to succeed as a 1L, you should read all of the above-mentioned books during your 0L summer.

i am actually planning to....a guy from Loyola U Chicago did this and he says he was top 1% during 1L.

[kissy]

In order to succeed as a 1L, you should read all of the above-mentioned books during your 0L summer.

i am actually planning to....a guy from Loyola U Chicago did this and he says he was top 1% during 1L.

[DallasCowboy]

GUNNER

[kissy]

GUNNER

--ImageRemoved--

[APHill]

GUNNER

--ImageRemoved--

thats like the exact image of me, t-shirt and all, wow, how did you know.

[kissy]

facebook!

[T14_Scholly]

In order to succeed as a 1L, you should read all of the above-mentioned books during your 0L summer.

i am actually planning to....a guy from Loyola U Chicago did this and he says he was top 1% during 1L.

I'll take his word for it.

[APHill]

Civ Pro - Glannon (E&E)
Contracts - Chirelstein
Torts - Abraham
Con Law - Chemerinsky
Property - Singer

I don't have a favorite study guide for Crim Law because I ended up using a commercial outline written by my prof, and I think it was useful more because it was written by my prof than anything. I liked it but I'm not sure it'd be useful for anyone else.

which exact one for property? he has several...