What could I learn in the 6 months before LS? Forum

[rawlsohard]

I'm out of undergrad and only work part-time right now. This will likely continue until I'm actually enrolled in LS. I'll have a lot of free time to read whatever I want before law school actually happens. What could I go about learning that would make my life easier?

(I realize the default response is "enjoy yourself" or "socialize", but I am a pretty outgoing person by default and this isn't an issue. If anything, I have to resist socializing if I want to get any work done. )

I was thinking about familiarizing myself with the Bluebook style manual. What other minutiae/subjects could I knock out sooner, rather than later?

[YankeesFan]

I couldn't think of a more gunner thing to do then study the Bluebook before you get to school. If your looking for things to study/read I suggest reading enjoyable books that will give you an intro to the law. A Civil Action is really interesting and will give you a great into to Civ Pro. Disaster at Buffalo Creek Mine is a great insight into piercing the corporate veil and corporate law. Gideon's trumpet is a great read on the development of the right to counsel. These types of reading will give you a small intro into legl fields and not make you want to drop out before you get to school.

[Lacepiece23]

I'm out of undergrad and only work part-time right now. This will likely continue until I'm actually enrolled in LS. I'll have a lot of free time to read whatever I want before law school actually happens. What could I go about learning that would make my life easier?

(I realize the default response is "enjoy yourself" or "socialize", but I am a pretty outgoing person by default and this isn't an issue. If anything, I have to resist socializing if I want to get any work done. )

I was thinking about familiarizing myself with the Bluebook style manual. What other minutiae/subjects could I knock out sooner, rather than later?

Get a Barbri account listen to Richard Freer's Civil Procudure lectures profit when you know the whole course and everyone is struggling on pennoyer v neff or Erie v Tompkins.

[Nelson]

Get a Barbri account listen to Richard Freer's Civil Procudure lectures profit when you know the whole course and everyone is struggling on pennoyer v neff or Erie v Tompkins.

Or realize you wasted your time when you find out that your civ pro prof has some esoteric approach to Hanna. Don't do substantive prep before 1L.

OP just chill out. You'll have more than enough time to learn what you need to learn during your first semester. Most substantive prep will be useless and some could actually set you back since you'll have to relearn things how your prof will teach them.

[rawlsohard]

I couldn't think of a more gunner thing to do then study the Bluebook before you get to school.

That's the idea.

I'm spending a shit ton of money on LS so I'm going to try to do this as well as I can.

Normally I wouldn't do this, but paying off undergrad debt has made me hyper-conscious of the investment I'm undertaking, so I want to maximize its value to me.

That said, if I really won't be aided in LS by learning anything pre-LS, I suppose I could just read business texts.

[sopranorleone]

Would you entertain the idea of another part-time job? That way you can save up more $ before law school begins. Honestly, I really think that would serve you better than doing any substantive prep. And for the love of humanity, do not read the BlueBook.

[rawlsohard]

Yeah, that's on the table. It depends on the circumstances, but your thought process is similar to mine. It would certainly be beneficial to have a lot of rent money saved up to avoid having to take out living expense-related loans.

[sublime]

..

[Ti Malice]

This book was recommended in another thread. I am a fellow 0L, so i have no idea how helpful it would be though:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/089089 ... PDKIKX0DER

Great book, but better to read it mid-semester once the law has started to make some sense. You'll get a lot more out of it then.

[ManOfTheMinute]

This book was recommended in another thread. I am a fellow 0L, so i have no idea how helpful it would be though:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/089089 ... PDKIKX0DER

Great book, but better to read it mid-semester once the law has started to make some sense. You'll get a lot more out of it then.

Even at top tier schools like YLS you would suggest it?

[Ti Malice]

This book was recommended in another thread. I am a fellow 0L, so i have no idea how helpful it would be though:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/089089 ... PDKIKX0DER

Great book, but better to read it mid-semester once the law has started to make some sense. You'll get a lot more out of it then.

Even at top tier schools like YLS you would suggest it?

Sure.

Just to be clear, I didn't read it before the end of my first semester. Incentive structure of CR/F classes and all. I only read it a few weeks ago. But I'd suggest reading it during 1L fall for people with grades, or some semblance of them, for the first semester.

[Lacepiece23]

Get a Barbri account listen to Richard Freer's Civil Procudure lectures profit when you know the whole course and everyone is struggling on pennoyer v neff or Erie v Tompkins.

Or realize you wasted your time when you find out that your civ pro prof has some esoteric approach to Hanna. Don't do substantive prep before 1L.

OP just chill out. You'll have more than enough time to learn what you need to learn during your first semester. Most substantive prep will be useless and some could actually set you back since you'll have to relearn things how your prof will teach them.

Ehh Idk Erie and Person Jurisdiction are like the only topics that differ in civ pro throughout the country. Freer makes a note in his lecture that you should disregard what he says if your prof is different on these. I learned civ pro through Freer anyway. Why not start learning it early so you have some clue what the fuck is going on and what your prof is trying to get at?

[GertrudePerkins]

I was thinking about familiarizing myself with the Bluebook style manual.

Holy shit do NOT do this. I don't just mean don't do it because it's painfully gunnerish, I mean don't do it because it would be a total waste of time. The Bluebook is easy, but it's particularly easy when you're learning it in the context of LS. Reading it without context would probably make it unnecessarily confusing -- not to mention boring. If you're going to go all gunner, do something more interesting.

[romothesavior]

Drink beer.

[Bronck]

Drink beer.

Seriously.

Don't waste your time with substantive prep.

Heck, I read GTM the summer before 1L, forgot all of it but the core of "argue both ways" and ended up doing well 1st semester.

Just have fun.

[gaud]

Drink beer.

[rawlsohard]

I was going to do that anyway.

[Dixie]

I share the belief that substantial prep is unnecessary however my competitive drive prevents me from doing absolutely nothing. This is what my prep looks like:

Reading List
1. The Legal Analyst
2. Thinking Like a Lawyer
3. A book on networking
4. A book on how the brain works (learning and retention)
5. Eclectic fiction selection (F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Grisham, Greek Methology)

Actions
1. Improve/grow network (reached out to old contacts and started meeting new people)
2. Linkedin presence
3. New wardrobe (suit, chinos, etc)

I didn't want to "teach" myself the law so I decided to search for titles on legal reasoning. I intend on reading Getting to Maybe and maybe LEEWs the month before law school. I really want to learn more on note taking.

[Dixie]

Oh yeah...lots of scotch, bourbon, and german beer!

[SemperLegal]

Guitar.

[Lacepiece23]

O and work on typing speed

[Scotusnerd]

Please don't substantively prep. One of the more lulzy moments out of my first year was a guy who walked into his contracts exam spouting off about U.C.C. provisions that he had memorized. He'd spent most of the semester using commercial outlines and memorizing them.

He got a D. Why? Because we never studied the U.C.C. in detail.

If you start prepping for law school right now, and learning about this stuff, you will be this guy. You have no way of knowing what exactly your professors will teach you about the law, and they will expect you to answer their questions about what they taught you. Don't waste your time substantively prepping for law school.


Here's what you really should be doing:
1. Learn to drink with other people without sounding like an asshole.
2. Get settled into a new place to live and get all of the bullshit things that need to be taken care of, like a driver's license, vehicle registration, leases, blah blah blah...get it all done.
3. Read Getting to Maybe. Or whatever helps your brain feel better and trick it into thinking you're prepping for law school, even though you're really not. Because it's a waste of goddamn time.
4. Hang out with some future classmates as the school year gets started (if you can stand them). It will make the first few weeks SO much less awkward.
5. Sleep. Enjoy your last days of freedom.


Edit: Oh, and screw people who say that doing something is 'gunnerish'. Prep how you want to prep. Ain't no one gonna be looking over your shoulder and saying OH MAH GOD UR A GUNNER D:

Just don't be one in public.