What books should every law student read before going to law school? Forum

[thedragon5678]

What books made the biggest impact on your legal career? Was it a classic or a memoir or a self help book or some other genre entirely?

[Anon-non-anon]

Getting to Maybe helped me understand law school tests after I bombed the first and only midterm. Really feel blessed that happened bc it kicked me into gear to learn how to take the tests (which generally follow the same formula, at least in part).

Maybe good to read as you get going on classes so it makes a little more sense but it'll be easy to forget in the frenzy of 1L. Maybe read now and skim again later.

[lookatriffraffplease]

Crime and Punishment, To Kill a Mockingbird, in Cold blood is fun, I'd thrown in some Hemingway, Faulkner, and Flannery O'Connor too but I really love Southern literature.

[Dsquar3d]

Informal Logic by Douglas Walton

[FND]

not a book but a movie.
Watch the opening 15 minutes of The Verdict (1980). It shows you what's arguably the worst outcome for a lawyer. Imagine if things don't work out well, and you end up being that character. Then decide if you still want to go to law school.

Runner up is "The Night Of", for similar reasons.