Prerequisites Forum

[delusional]

Of course, there aren't any for law school. But humor me here - what should a person know (or be able to fake) when beginning 1L? Say a guy got into Yale, and then caught some killer amnesia. What should he try to re-learn about?

The Constitution?
Bill of Rights?
American History?
Economics?
Legal History?
General setup of judicial system?
Math?
Karate?
Stories about burglars who fell into pools and sued homeowners?
Government?
The current makeup of the Supreme Court?

[JazzOne]

Networking

[delusional]

Networking

Cute. But seriously - none of it? You show up to class the first day, planning to learn socratically how cases get to the Supreme Court?

[dakatz]

Of those, I would say it can't hurt to know the structure of the judicial system, and the makeup of the supreme court. But that would be the extent of it.

[fatduck]

English

[JazzOne]

Networking

Cute. But seriously - none of it? You show up to class the first day, planning to learn socratically how cases get to the Supreme Court?

Professors don't give you jobs.

[delusional]

English

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention - he still remembers English.

[OGR3]

Networking

TITCR

[delusional]

Networking

Cute. But seriously - none of it? You show up to class the first day, planning to learn socratically how cases get to the Supreme Court?

Professors don't give you jobs.

A job may be necessary but it's not sufficient.

[JazzOne]

Networking

Cute. But seriously - none of it? You show up to class the first day, planning to learn socratically how cases get to the Supreme Court?

Professors don't give you jobs.

A job may be necessary but it's not sufficient.

What else do you want out of law school? Intellectual fulfillment? lol

[delusional]

Seriously, guys. I was just trying to figure out what this thing called "Law and Economics" is, and I couldn't understand Wikipedia because it was so full of economics terms. Is there really nothing that you are assumed to know for any of law school?

[delusional]

What else do you want out of law school? Intellectual fulfillment? lol

I'm kind of hoping for some, you know, knowledge of the law.

[fatduck]

If I lost all knowledge of everything I'd ever learned besides the English language, I would postpone law school.

[JazzOne]

Seriously, guys. I was just trying to figure out what this thing called "Law and Economics" is, and I couldn't understand Wikipedia because it was so full of economics terms. Is there really nothing that you are assumed to know for any of law school?

I read a book called Great Decisions of the Supreme Court. That was interesting. But no, you really don't need a lot of knowledge to pick up on the concepts in law school. There is a lot to learn, but none of it is overly complicated. Professors are happy to chat with you or recommend articles if you want to dig deeper into the material.

Perhaps you could start reading about rhetoric and argumentation. I also found the 1L curriculum to be severely lacking in philosophy of jurisprudence. You could pick up H.L.A. Hart's book. I forget the name of it, but he has a famous book discussing the nature of law. Very philosophical, and very interesting. I'm reading for a class this semester.