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Does anyone have any suggestions...prospective law students or actual law students about books that should be read before you go into your first year of law school? Books that might help you out during your law school career and your first year? Thanks!

I don't want to start a firestorm (cue TTT-LS) but here is what many students choose to read (including myself):

Planet Law School II
Road To Maybe
Any of the E&Es on classic 1L courses (Torts, CivPro, Ks) - 0L prep is super controversial as it's hard to tell how or if it really helps.
or doing LEEWS.

I also got, but didn't read cover to cover:

Guerilla Tactics for Getting The Legal Job of Your Dreams
What Law School Doesn't Teach You ... But You Really Need to Know
The Guide To Legal Specialties

The last three I think, are far more generally regarded as appropriate and useful. Our career services department actually highly recommends them.

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AJaKe wrote:Getting to Maybe

Law School Confidential

Both really helped, though GTM is more geared towards exams, but that is what you should be focusing on from day 1 so... LSC is more general about your 3 years, when you will start mass mailing, getting internships, etc...

AJ - think LSC is really worth it? I've heard mixed reviews. I might check it out over break (if I spend any of it conscious).

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I read:
Planet Law School
Law School Confidential
Getting to Maybe
Delany's Legal Reasoning
1000 Days to the Bar
Reading Like a Lawyer
E&E's on Torts, Civ Pro, K's
Starting Off Right In Law School

And some others. All I can say is that my summer would have been better spent with my wife. If I could do it over again, maybe 1000 days, GTM (although it probably won't make sense to you until mid semester when you read it again).
LSC for light reading
Save the E&E's and other doctrinal material until you start school, and then go over only what the professor covers in class. The exam is based on only what the Prof covers, anything else is a waste of time.

Maybe become familiar with the Blue Book (Citations)

nynole wrote:I read:
Planet Law School
Law School Confidential
Getting to Maybe
Delany's Legal Reasoning
1000 Days to the Bar
Reading Like a Lawyer
E&E's on Torts, Civ Pro, K's
Starting Off Right In Law School

And some others. All I can say is that my summer would have been better spent with my wife. If I could do it over again, maybe 1000 days, GTM (although it probably won't make sense to you until mid semester when you read it again).
LSC for light reading
Save the E&E's and other doctrinal material until you start school, and then go over only what the professor covers in class. The exam is based on only what the Prof covers, anything else is a waste of time.

Maybe become familiar with the Blue Book (Citations)

+1 on Delaney. I read that too.

Also +1 on the chilling out more. Spend time the LSAT. Chill the summer before, maybe read PLSII, GTM, or LSC.

I'm a big supporter of doing nothing the summer before 1L. Mostly because each professor wants very different things. I prefer to develop the proper habits rather than reading books and creating a "picture" of law school in my head. I found that those that tried to prepare really were not any better off, if not worse off, than those that did not.

But it's a personal choice. If it helps to calm anxiety, it might be worth it to read up just to calm your nerves.

"Louis D. Brandeis: A Life" by Melvin Urofsky. Brand new biography, supposed to be amazing. Definitely on my xmas list! Might not be as helpful in a clearly tangible way, but nonetheless worth a read.

If you can separate the actual good advice from Falcon's bitter rantings, PLS2 does have some great info

A friend of mine wrote a great coffee table book about coffee tables.

Planet Law School 2: $17
Recommended Books: ~$500
Dedicating your last 8-12 months of freedom to reading pre-law books: Priceless

xcountryjunkie wrote:"Louis D. Brandeis: A Life" by Melvin Urofsky. Brand new biography, supposed to be amazing. Definitely on my xmas list! Might not be as helpful in a clearly tangible way, but nonetheless worth a read.

I met someone who finished this book. They said it was like Ambien in hardcover.

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xcountryjunkie wrote:"Louis D. Brandeis: A Life" by Melvin Urofsky. Brand new biography, supposed to be amazing. Definitely on my xmas list! Might not be as helpful in a clearly tangible way, but nonetheless worth a read.

+1

TTT-LS wrote:0L reading is mostly a waste of time, but if you are going to do it, GTM is pretty much the book most people mention. Whatever you read, don't fool yourself into thinking that doing so will actually help you get better grades (it won't, for a huge # of reasons).

+1.

GTM is much more useful mid-first semester or before finals.

Read the bible

Renzo wrote:

xcountryjunkie wrote:"Louis D. Brandeis: A Life" by Melvin Urofsky. Brand new biography, supposed to be amazing. Definitely on my xmas list! Might not be as helpful in a clearly tangible way, but nonetheless worth a read.

I met someone who finished this book. They said it was like Ambien in hardcover.

I think the book is quite good, if a bit long. But, how could any worthwhile bio of Brandeis not be long? Some of the parts detailing the infighting of the Zionist movement admittedly are not scintillating reading, but it is not possible to understand LDB without learning about this stuff, IMO.

ArtVandelay wrote:A friend of mine wrote a great coffee table book about coffee tables.

This name/ avatar...genius.

ASSMAN

misformafia wrote:

AJaKe wrote:Getting to Maybe

Law School Confidential

Both really helped, though GTM is more geared towards exams, but that is what you should be focusing on from day 1 so... LSC is more general about your 3 years, when you will start mass mailing, getting internships, etc...

AJ - think LSC is really worth it? I've heard mixed reviews. I might check it out over break (if I spend any of it conscious).

LSC is worth a look-through I guess, but don't bother buying it. Most of the information I've seen in it, I already saw from TLS browsing. There's a useful section on how to highlight, but it takes like 5 highlighters.....

Much of the book is general "this is what you're getting into" type stuff. It talks about how you'll have no life, and some days your only break will be the half hour it takes for you to eat some microwave food.

It's a short book though, so not a huge waste of time or anything.

aznflyingpanda wrote:

misformafia wrote:

AJaKe wrote:Getting to Maybe

Law School Confidential

Both really helped, though GTM is more geared towards exams, but that is what you should be focusing on from day 1 so... LSC is more general about your 3 years, when you will start mass mailing, getting internships, etc...

AJ - think LSC is really worth it? I've heard mixed reviews. I might check it out over break (if I spend any of it conscious).

LSC is worth a look-through I guess, but don't bother buying it. Most of the information I've seen in it, I already saw from TLS browsing. There's a useful section on how to highlight, but it takes like 5 highlighters.....

Much of the book is general "this is what you're getting into" type stuff. It talks about how you'll have no life, and some days your only break will be the half hour it takes for you to eat some microwave food.

It's a short book though, so not a huge waste of time or anything.

Yeah, LSC is a quick read, and you will probably find at LEAST a few things in there helpful, so it is worth it.

nynole wrote:Maybe become familiar with the Blue Book (Citations)

Which book is this?

evilxs wrote:

nynole wrote:Maybe become familiar with the Blue Book (Citations)

Which book is this?

It's the style manual for legal citation formats. Don't even think about looking at it before you have to. It was co-authored by Satan, Hitler, and Dracula.

Screw all that noise, read something fun. Once school starts, I suspect reading for pleasure will shrivel up and die. I suggest.

Playboy Magazine, the Hobbit, some Batman comics and maybe some Tom Clancy novels.


Seriously, though, I've read Law School Confidential and a few of the other books mentioned and I think they've helped give me a good idea of what to expect. Can't hurt to read a few of those.