Law School Prep Books

[ChuckNorris]

I'm starting law school in the fall, and I know some people say no preparation needs to be done for law school, but I'm going to buy one series of review books for my first year classes to read this summer.  I've heard good things about the Examples & Explanations series, Gilbert Law Summaries, and the Nutshell series.  Other than price (E&E is about $10 more expensive on amazon.com), what are the differences?  I'm leaning toward the E&E simply because the reviews on amazon were better, but I'm really open to anything. 

Any thoughts on which is the best?

[philibusters]

I like E&E's a lot- but I have never used the Gilbert Law Summaries so I can't compare.

[desmo]

E&E, Gilberts, and my favorite, the Sum and Substance CD series.  Take your pick on canned briefs, you'll use them less than you think.

[norm012001]

I used E&E for Torts and Civ Pro and Gilbert for Contracts.  I'm telling you though, you're not helping yourself at all by spending the summer reading this stuff.  You need to read cases and try to learn the law and use these to supplement it.  Also, you'll have plenty of time to do all of it during the semester as long as you're committed to it.  Enjoy your summer and just be ready to hit the ground running in the Fall.

[jfbruin]

E&E all the way. 

[natanchik1]

Don't waste your money on any store-bought study-aids.  All you need is to enroll in PMBR and BarBri, and submit the deposits they require.  PMBR and BarBri are bar review courses that you will eventually take to prepare for the bar exam.  As a 1L, all you need to put on deposit is like $175 for BarBri and $100 for PMBR.  When you enroll, you get free study aids for your first year courses, and the deposit you submit goes towards bar review courses that you will eventually have to take to pass the bar anyway.  Besides the study aids, its a good idea to sign up early because the price of these courses goes up every year, and submitting your deposit early allows you to lock in the price of the course at the time you submit your deposit.  I wish I had done it my first year...PMBR also has amazing audio study aids that explain black letter law pretty well.  You can choose these as part of the study aids you get for free when you enroll.  You can sign up for PMBR on this site that one of their reps put together to make the process quick and easy for you no matter what year you are in.  The site is www.easypmbr.com.  It has instructions on how to sign up.  Once you sign up, you get your review materials in the mail within like 10 business days.  Best of luck!

[ChuckNorris]

Don't waste your money on any store-bought study-aids.  All you need is to enroll in PMBR and BarBri, and submit the deposits they require.  PMBR and BarBri are bar review courses that you will eventually take to prepare for the bar exam.  As a 1L, all you need to put on deposit is like $175 for BarBri and $100 for PMBR.  When you enroll, you get free study aids for your first year courses, and the deposit you submit goes towards bar review courses that you will eventually have to take to pass the bar anyway.  Besides the study aids, its a good idea to sign up early because the price of these courses goes up every year, and submitting your deposit early allows you to lock in the price of the course at the time you submit your deposit.  I wish I had done it my first year...PMBR also has amazing audio study aids that explain black letter law pretty well.  You can choose these as part of the study aids you get for free when you enroll.  You can sign up for PMBR on this site that one of their reps put together to make the process quick and easy for you no matter what year you are in.  The site is www.easypmbr.com.  It has instructions on how to sign up.  Once you sign up, you get your review materials in the mail within like 10 business days.  Best of luck!

Someone sounds like a salesperson...

[Leaf2001br]

It really isn't going to help you at all.  Any edge that you think you'll get going in will evaporate very quickly.  Most law students come in knowing nothing at all about anything.  By the time exams roll around, the best students will be the ones that did the most of what their professors asked them to do.  The volume of assigned work and writing class obligations make this all but impossible.  You separate yourself at law school, you absolutely cannot do it beforehand.  I know this is hard to believe for many incoming 1Ls (I was no different) who are naturally driven and ambitious students, but it just doesn't work.    You may give yourself a little confidence, but that's about it.  You'll soon find out that it was a false sense of confidence.  There are no shortcuts and there are no headstarts.  Relax and enjoy this last summer.  You will have time to put your money where your mouth is soon enough and have an opportunity to prove what you are made of.  Your enthusiasm will be an asset, but revving your engine in the garage will get you no closer to the winner's circle.

My advice: Read something that isn't school-related.  You will soon long for the days you were able to do that.  Or maybe better yet, do as many things outside as possible!

[egbrown76]

This is a common question and some of the answers are quite common as well. That is, "just have fun before school" or "it won't make a difference". That's the cliché response but I think it's wrong. It just depends on how your brain works. Some it helps, some it does not.

It really helped me. It is true that any "edge" you gain by doing so won't last long. But that's not important. Reading some material will grease the wheels a bit, and make you feel a bit more comfortable with the first assignments. It will also give you a better understanding of the big picture of a course. Because of the reading I did, I was much less intimidated by the 1L assignments and read them a lot faster, and understood the discussion better than many others the next day.

Here's and idea (it's what I did): forget the study aids. Posters are right that E&E etc. are great. But what you need to do right now is NOT learn substantive law but rather GET USED TO READING THE LAW. Any substantive learning is great but should not be your primary goal. Rather, you should be pinning down certain CONCEPTS, like federalism or “de novo” appellate review.

Do a search for Google syllabi for, say, Contracts. They will be from various schools. Download a number of them. Then, compare the cases listed in each and you'll get an idea of what the seminal cases are. Go read those cases. Don't worry if things don't make sense. You might stumble through it the first few times but be patient and perhaps look up some key terms and phrases that help you understand what the case is about. It's painstaking but you'll have to do it eventually so you might as well do it now. Preferably, go check out some books from a local law school and read the cases in the casebook, as there are some notes after the cases that can help.

It's what I did and it helped. I know some may disagree, but that's my 2 cents.

[eli250]

I start in the fall and have read the E&E's books on Torts and Civ Pro.  Who knows how much of a difference they will make in the fall, but I found the books quite easy to follow and I feel that I learned quite a bit.  At least I'll know some of the basic black letter law and vocabulary as it is introduced in classes.  I don't expect it to guarantee As, but right now I feel a bit more at ease knowing at least a little bit before school starts.