Extra books/study guides

[chrisfield]

that you would say are must have for 1L that weren't required textbooks? Thanks.

[pappahood]

its very dependent upon your teaching.  i know that sounds like a terrible and vague answer, but you should get used to that in law school.

i personally tried Gilberts and Examples and Explanations.  The gilberts was okay, but contained way too much material that wasn't covered by my class.  i ended up using it very little.  however, i knew many students who only used that and did fine too.

my personal recommendation is the examples and explanations series, if it meshes with your profs style.  i found it extremely helpful in more technical classes, like contracts and property, and less helpful in more "subjective" classes such as torts and con law.

[DreamUnique]

From my personal experience, I rarely used supplements for first semester 1L because I didn't think it would help. Second semester 1L, I used supplements for two of my classes and improved. This summer before 2L, I've bought supplements/study aids and are reviewing them. Of course each situation depends on the person, but the supplements (such as Understanding Criminal Law or Understanding Contracts and the FINALS series) have been very helpful.

HTH
~Shanelle

[Hotel Yorba]

Some classes you will need nothing, maybe even all of your classes.  I picked up a few first semester just to make me feel better, second semester I grabbed one for myself and borrowed a friends for a few days.  Mostly they are just a security blanket, use whichever one feels most comfortable and is most similar to what the prof is going over.

[slacker]

I liked the Glannon Guide to Civ Pro. But I do second the comment about waiting to see how your classes are.