Hornbooks and E&E

[lwilliams]

Hi,

I'm a soon to be 1L and I had a few questions about these extra materials...  Are the only books that are ever assigned as required casebooks?  Also, do hornbooks and E&E's correspond to specific case books or do they just pertain to the particular area of study?

Thanks!

[StevePirates]

The Glannon Guide's are pretty helpful to understand a lot of what's going on in Civil Procedure.  LaFave is pretty good for criminal law.  And I like the Barlow, Burke & Snoe Property E&E.

Just think about it this way, case books are source material, that you are supposed to figure out.  The E&E's and Horn Books are a lot more like the textbooks you're familiar with from undergrad, so they might help you figure things out a little more easily.

Good luck!

[AnneBoleyn]

Dressler and Chemerinsky both have "Understanding"-type books that explain their casebooks.

[LawSchoolStrategies.com]

CamelMan and StevePirates are correct. Professors will generally assign only casebooks, and you can (and should) use hornbooks to help you fully understand the material. Hornbooks are like college textbooks, they tell you about each case, what happened, the holding, and what it means for that area of law. A lot of law students (like myself) stumble in their first semester because they don't really know how to use a casebook. They assume, like undergrad, they just need to read the course materials, basically understand them, then regurgitate that information back onto the exam. Unfortunately that doesn't work in law school. Hornbooks will help you figure out the material and how the cases will relate to your exam. Good luck.

[StevePirates]

Dressler and Chemerinsky both have "Understanding"-type books that explain their casebooks.

I've always kind of thought it was silly that casebook editors write books explaining what you just read.
Couldn't they A) put that material in their casebook or B) just make their casebooks more hornbook like and easier to comprehend?

Darn you Dean Langdell!!!!  Darn you and your bushy beard too!!!

[lwpat]

I wouldn't worry about any specific course study aids at this point. If you want to get a jump start, take the free tutorials at West and Lexis. Then work on legal research and legal writing. John Delaney has a couple of good books and you might want to try Planet Law School but read it with a grain of salt.

When school starts, buy the E&E's for each of your courses and study them. You can get them cheap on Amazon. You will get more out of the E&E's than the casebook. Check with some 2L's and try to pick up some outlines from your particular professor.

Here is a good website with a lot of sample essay exams.

http://www.law-school-books.com/day-life-law-student.html

[mgkoefod]

Where can I find hornbooks?

[broken]

Not all the E&Es are great. The Torts & Civ Pro ones were so good, I just got in the habit of buying them for every class. But Contracts was either not good or not suited to the way my prof taught, and every time I try to read the Con Law one my eyelids get heavy. Property's ok, but I don't think the examples are very good.

I think finding a good supplement is part trial & error.

But a good site is lawbooksforless.com. If you spend more than like $60 or so they'll FedEx everything to you for free.

[Nimmy]

Not all the E&Es are great. The Torts & Civ Pro ones were so good, I just got in the habit of buying them for every class. But Contracts was either not good or not suited to the way my prof taught, and every time I try to read the Con Law one my eyelids get heavy. Property's ok, but I don't think the examples are very good.

I think finding a good supplement is part trial & error.

But a good site is lawbooksforless.com. If you spend more than like $60 or so they'll FedEx everything to you for free.

I thought the Contracts E&E was terrible as well.  The general rule is to buy the hornbook keyed to your casebook first.  If there isn't one, then get the best one you can find.  Glannon for Civ Pro, Dressler for Crim Law, Chemerinsky for Con Law.

[jsb221]

I found Glannon's E&E for Civ Pro extremely helpful, but then again, my prof recommended it. I haven't found the E&E series as helpful in other classes. As for Con law, again, I agree Chemerinsky is awesome and it is keyed to his textbook. However, sometimes, it does seem like you are reading the same thing twice.
There's so many hornbooks, supplements, study aids out there, you really need to see what works best for you. Personally, I like the Crunchtime series. It's not very good if you haven't paid attention or did no reading during the year, but it is good, at least I think, to look over right before finals. It's short, easy to understand and quick to read. A couple hours and you can cover the entire subject, or you can use it to grasp those hard to understand concepts.
Also, I've used Law in a Flash flashcards. They aren't too helpful for concepts (though I have found a few cards that helped me understand something). They are extremely helpful, I thought, for hypos though. One other reason I like them is I can tuck them in my backpack and review them between class without having to add any more weight to the ton of books I already have to lug around.
Personally I haven't found the case briefs too helpful. They are good, however, when you haven't had time to read for class. They give you basic facts and black letter law.
The worst part about everything is cost. I, for one, probably went way overboard on study aids, supplements and hornbooks my first semester. Now, I still have a lot, but I think I have found the ones that work best for me, and that's what is important. Also, in the end, I can sell them all and maybe make back a little of what I spent.