Can someone please talk to me about 1L supplements?

[rubberbandman]

Okay, so I’m completely confused.  I’m trying to figure out the function and best use for each of the following resources.  Thanks for any help and please correct me if I am wrong.

1.Casebook – My main text.  Read all the cases and outline them.  Along with the lecture, should be my main source of info.
2.Commercial Outlines – Brands like Emanuel’s and Gilbert’s.  Should be used as a supplement, like Cliff’s Notes.  Should I buy them, or grab them from the library?
3.Reporters – No clue what they are or how to use them (or even if they are necessary)
4.Hornbook – An in-depth look at cases?
5.Nutshell / Examples & Explanations – Are these similar?  And what are they used for?

[onepoint]

1. they'll be your bible(s).  you might want to consider taking them to kinko's (or somewhere else that offers the service) and having their stock binding replaced with a spiral-type heavy binding.  you'll understand why when you're trying to lay those suckers flat in order to outline/take notes all year.

2. try to get them from elsewhere, if possible.  buy used ones, use the library copies, etc.  commercial flash cards are more useful and productive, imho.

3. if you're referring to the reporters within the library, they are volumes of case law.  you'll learn about them in a legal research class/seminar.  lexis and westlaw are preferred substitutes most of the time.

4. hornbooks usually sum up legal concepts in 'plain english,' from what i've encountered.  that being said, i didn't use them much.

5. i used a nutshell book in property that i had borrowed from a friend that was a year ahead of me.  again, it broke things down into even more 'plain' language.  the nutshell book did help me understand future interests and the rule against perpetuities (you'll get there) slightly better.

[slacker]

I agree on the wait to buy supplements. Some of my professors, eg., contracts, were very clear, and pretty much all I needed was the casebook and the notes/outline. Others, like torts, didn't put the big picture together for me. A gilberts outline helped with that, as well as an E&E for more help in individual areas.

Once you figure out what your professor is covering and how, you'll have more of an idea of which supplements might help. If you get something that's keyed to a casebook, make sure it's keyed to your casebook as the same cases can be edited differently in different books.

And if you get canned briefs, make sure you know how to brief a case yourself. You'll need to develop the skill of picking out rules, the parts of the case, etc. Canned briefs can help supplement, but especially when you're starting out, tough it out with the longhand briefing until you're comfortable reading and understanding the cases.

[dbgirl]

I take a multivitamin, iron pills and Chinese herbs.

[onepoint]

thanks for the clarification, king.

also, don't underestimate the importance and value of the "upperclassmen" outlines that will inevitably be floating around.  i don't want to start a 'make your own outline vs. modify another's' war, but pre-made outlines really helped clear things up for me as i was sitting in class trying to get a handle on new material.

[slacker]

You don't want to start a war? Why not? It's fun.

C'mon...start a war...you know you want to...

[onepoint]

making your own outlines is a waste of time

[BoscoBreaux]

1.Casebook – My main text.  Read all the cases and outline them.  Along with the lecture, should be my main source of info.
2.Commercial Outlines – Brands like Emanuel’s and Gilbert’s.  Should be used as a supplement, like Cliff’s Notes.  Should I buy them, or grab them from the library?
3.Reporters – No clue what they are or how to use them (or even if they are necessary)
4.Hornbook – An in-depth look at cases?
5.Nutshell / Examples & Explanations – Are these similar?  And what are they used for?

First, forget Hornbooks. Any book that is thicker than your casebook should be avoided. In fact, even some specialists consider the Hornbooks a bit "overboard" in the depth with which the info is convered.

Second, the issue really isn't what would be helpful so much as what you should get given that you will have next to no time to do anything other than just keep up with your assignments in classes.
I bought Gilberts, and they were useful as a crutch when preparing outlines. I didn't really have time to even look at the E&Es, and when I did, it was for a point or two, nothing heavy. I could have accomplished this in the library.

[@#$%, Fire, and Damnation.]

I disagree.  I think you learn a lot by making your own outline.  I agree on the uselessness of case briefing.

However, to the OP, you don't "outline" cases.  You put them in your outline in the folling manner: disect the case for its rules and factor explinations of the elements of rules RELEVANT to the topic in class and then keep track of the hypo created by the case somewhere along side the rules.

Hornbooks are good and most commercial outlines are solid.  Nutshell sucks. 

[@#$%, Fire, and Damnation.]

I definetely looked over other's outlines but I always constructed my own.  However, if you're smart about it, which I'm sure you were, you could probably do pretty well not making your own.  If you just make sure they fit you current class and use them to do tons of hypos and old exams, chances are you're going to do well.