What To Read Before Law School

Edit: it occurred to me, after I posted this, that I should have included a warning. Do as much preparation as you like, and as much as feels good, but do not burn out! Still, enjoy it while you can -- reading about law before you have any pressure on you. And don't worry about trying to memorize or understand it all on the first go-around; the idea is that by familiarizing yourself with some of the basic concepts, it will be easier for you to build a solid foundation during the year.  Other skills to practice include drinking large amounts of caffeine and alcohol, but not at the same time; shopping on-line because you'll never get to a store; and finding quiet things to eat in the library.

Before all else, a caveat: the following advice may not be helpful for all people at all schools. I can almost guarantee it won't be.

For what it's worth, I'm a type A with OCD and slacker tendencies* at a national law school.** Rankings, shmankings, but it's way up on the charts however you shuffle the numbers. They teach lots and lots of theory, but you better learn the black letter law all on your own, because you will need to know it and they won't teach it (with a few notable exceptions).

Without further ado (and not in any particular order), here's what I wish I'd read over last summer:

1. The Understanding series, especially Understanding Contracts and Understanding Criminal Law. The other property section, I noticed, all memorized Understanding Property Law also, but we didn't need it in my section.
2. In my Property section, we all memorized the Bible of Estates in Land, by Moynihan.
3. Foundations of Tort Law. I often wanted to throw it across the room, but it's all the theory you really need -- especially if you have a law and economics fan for a professor. The essay on comparative law is actually pretty interesting.
4. The Foundations series in general is decent for theory and background.
5. There are two Aspen Examples & Explanations books worth doing: Torts and Civil Procedure. The Torts is a bit iffy and definitely incomplete, but it will help more than hurt. The Civil Procedure book, however, is indispensable. It's not sufficient, but it's an excellent place to start. And yes, that says "doing" and not "reading:" you should work through the problems. But be warned: sometimes he only gives you information in the answer to the question you just struggled to answer. So read the whole thing.
6. For Contracts, the book with a ship on the cover by Chirelstein (Concepts and Case Analysis in the Law of Contracts).  My contracts professor nearly read passages from the book for some of his lectures.
7. Get a reasonably reliable outline book (or borrow one from the library) for each of the major first year subjects and at least familiarize yourself with the black letter law. What little I knew before I started turned out to be so valuable, and I wish I had known more.

No movies, no novels, and I'm not recommending any television shows either. If you're going to a school that emphasizes theory over practical knowledge, and you know if you are, then the more practical knowledge you start with the better able you will be to understand the theory. Also, the more time you'll have during the school year to do nifty things like look up law review articles your professors have written, or read their books, or maybe (crazy idea) get a few extra hours of sleep here and there, when you most need it.

I'm bucking the trend with this list of recommendations, I know. But those of you who truly want to be prepared, and are afraid of jumping into the deep end of the pool without a life preserver, an oxygen tank, and several life guards on duty -- these books will help.

And please, get them used*** if you can stand it! I've generally had excellent luck ordering used books from Amazon, and the one time the book didn't come Amazon was great about refunding my money.

*OCD plus slacker tendencies means that I work my tail off most of the time, but am occassionally seduced into going down to the Pub. I may or may not return to work later.

**It's not that hard to figure out -- not many schools in the Midwest have the quarter system.

***Um, yeah, I have a lot of these. I'm going to sell them off (cheap) one way or another. Drop me an email.

Comments

[ckm]

My, my , my! Is this the weak-kneed lily-livered quaking one who just started in the wading pool a year ago? And now? So much good advice! Your paternal ancestor is right. It's a great education reading your blog. Go, Go, GO!
your #1 Fan

[LawMommy (Colleen)]

I saw your link on parens binubus. I am also of the OCD/slacker persuasion. And I am doing some pre-law prepping. You're right, its not for everyone. But I beleive I need to take some control of my learning. Thanks for the additons to my reading list, though I'll be lucky if I get through the project I have.

[Evan]

I remember a couple of posts on this topic--what to read before law school--by a couple of bloggers. You can find the links and my own recommendation here.

[aLs]

I read "Planet Law School II". It was a really cool book that made sure I started out cynical and ready to find the black letter law. As for the other books, yeah, you can get a head start if you want, but you're fine if you don't read anything before you get here.

[Citations]

Eh, Planet Law School is not quite ... right in the head. And it's about 700 pages too long. And, for most schools you're probably right, and even for top schools you're probably right -- for people who either don't have lives outside law school or have photographic memories. Or are about 50 times smarter than I am. Okay, that's not a high bar.

Anyway, for those poor innocents heading off to killer schools who don't meet those specs, this list might be mildly helpful. Might.

[Banana Esq]

Wow - that's a lot of reading - I hope you did well! I didn't do any prep before 1L but now before my second year, I bought E & E Corps & Understanding Evidence. Who knows, maybe it's time to try something new.

[George]

Hi could you email me and let me know how much for all of the books you mentioned?
Thanks,
George
ghartline@hotmail.com