This brief book is designed to prepare students for their first year of law school, thereby decreasing their anxiety and increasing their chances of achieving academic success. Also appropriate for non-J.D. students, including LLM students from foreign countries and graduate students outside law school. Features: Gives student basic grounding in discrete non-legal topics that are important to the contemporary study of law Includes and“Test Your Understandingand” boxes to allow students to use what they are learning Friendly writing style Images and graphics help students remember material

With the aim of decreasing students' anxiety and increasing their chances of achieving academic success, What Every Law Student Really Needs to Know: An Introduction to the Study of Law, Third Edition prepares students to get through their first year of law school. It also serves as a valuable reference over an entire law school career, contributing to students' continuing academic success. With a friendly and informal writing style, this guide to law school features insights into how and why law school classes work the way they do, and the tools and techniques to better understand the substance of the first-year courses. It helps students enter law school with an understanding of legal concepts, the American legal system, and court structures, allowing the students not only to succeed, but to thrive in the classroom. New to the Third Edition: Improved graphics Up-to-date information Expanded explanations of difficult concepts Professors and students will benefit from: An introduction to analytic tools and methods of reasoning. Exercises that allow students to independently test their understanding of the material in each section. Visual aids that help students grasp and remember the material. A self-study resource that students may use as they need throughout their entire law school career. Grounding in discrete non-legal topics that are important to the contemporary study of law. A look ahead at the goals of a legal education and the life, duties, and responsibilities of being a lawyer.

I wish I knew then what I know now! Don't get to the end of your law school career muttering these words to yourself! Take the first step toward building a productive, successful, and perhaps even pleasant law school experience...read this book! Written for students about to embark on this three year odyssey, by students who have successfully survived law school. Law School Confidential demystifies the life-altering thrill ride that defines an American legal education by providing a comprehensive, blow-by-blow, chronological account of what to expect. Law School Confidential arms students with a thorough overview of the contemporary law school experience. This isn't the advice of graying professors or battle-scarred practitioners decades removed from the law school. Fresh out of University of Pennsylvania Law School, Robert Miller has assembled a panel of recent law school graduates all of whom are perfectly positioned to shed light on what law school is like today. Law School Confidential invites you to walk in their steps to success and to learn from their mistakes. From taking the LSAT, to securing financial aid, to navigating the notorious first semester, to exam-taking strategies, to applying for summer internships, to getting on the law review, to tackling the bar and beyond...Law School Confidential explains it all.

"The definitive guide to studying law at university, Letters to a Law Student is an indispensable guide for any law student, at any point in their undergraduate degree. It is packed full of practical advice and helpful answers to the most common questions about studying law at university across every stage of taking, or thinking about taking, a law degree."--

A solid reference for both the everyday and the unexpected legal issues, written by practicing attorneys Law 101 is an essential reference that explains: How laws are made How the court system works How each area of the law impacts your daily life Key information for important questions: How does a lawsuit begin? How do civil and criminal law differ? When do state laws trump federal laws? What makes a contract solid? What can you expect if called as a juror? What can you expect if called as a witness? And other complex areas of the law that you need to know. No home reference shelf is complete without this indispensible guide. The new edition also includes information on legal subjects that have become more important recently, including alternative dispute resolution, privacy rights, and Internet law.

1001 Legal Words You Need to Know explains and illuminates the most difficult and arcane vocabulary any American has to deal with-that of the law. This comprehensive but never condescending guide to the language of the American legal system carefully defines and explains every term with a sample sentence, and many entries have supplementary notes. In addition, the book includes a number of quick miniguides to legal troubleshooting that include information on understanding wills, trusts, and inheritance, granting someone the power of attorney, understanding contracts, what to do if you're sued, how to choose a lawyer, exploring law school, and enjoying cop and lawyer dramas. The backmatter contains an extensive list of legal aid organizations and a helpful bibliography of books about the law and lawyers for further reading.

Professors Fischl and Paul explain law school exams in ways no one has before, all with an eye toward improving the reader’s performance. The book begins by describing the difference between educational cultures that praise students for “right answers,” and the law school culture that rewards nuanced analysis of ambiguous situations in which more than one approach may be correct. Enormous care is devoted to explaining precisely how and why legal analysis frequently produces such perplexing situations. But the authors don’t stop with mere description. Instead, Getting to Maybe teaches how to excel on law school exams by showing the reader how legal analysis can be brought to bear on examination problems. The book contains hints on studying and preparation that go well beyond conventional advice. The authors also illustrate how to argue both sides of a legal issue without appearing wishy-washy or indecisive. Above all, the book explains why exam questions may generate feelings of uncertainty or doubt about correct legal outcomes and how the student can turn these feelings to his or her advantage. In sum, although the authors believe that no exam guide can substitute for a firm grasp of substantive material, readers who devote the necessary time to learning the law will find this book an invaluable guide to translating learning into better exam performance. “This book should revolutionize the ordeal of studying for law school exams… Its clear, insightful, fun to read, and right on the money.” — Duncan Kennedy, Carter Professor of General Jurisprudence, Harvard Law School “Finally a study aid that takes legal theory seriously… Students who master these lessons will surely write better exams. More importantly, they will also learn to be better lawyers.” — Steven L. Winter, Brooklyn Law School “If you can't spot a 'fork in the law' or a 'fork in the facts' in an exam hypothetical, get this book. If you don’t know how to play 'Czar of the Universe' on law school exams (or why), get this book. And if you do want to learn how to think like a lawyer—a good one—get this book. It's, quite simply, stone cold brilliant.” — Pierre Schlag, University of Colorado School of Law (Law Preview Book Review on The Princeton Review website) Attend a Getting to Maybe seminar! Click here for more information.

Each year, over 40,000 new students enter America's law schools. Each new crop experiences startlingly high rates of depression, anxiety, fatigue, and dissatisfaction. Kathryne M. Young was one of those disgruntled law students. After finishing law school (and a PhD), she set out to learn more about the law school experience and how to improve it for future students. Young conducted one of the most ambitious studies of law students ever undertaken, charting the experiences of over 1000 law students from over 100 different law schools, along with hundreds of alumni, dropouts, law professors, and more. How to Be Sort of Happy in Law School is smart, compelling, and highly readable. Combining her own observations and experiences with the results of her study and the latest sociological research on law schools, Young offers a very different take from previous books about law school survival. Instead of assuming her readers should all aspire to law-review-and-big-firm notions of success, Young teaches students how to approach law school on their own terms: how to tune out the drumbeat of oppressive expectations and conventional wisdom to create a new breed of law school experience altogether. Young provides readers with practical tools for finding focus, happiness, and a sense of purpose while facing the seemingly endless onslaught of problems law school presents daily. This book is an indispensable companion for today's law students, prospective law students, and anyone who cares about making law students' lives better. Bursting with warmth, realism, and a touch of firebrand wit, How to Be Sort of Happy in Law School equips law students with much-needed wisdom for thriving during those three crucial years.

One L, Scott Turow's journal of his first year at law school and a best-seller when it was first published in 1977, has gone on to become a virtual bible for prospective law students. Not only does it introduce with remarkable clarity the ideas and issues that are the stuff of legal education; it brings alive the anxiety and competiveness--with others and, even more, with oneself--that set the tone in this crucible of character building. Each September, a new crop of students enter Harvard Law School to begin an intense, often grueling, sometimes harrowing year of introduction to the law. Turow's group of One Ls are fresh, bright, ambitious, and more than a little daunting. Even more impressive are the faculty. Will the One Ls survive? Will they excel? Will they make the Law Review, the outward and visible sign of success in this ultra-conservative microcosm? With remarkable insight into both his fellows and himself, Turow leads us through the ups and downs, the small triumphs and tragedies of the year, in an absorbing and thought-provoking narrative that teaches the reader not only about law school and the law but about the human beings who make them what they are. In the new afterword for this edition of One L, the author looks back on law school from the perspective of ten years' work as a lawyer and offers some suggestions for reforming legal education.

They say that there are more students in law school than there are practicing lawyers. If they’re right, then you need every possible advantage. In this insider’s guide, Georgia State University School of Law student Justin Spizman helps you get the head start you need. Whether you are considering law school or are already ensconced in the curriculum, Spizman tells you what you need to know to survive—and thrive! With firsthand experience and interviews with both professors and practicing attorneys, Spizman gives you the edge you need to manage your workload, figure out what your professors really want, get an edge on your future in the legal field, determine the right type of law to pursue, reduce stress, and more. In addition, this guide addresses current issues that law students like you face every day, including computers in the classroom, electronic databases, the Socratic method, outlining and study tips, balancing a heavy workload with everyday life, and making time for friends and family. The Insider’s Guide to Your First Year of Law School promises to show you not only how to get through your first year—but how to get ahead!