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Studying law
Shinto
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I'm going to law school after I finish my bachelors and I was wondering if anyone who was in law school/ already graduated could suggest some books so I have a headstart.
No, I don't know what type of law I want to study.
No, I don't know what type of law I want to study.
Shinto on
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That said, most of the learning you do will be out of case books when you're in school. You aren't taught law, you're taught cases that exemplify certain points of law. So getting used to that kind of indirect learning is useful. You can get older casebooks off of Amazon for like $7 shipped. Like, pick up the 5th edition of Evidence by Broun, and maybe the Understanding Evidence book as well. The "Understanding" series is pretty good. You can do the same in pretty much every subject. You're going to be forced to take Evidence, Criminal Law, Torts, Constitutional Law, Property, Civil Procedure, and Contracts pretty much everywhere so those are the areas you know you're going to want to read about.
The summer before school started they had us read Damages by Barry Werth to get an idea about what the pretrial procedure is running up to a trial, and it was a really light read. It was pretty helpful, so yeah I'd suggest that.
I'd also suggest Basic Legal Research by Amy Sloan, and Academic Legal Writing by Eugene Volokh if you plan on trying for Law Review (which you should, it is a ton of work but totally worth it because you learn a ton).
That said, buy a book that interests you - not a textbook necessarily - and read it with an eye to legal issues and ideas. Too much theory too early will be confusing, and probably counter-productive. Instead, I'd really recommend grabbing something written by a jurist, but intended for lay consumption. By way of example, I recently read an incredibly interesting book on international criminal law written by an Australian judge (I can recommend authors if you're keen - but you're probably better off going into a library and exploring). Find something broad, and use it as a gateway to deeper reading.
Half of what a law degree teaches you is how to manage your time - it doesn't really reward self-motivated tangents as much as say, a liberal arts degree does, and the nature of the course means that unsupervised study isn't very easy. Instead, just try to get a feel for how the law works, and a handle on the basic concepts.
Reading cases never hurt anyone - buy a casebook for a branch of law that interests you, and have a go of that. I'd recommend skimming though an Evidence casebook - you get to run the whole gamut of cases - civil and criminal - and the key cases are all very interesting (in Australia at least - I'm sure it'd be the same in America).
But, honestly speaking, you'd be much better off just going to your local courthouse, and sitting in the back. Watch real people in real cases, and learn how the system works from the inside. Much more rewarding than a textbook.
Dude.
Why have I not thought of this.
Yeah, you have to learn and memorize a lot of rules, but that's not what you're going to be tested on. You're tested on your ability to apply those rules to various situations.
I can't really think of any books you can read before law school that will really give you an edge.
Before I started, I had to read "Law School Without Fear." It was sort of helpful. You might check that one out.
Ethical Member of an Unhappy,
Unhealthy, and Unethical Profession"
http://seoulover.blogs.com/westlaw/files/being_a_happy_lawyer.pdf
Like other posters have said, this book teaches you more on "how to be a lawyer" rather than how to know the law. This book has helped me to get a better idea about being a lawyer, being from a different law system it still gave me lots of useful tips and insights of the profession.
I can only imagine it would be more helpful for someone who is thinking of being a Lawyer in the US.
Appeals cases deal with issues of law - so they might be interesting if you want to dabble in theory - but trial cases that deal with issues of fact are more likely to be interesting, and probably ultimately more useful. Most courthouses have online calendars these days - see if you can find out when first-instance trials are being held (criminal or civil doesn't really matter because you can get very interesting civil cases, but truth be told you're more likely to be entertained by criminal). Remember that courts which deal with sensitive issues (ie, family court) are closed, and you can't visit them. Magistrates court (do you guys have that in the US?) is good for a nice introduction - the issues are of relatively low import, and the magistrate will burn through them at a fair clip - just be prepared for less court procedure and discussion on issues of law.
Law is a great subject in that the line between theory and practice is very easily crossed. I really urge you to try and take every opportunity to get your hands messy with real law as soon as is possible in your degree. In my second/third years at law school I volunteered at the local magistrates court - you don't learn much theory doing something like that, but just being in a courthouse, being with real people with real problems - people who are really scared shitless of the process, or are blasé , nervous or rude - it gives you a real appreciation of what the law is about, and hopefully lets you be more sympathetic to the clients' mindset. If your school has a student legal service (or equivalent) which gives you the opportunity to advise other students, I'd really recommend that to you as well.
Dude, at least wait until he does his Professional Conduct course before you shatter his illusions :P
Anyway, as the study of law is concerned, it is a little different than any other kind of education I've received. You need to be well prepared before all your classes, which means you need to spend a good amount of time before class reading and trying to understand the material. You have to be able to register the material a little different, not just be able to regurgitate it for the exam. You need to be able to spot the issues, know what rules apply to those issues, analyze how a court or whoever would apply that rule to the issue and facts along with the arguments of the different parties involved, and determine what the conclusion should be based on all that (IRAC).
I wouldn't suggest any books, because when you start classes your prof.'s will assign what they want you to read. But if you want a book on negotiating, which can be very helpful even if you don't like law school get "Getting To Yes".
(Fyi: externship is an internship that I pay the school for, but get credit.)
Jaja your building is more awesome, though. I'm at UCLA - KTown beats the crap out of westwood. I'm going crazy over here and think i'll move next year if I can swing a car.