Read While You Wait
You're on a wait list, or you've sent all your apps and are waiting to hear. Or you've heard and you're waiting to start. You've read every chat board, memorized the USNews rankings, and talked to everyone who shows even the slightest bit of interest. Now what should you do?
Law school anxiety before you even get there is common. You've heard (correctly) that it's the hardest thing you'll ever face, as hard as two or three semesters of college at once. And it's true.
| To survive law school, you need your brain to be in 5th gear. Start revving your mental engine NOW. |
So how can you prepare yourself for this harrowing (in the literal sense of breaking up and leveling) event?
By looking up anything at all on my Wiki Cultural Enrichment list.
By learning the more recent history you don't know through You Tube.
By reading high-vocabulary magazines like The Atlantic Monthly, National Geographic, or The New Yorker;
By looking up almost anything on Wiki, Google, Dictionary.com or You Tube every day.
Educate yourself! That's what law school's about, after all.There are dozens of books to read.
On Everyone's list:
The Bramble Bush: The Classic Lectures on the Law and Law School
Gideon's Trumpet by Anthony Lewis
The Nature of the Judicial Process by Benjamin Cardozo
An Introduction to Legal Reasoning by Edward Levi
On a lot of lists:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Buffalo Creek Disaster by Gerald M. Stern
Anatomy of a Murder by Robert Traver
Law School Without Fear by Scott Turow
This book is difficult to find for sale, so you may want to try a library.
Strategies and Tactics for First Year Law by Alayne Walton
Law School Without Fear by Helene Shapo
The Game of Law and Its Prizes by Benjamin Cardozo
This book is difficult to find for sale, so you may want to try a library.
A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr
How to Study Law and Take Law Exams in a Nutshell, by Ann M. Burkhart, and Robert A. Stein
The Judicial Process by Henry Abraham
On my personal List:
The Common Law by Oliver Wendell Holmes -- a look at the earliest roots of Anglo-American law, as well as preparation for adjusting your ear to the 19th century writing style.
Running From the Law by Lisa Scottoline -- a surprisingly accurate (and funny) look at the realities of life at a law firm and in the court room. Ms. Scottoline graduated from Penn Law School and is a Philly native. Her other books are great reads, but not as rude a look at the legal system.
Likely to Die by Linda Fairstein -- Ms. Fairstein was the head of the NYC sex crimes unit until after writing her 5th or 6th novel. Again, all are great reads, but this one shows some of the difficulties of investigating and prosecuting a crime in the the metropolis.
The Brethren by Woodward and Bernstein -- a realistic and sympathetic look at how the Supreme Court actually works.
The Douglas Opinions-- a look at the reasoning of the last great liberal Justice on the Supreme Court.
The Complete Law School Companion by Jeff Deaver
Attorney for the Damned -- Clarence Darrow -- edited by Arthur Weinberg. Great closing arguments and trial summaries by the most famous defense lawyer in American history.
The Case of Sacco and Vanzetti by Felix Frankfurter -- an analysis of how prejudice and fear can distort justice -- a timely subject for ethnic minorities.
The Nine, Inside the Secret World of the SUPREME COURT by Jeffrey Toobin: a more current version of The Brethren.
Any three books about how to survive law school, take exams, etc.
When I teach my Intro to Law School Program, I require that my students read The Study and Practice of Law in a Nutshell, by Kenney F. Hegland.
In addition to the aforementioned book, I recommend any of the "In a Nutshell" series.
Of course, those are my personal preferences. There are more books about law and law school than you can imagine. In fact, there are more books about law school than there are law schools! When I searched "law school" on Amazon.com just now (April 30, 2010, 9:10 a.m. Pacific Time) I got "25,239 Results."
If you run ot of books, you might also want to look at our Cultural References and You Tube Links.