So you’re about to go to law school.  Or you’re thinking about going to law school.  Or you know someone who’s about to go to law school.  Lawyers are nothing if not verbose, and many, MANY, books have been written about preparing for law school and the law school experience. Here are a few to get you started.  All can be found in print and/or online in the UNT Dallas College of Law library.

 

A short & happy guide to … Being a Law Student by Paula A. Franzese

Billed as a "daily companion for law school, practice and life", the content of the book consists of messages the author, a noted professor and public interest lawyer, has shared with her students over a thirty year span.  Although the book has chapters specific to law school—“How to Read Your Casebook”, “How to Succeed on Exams” and the ever-important “What to Do When You Get Called On But Do Not Have the Answer”—much of the book is more a guide to a successful mindset and life. Chapters are short and can easily be read independently.

 

 

 

Bridging the Gap Between College and Law School by Ruta K. Stropus and Charlotte D. Taylor

An informative book which attempts to demystify the first year law school experience, Bridging the Gap explains the why, how, and what of law school--why it is taught in a certain way, how the student can adapt to this manner of teaching, and what methods they can use to make the process easier. It provides both a big picture view of law school, and specific chapters for dealing with its details--outlining, tips on exam preparation, time management, and strategies for success.  Both authors are lawyers with significant legal academic support experience.

 

 

What Every Law Student Really Needs to Know by Tracey E. George and Suzanna Sherry

A good companion (or perhaps counterpoint) to the student voices of Law School Confidential below, What Every Law Student Really Needs to Know is written by two professors holding endowed chairs at Vanderbilt University “with the aim of decreasing students’ anxiety and increasing their chances of achieving academic success.” The book offers preparation and substance for the first year of law school and thereafter, with chapters including “What to Expect in Law School”, “The Language of the Law”, “The Structures of Government, Law and the American legal system”, “How to Look and Be Smarter in the Classroom and Beyond”, and “Looking Beyond the First Year.”

 

IL of a Ride by Andrew McClurg

Written by a law professor who has taught thousands of law students at six law schools, this book seeks to answer the questions “What is the first year of law school really like and how do I make the most of it?” It addresses most aspects of first year academic and emotional success in a humorous, easy to read manner (a welcome break from legal casebooks if you’re reading it during 1L year). Chapters include planning before law school, addressing fears, what to expect in law school, habits of successful law students, briefing, note taking, outlining and exam preparation, and the special plight of non-traditional students, especially “night” students.

 

 

Law School Confidential by Robert H. Miller.

Billed as a “complete guide to the law school experience: [b]y students, for students” this is a large tome, although it is easily read in small segments. It contains the insights of recent law school graduates with realistic views and first-hand advice on what law school is really like. Chapters (and there are many) move from thinking about law school to taking the LSAT and applying to law school, through years 1L to 3L, and into job recruitment, judicial clerkships, and bar exam strategies.

 

 

 

Acing Your First Year of Law School by Shana Connell Noyes and Henry S. Noyes

This book does exactly what it purports to do--give the reader ten skills needed to study law.  They are set out in succinct chapters, starting with how to read a case through outlining and preparing for exams to  writing exam answers--basically the skill set needed to get through the first semester of law school. A useful addition at the end of each chapter is a “dicta column” which lists things that may crop up during the IL year that concern law students, but do not need to be studied or worried about.

 

 

 

Finding Your Voice in Law School by Molly Bishop Shadel

Although she offers strategies for answering questions in class as a 1L, the author also seeks to help law students be effective communicators throughout their law school and legal careers.  Chapters begin with early law school advice (Learning to Think Like a Lawyer;  How to Prepare for Class; First Year Moot Court and Beyond), through later law school activities (Trial Practice Classes and Mock Trial Teams; Leading a Student Organization; Interacting with Professors), to career placement and into the workforce (Job Interviews; Communicating on the Job). It is short, straight-forward, well-organized, and extremely readable.

 

And for those thinking beyond their first year of law school, here’s some more inspiration:

 

Roadmap: The Law Student's Guide to Meaningful Employment by Neil W. Hamilton

Professor Hamilton has spent many years researching and writing on the competencies and skills law students  need to obtain meaningful employment and to excel in the practice of law. This book sets out the results of that research in a step by step, “roadmap  template” designed to lead the law student towards relevant competencies and meaningful work starting in the 1L year.  Noting that the learning of the law and the practice of law are distinct things, the text focuses mainly on how to assess, acquire, and improve the non-technical legal  skills necessary to succeed in the legal profession--among them, work ethic, common sense, compatibility and ability to work well with others.  The book opens with a personal assessment and a chapter on the foundational realities of the legal industry, moves through a timeline for use of the roadmap during the 1L through 3L years, and then devotes substantial chapters to development of the reader’s strongest competencies.

 

What Can You Do with a Law Degree? by Dr. Larry Richard and Tanya Hanson

This book is premised on the “well-established principle that the better the fit between your career identity and your job, the greater your long-term satisfaction.” Recognizing that a law degree can lead to viable career paths both within and outside the practice of law, the text moves through a series of exercises, including a five part Lawyer Career Satisfaction Model designed to help identify the five core elements of the reader’s career identity. In this 6th edition, the book also contains a compendium of 800+ ways to use a law degree “inside, outside, or around the law.”

 

 

 

Raising the Bar by Talmage Boston

Local Dallas attorney Talmage Boston’s 2012 book seeks to “raise the bar” by providing inspirational examples of historical, current, and even fictional legal role models. Written for both lawyers and laypeople, it is a reminder of the crucial role lawyers have played and continue to play in the development of government, society, and the United States as a whole.

 

 

 

 

- Mary Ritter, MS-LS Candidate 2022