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Question
#7:
What
Do You Mean By Law-Related Reading?
Many
prelaw students operate under the assumption that there really
is nothing that they need to study in particular prior to
starting law school. The reality is that there is a great
deal one can read and study profitably in advance of law school.
Remember, your goal is not just law school admission, but
achievement of academic success while in the right law school
for you, through a plan of self-development that includes
reading books and materials that you will never have time
for once you are actually in law school.
Start
by looking at the Internet Legal Resources Guide (at www.ilrg.com).
Note that the American Bar Association paper on "Preparation
for Legal Education" is available there.
Next,
check the bibliography in the Official Guide to U.S. Law Schools.
How many of these books have you read? You could spend years
profitably reading from this list. Pick a book of interest
to you and get started.
Third,
visit a good law bookstore, such as one associated with a
top law school. Note that in examining the materials there
for first-year students, you see two major categories of materials-official
texts and handouts from law school professors for use in first-year
classes, and a vast and varied assortment of unofficial materials
that are commercial study aids for law students. My recommendation
is that you start learning about the law now by purchasing
some of the commercial study aids, one for each first-year
course, and master them now before law school starts. One
example would be the "Nutshell" series (such as
"Contract Law in a Nutshell"). Such materials can
give you a better perspective on the field of law you will
shortly be studying.
You
might also consider contacting the BAR-BRI organization, which
offers post-law school bar exam preparation. BAR-BRI prepares
and sells useful outlines on all areas of the law that are
covered by each state's bar exam. These outlines, typically
not used by law students until after they finish law school
and are in a six-week cram study period for the bar, are actually
quite useful as legal introductories for the pre-law student.
Understand
that many law school professors hold such commercial prep
materials in low regard. However, I am not proposing that
you use such materials for legal research, but only as broad,
general and useful introductory materials, read before law
school starts, to give you a more informed basis on which
to build your learning in law school.
Question
#8
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