Strategies and Tactics for the First Year Law Student (Maximize Your Grades) by
Strategies and Tactics for the First Year Law Student gives you a detailed, step-by-step program for surviving the first year of law school. Note-taking--Sharpening your note-taking skills will maximize your study time and improve your grades Your law professor's personality--Understanding it can be to your advantage Study traps--What are they and how to avoid them Memory aids--How classic memory systems work and when you should (and shouldn't) use them The pressures of law school--Effective techniques for handling the pressure from classmates, professors, and reading assignments Taking exams--Nine steps to writing exceptional exam answers The Internet--Useful search engines and websites
Law School Survival Manual: from LSAT to Bar Exam by
In the Law School Survival Manual, Nancy Rapoport and Jeff Van Niel serve as the friendly voice of experience whose wit and wisdom will guide you through law school from the application process to orientation, and from your first year to graduation - including summer jobs, clerkships, and the bar exam. This concise handbook focuses on all aspects of law school that are mystifying or tricky or both. The Law School Survival Manual: From LSAT to Bar Exam offers complete coverage, Before law school What you'll need before you apply Picking the right law school for you Orientation Your checklist for law school First year Collegiality and etiquette Friendships, romance, and networking The psychology of law professors Reading cases and statutes Outlining and studying Preparing for essay and multiple-choice exams Choosing upper-level courses Managing your time and scheduling your life Exploring joint-degree program opportunities Finding and applying for a summer job Landing a judicial clerkship Studying for the bar exam and the MPRE With reassuring humor and unique perspectives, Nancy Rapoport and Jeff Van Niel show you how to cope with stress, manage your time, study efficiently, nurture new friendships, write a paper, prepare for exams, and make sound decisions - in law school and beyond.
A Weekly Guide to Being a Model Law Student by
This book gives law students weekly checklists explaining the skills necessary to successfully navigate their first year of law school. Each chapter provides a checklist of things to do that week, such as briefing cases, going over notes, outlining classes, or doing practice questions. When a new concept is introduced, this book clearly explains the concept and its purpose and provides examples. Instead of merely providing advice, this book lays out a detailed plan for students to follow. It also includes a bank of over 100 short, medium, and long practice questions in six first year subjects.
1L of a Ride by
Assigned as required or recommended reading at law schools throughout the country, 1L of a Ride provides a candid, comprehensive roadmap to both academic and emotional success in law school's crucial first year. Told in an accessible first-person voice, covered topics in the revised and updated third edition include pre-planning, top student fears, first-year curriculum, the Socratic and case methods of teaching, effective class participation, top habits of successful students, essential study techniques, legal research and writing, exam strategies, maintaining well-being, and much more. Combines anecdotes, comments from law students, empirical research, and authentic samples of signature documents from the 1L experience, including exam questions, Socratic dialogue, and student case-briefs, class notes, and course outlines. McClurg is an award-winning professor who has taught at six different law schools.
Cracking the Case Method, Legal Analysis for Law School Success by
For about 150 years, law schools have relied on the Case Method to teach the skills and art of legal analysis to first-year law students. Yet many students struggle academically, not due to lack of intellectual ability but because they are suddenly immersed in a unique and seemingly opaque educational process without receiving any explanation of what they should be trying to learn, much less how to learn it. Why do reading assignments consist of appellate court opinions? Why do professors rely on the Socratic Method? Why do law school classes so often leave students with more questions than answers? What do instructors look for when grading answers to essay exams? Why can law students know "all the rules," yet get poor grades? Cracking the Case Method, 2d ed., provides concise and down-to-earth information on how to succeed in law school by answering these questions and many others. Students need to know what to study and how the opinions they read and class meetings relate to law school exams. This book provides an in-depth examination of these critical topics: The Case Method and its relationship to Socratic-style questioning and effective legal analysis. Semester-long strategies for learning how to "think like a lawyer" by getting the most out of reading opinions, attending classes, outlining, and preparing effectively for exams. How to read cases with a focus on legal issues, legal principles, and judges' rationales for adopting and applying those principles. How to prepare case briefs and use them to prepare for class. The major types of legal argument, with many illustrations drawn from actual cases. Using class discussions as opportunities to practice legal analysis, based on annotated excerpts from actual first-year class discussions. Preparing for exams by outlining course materials and practicing exam-taking skills. An approach for analyzing exam questions and writing effective exam answers that display legal analytical skills, with illustrations drawn from actual essay exam questions and annotated answers. This book provides indispensable information to anybody who is considering applying to law school, preparing for his or her 1L year, or who currently is in law school. Read reviews of this title here.
Critical Reading for Success in Law School and Beyond by
Critical Reading for Success in Law School and Beyond presents critical reading strategies in a systematic sequence so that students can become effective readers who are successful in both law school and in law practice. This reading system was developed by identifying the characteristics of expert readers at different stages of the reading process and then creating a curriculum to teach these skills. It contains essential ingredients for developing skills in reading comprehension as well as legal analysis, case evaluation, and case synthesis. Critical Reading starts with chapters on reading as an advocate and with focus and then introduces students to case structure as well as civil and criminal procedure. Students are then introduced to specific comprehension techniques such as case context, reading for an overview, reading facts, and strategies for understanding unclear text. Critical Reading then addresses strategies for making inferences, evaluating cases, and synthesizing cases. Critical Reading for Success in Law School and Beyond focuses on comprehension of full reported cases as students must be able to read full decisions in practice. It is designed to be used in law school pre-orientation and orientation programs, academic success courses, legal writing and doctrinal classes, as well as individual student support.
Law School Without Fear - Strategies for Success by
This concise, plain-spoken book is an indispensable guide for beginning law students. Field-tested by students all over the country for more than a dozen years for its practicality and its psychological realism, it has proved an invaluable introduction to cutting through the fog of case analysis; minimizing the bewilderment of the Socratic method; studying law; writing for law school; preparing for exams and exam writing; managing precious time; and coping with the emotional stress of law study.
Law School Secrets by 
Sum and Substance Audio on How to Succeed in Law School, 2004 by
In How to Succeed in Law School, Professor Dzienkowski walks you through the skills necessary to succeed throughout your law school career. Topics include such things as class preparation, outlining, study groups, and test taking skills. Sum & Substance Audio CD Series allows you to assimilate the essentials of the course at your convenience - listen while working, commuting, exercising or just relaxing. The information and ideas you struggled with previously are now brought to life simply and succinctly. Also provided are exam tips to maximize your performance and Lifetime guarantee. These tapes are time saving, convenient and effective.
Black's Law Dictionary, 11th Edition
Available on Westlaw (password required) or in print.
Ballentine's Law Dictionary, 3rd Edition
Available via LexisNexis (password required) or in print.
A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage
Available in print.
Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations
Available in print.
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