6 Book Recommendations for the Summer Before 1L

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While there is not much you can do to prepare for law school, a great thing to do during the summer before your 1L year of law school is to read a few books about the law school experience. Check out these 6 book recommendations for incoming law students!

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Book description: One L, Scott Turow's journal of his first year at law school and a best seller when it was first published in 1977, has gone on to become a virtual bible for prospective law students. Not only does it introduce with remarkable clarity the ideas and issues that are the stuff of legal education; it also brings alive the anxiety and competitiveness - with others and, even more, with oneself - that set the tone in this crucible of character building.

By: Richard Michael Fischl & Jeremy Paul

Book description: Getting to Maybe teaches how to excel on law school exams by showing the reader how legal analysis can be brought to bear on examination problems. The book contains hints on studying and preparation that go well beyond conventional advice. The authors also illustrate how to argue both sides of a legal issue without appearing wishy-washy or indecisive. Above all, the book explains why exam questions may generate feelings of uncertainty or doubt about correct legal outcomes and how the student can turn these feelings to his or her advantage.

Book description: This updated edition contains the very latest information and strategies for thriving and surviving in law school―from navigating the admissions process and securing financial aid, choosing classes, studying and exam strategies, and securing a seat on the law review to getting a judicial clerkship and a job, passing the bar exam, and much, much more. Newly added material also reveals a sea change that is just starting to occur in legal education, turning it away from the theory-based platform of the previous several decades to a pragmatic platform being demanded by the rigors of today's practices. Law School Confidential is a complete guide to the law school experience that no prospective or current law student can afford to be without.

Book description: Young provides readers with practical tools for finding focus, happiness, and a sense of purpose while facing the seemingly endless onslaught of problems law school presents daily. This book is an indispensable companion for today's law students, prospective law students, and anyone who cares about making law students' lives better. Bursting with warmth, realism, and a touch of firebrand wit, How to Be Sort of Happy in Law School equips law students with much-needed wisdom for thriving during those three crucial years.

Book description: Great law students do not necessarily work harder than their colleagues. Instead, they typically have an informational advantage to combine with their excellent work ethic. In other words, they are privy to useful bits of wisdom that give them a slight edge over their competition. Unfortunately, only a fraction of law students learn the secrets to success in law school, and thus most law students are at a tremendous disadvantage. 

How to Crush Law School solves the enigma; it clears up the ambiguities. In this concise book, the author explicitly reveals the secrets to success in law school and shares his most valuable bits of law school wisdom. This step-by-step guide to crushing law school reveals the following:

  • How to prioritize law school tasks and manage time to achieve optimal efficiency;

  • How to manage your mind and utilize neuroscience to perform at your best;

  • How to leverage focus, willpower, habit, motivation, momentum, and positivity to gain an edge;

  • How to approach the various types of law school exam questions, including issue-spotters, traditional essays, and multiple-choice questions; and

  • How to write a perfect answer on a law school exam.

Book description: 1L of a Ride provides a candid step-by-step roadmap to both academic and emotional success in law school's crucial first year. Told in an accessible first-person voice, covered topics include top student fears, the first-year curriculum, effective class participation, types of students and professors, essential study techniques, legal research and writing, exam strategies, stress management, and much more. Combines anecdotes, comments from law students, empirical research, and authentic samples of signature documents from the 1L experience: exam questions, Socratic dialogue, and student case-briefs, class notes, and course outlines.

There you have it! Those are the top 6 book recommendations for incoming 1Ls in law school. Hope you found this post helpful!