Monday, May 31, 2010

1L Summer Reading List

Take a look at this 1L reading list I found through Ann Levine of Lawschoolexpert.com. Let me start off by saying that I am a strong supporter of the "don't study for law school the summer before" club. First of all, you have no idea what you are even reading. Sure, you can pick up a casebook and try to brief cases, but you honestly have no idea what you are looking for, and even if you do, the particular professor you get next fall may want something completely different. Second of all, you are going to overwhelm yourself. 1L year is full of panic and rumors, don't get yourself worked up before it starts. Third, you need a break. You are going to be busy, and neglecting friends, family, and your down time. This is probably the last summer you have for a while to relax, take advantage of it. And finally, the law of diminishing returns applies, the amount of time you spend reading tough material will provide miniscule benefits once the year actually starts.

But since you are going to law school, in all likelihood you will have to read. From Michelle Fabio's About.com list, here are my thoughts.

First of all, fiction is a great way to keep your mind working and practicing reading without much effort.  Bleak House is an amazing book, and one of my all time favorites. It also offers some highly relevant commentary on the legal profession. Billy Budd is a cool story, but I don't know if the legal connection is worthwhile. I have no idea how one could come up through the American school system WITHOUT reading To Kill a Mockingbird, but if you haven't you can probably get through it in a day. It is fairly inspirational. As for John Grisham, Lisa Scottoline, and Scott Turow, John Grisham is my recommendation of the group. His books are smart, easy to read, and each takes a different approach to the legal field. The legal principles discussed won't get you any points on an exam, but they do give a better idea of possible fields to go into. There is a the public defender fighting for the poor defendant, the corporate, in house lawyer dealing with business politics, the mob lawyer dealing with ethical questions, even the solo practitioner taking regular divorce cases.  I haven't read Lisa Scottoline yet, and Scott Turow hasn't left an indelible mark on me, but I imagine they are similar to Grisham.

As for the non-fiction of the list, A Civil Action is the only one I have personal experience with.  It was fun, but a bit wordy.  Check out the movie version with John Travolta if you like a laugh or two.  I actually think the movie does a great job of capturing those little "lawyer jokes" that might not be very funny to you right now, but you will find hilarious once you start school.

One L by Scott Turow seems to be the single most widely read law school book, I cannot escape it.  I suppose I am going to finally have to sit down and read it, since everyone talks about it, all the time.  I have flipped through it while browsing the shelves for other books, but I think I will withhold judgment until I get to really deal with it.

Check back here for my recommendations of summer before 1L prep, because I did read some particular books, and some were helpful, some were less so.  I will share other things I did that did not involve reading, and how each helped.  But most importantly, relax, you will have plenty to worry about once school starts.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

What Is Coming

As I mentioned a week or so ago, this is being revived, especially in light of the end of my University of Baltimore blogging duties. I have been interning two days a week with a judge, and have some awesome experiences to share from that. In addition, I took part in the law review write on competition, so I thought I would share some of my thoughts about that as well. Unfortunately I have been pretty busy and haven't been able to sit down and write recently, but keep checking back, it is coming soon.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Student Update

Well, I told you I was planning on reviving this, so here goes.

Currently, I am working on my internship Monday and Tuesday. I have been taking some notes on the daily proceedings in order to begin sharing fun stories, legal insights, and more about the law school process.

Additionally, I am currently working on the write-on for the 4 legal journals at UB. Right now I am actually taking a break from beginning to write my case note, or at least the rough outline. It appears that the Casenote is a great example of how most legal writing is: slow and laborious. But you know how they say, practice makes perfect...

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Revival

I am making it my intention to revive this blog, especially during the interim from my University of Baltimore blogging duties. I have some exciting stuff going on, including an excellent internship. Continue watching this space.