practical guides

I love this book. It has provided a clear indication of what is necessary to do well on law exams. I read this book after doing a number of law courses. This book made me realised why I got all those B grades.

This book shows you how to think like a lawyer. How to analyse. How to develop argument and counter argument. How to work in policy arguments. How to tie in themes of the course to answer questions. How to develop the skill of issue identification.

This book tells you what your law professors shroud in mystery. I have been there, where the professors tell you to analyse and argue, but give you no clear indication of what this entails in an issue laden question. This book should be read by every law student who wants to understand better what the study of law requires of them. It is not a substitute for hard work and the authors state very clearly that success in law school can only be achieved through your own hard work.

Any one who turns their thumb down on this book, probably grasped from day one what was truly required of them as law students. For the rest of us, this book will be an incredible find.

A very thorough, explicit, step-by-step guide to what law school professors want to see on your written exams. Very lucid, sometimes even witty. Most law schools still adhere to the Socratic, sink-or-swim method, in which students are kept in the dark about what's expected of them. As a result, many students are totally flummoxed and panic-stricken when exam time rolls around. Be sure to read this book just before you head off to law school; then read it again a couple of weeks before your first exam. If you follow the authors' advice, you are practically guaranteed good grades. Hey, you might even make the Law Review. It worked for me.

Other good books to read before heading off to law school:
Law 101, by Jay Feinman
Introduction to U.S. Legal System, by William Burnham
Planet Law School, by "Atticus Falcon"
The first two give a nice overview of the whole subject and will help you tie everything together. The last is an overcynical but very amusing description of the kind of mind games you're likely to encounter; it also contains the best study tips I've seen.

Also: If you have the time and money, enroll in an intensive paralegal training course before law school. I did, and it really saved my ass during 1L.

Last but definitely not least: Spend at least six months prepping HARD for the LSAT. Work your way through a good logic textbook (I recommend Copi's), study a good prep book (e.g., Jeff Kolby's), and practice on as many real LSATs as you can, under time-pressured conditions. It really pays off.

This book saved my law school carreer. law school tests are notoriously ambigous. There are no right answers. Unfortunatly, there seems to be no help for students. One of the proscribed methods is the IRAC method (when you get to school you will learn this and this is not the time to write about it). This book gives you a different way of acheving success in the test. The book does criticize IRAC and offers its own way of handling the testing questions. "Getting To Maybe" is written by law professors and who would know more about passing their tests as well as how a professor thinks? The book is a well written philosophy on the test and the mistakes. The authors spend a great deal of time explaining their philosophy and it is helpfull for the second half of the book. The book shows the common test question mistakes and how to fix them. The book also provides sample tests with sample answers and explanations of why they are good answers. This is the best part of the book, a side by side comparison of good and bad answers which makes this book invaluable. Highly reccommended.