My law school reading is about to start!
A quick update amidst the chaos that is life - I got my first law school reading assignments today.
Okay, sort of. They sent out some "recommended" summer readings. So really, these aren't assignments, but I'm definitely going to treat them like they are. After all, if I start slacking off now, before school starts, I can't imagine it would get any better when school is actually in session and my assignments matter more. So I'm going to read them and take notes and study them like I would for any actual class.
The first assignment we got was pretty much an entire textbook on the U.S. Legal System. From what I've seen of the book, it basically looks like a summary of the "Intro to Law" class I took during undergrad, so it shouldn't be too challenging. The second assignment was a 50 page manual on how to write a case brief. I took a couple of law classes in college, so I've had some practice with this. However, I think this will be a good resource to understand how to write them more, and it will be a valuable resource to have while I'm in school.
They sent these assignments to us online, so basically I had almost 300 pages to read on some PDFs. I'm one of those people who likes to have a physical copy of what I'm reading, and could never get behind the whole "E-Book" idea. Although I do have my own printer, I'll really didn't want to go through all the hassle and the supplies to print the documents out. So I decided to try something a little different.
I've used FedEx office a few times before to get documents printed, and I decided to turn to them for this print job. I decided for now I was just going to print out the U.S. Legal System textbook, and I would worry about the case-briefing manual later. To get the book printed on standard white paper, it would only be about $20, which I decided was definitely worth it. A few extra dollars, and I got the book covered and bound so it would be a little bit more put-together. Overall, I'm very happy with the results. This is a great option for anyone who has long reading assignments and wants to get them printed.
I'm definitely ready to get started reading this. I've been bored out of my mind without school so far this summer. This also makes me feel a bit more like a law student. I'll try to keep you guys updated on my process with this reading.
Reading Reccomendations
So if you're heading to law school in the fall, you might be wondering, "What should I read this summer to prepare for law school?" Although this isn't an extensive list by any means, here are a few recommendations to get you started:
- Whatever your school assigns. This might be an obvious one, but even if they give you "optional" reading like mine did - go ahead and do it. They wouldn't give it to you unless they wanted you to know the material.
- Your textbooks, if you have them. No, I'm not saying go read all 1,200 pages of your torts textbook and learn the class material. But read the first chapter or so of your textbooks if you can. Partially because this will likely be an assignment due the first day, but also because it will help you get used to legal reading and what you'll have to do each day.
- 1L of a Ride by Andrew J. McClurg. I didn't read this personally, but it has been highly recommended by my peers and professors. It's a great way to get a general idea on some tips to becoming the best law student you can be.
- The news - especially regarding the Supreme Court or the legal system in your area. Some professors don't care, but other professors LOVE current events. So it's not a bad idea to know what's going on in the world around you
- Law school blogs, of ccourse! By now I've written a bunch of posts about starting law school, what life as a law student is like, and everything in-between. Check out the rest of my blog!
- Bailey
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