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Each of the major research databases has created resource pages centered around helping 1Ls nagivate the world of law school. These resources are created FOR YOU to help you succeed in your law school journey.
How to Succeed in Law School
Below, you will find a curated selection of the leading Legal Research & Writing study supplements. To view the full range of supplements available through D'Angelo Law Library subscriptions, see below:
West Study Aids (Law School Success) | Aspen Learning Library (Law School Success)
First-Year Law Students' Exam Success by
Taking the California First Year Law Students Exam (FYLSX)? The book is for you! This is your success companion to passing the FYLSX and getting on with law school! The FYLSX tests criminal law, torts, and contracts, in essay and multiple choice formats. You will find the rules for all three tested subjects (torts, contracts, and criminal law) along with practice essays in West Academic's Step-by-Step Guides to Torts, Contracts, and Criminal Law (sold separately). And, you will find practice multiple choice questions and detailed explanatory answers in the AdaptiBar® FYLSX course (sold separately). This book, along with the Step-by-Step Guides and Adaptibar, gives you everything you need to: 1) learn or review the law, 2) engage with high quality practice tests, and 3) find the motivation and inspiration to study, the strategies to overcome challenges, and the techniques to help you achieve your success goals. The FYLSX is one of the most difficult exams around and you need to do a lot in order to pass. The sooner you understand the rules of this game, the easier it will be. If you are in law school and getting ready to take California's First Year Law Students Exam (FYLSX), this book is written for you and to you. The FYLSX isn't just another test, and it is certain not a "baby" anything, though some call it "baby bar." This book will provide training tips to get you ready for success and push you to do your very best on this tough exam. This book will also help families, friends, spouses, and partners understand just how stressful and time consuming the FYLSX really is and do their part in helping you to pass. Wherever you are in the process, if you are facing your first FYLSX or if you have taken it before, make this your last FYLSX! You can do it. And, FYLSX Success will help get you there!
Publication Date: 2023
Happiness and Peak Performance in Law School by
Wouldn't it be amazing if you could enhance your happiness and cognitive firepower? If you could reduce your law school stress and expand your resilience, self-confidence, and overall joyfulness? What if your mind could be clearer, more focused, and flat-out better at learning, reading, outlining, memorizing, public speaking, exam-taking, decision-making, and various other law school competencies? If this interests you, then this book is for you. In this book, law students will learn a wide collection of easy-to-apply, science-based tools for drastically improving their emotional well-being, mental strength, and academic success. Law school can be overwhelming and demoralizing at times, but now law students can feel equipped and empowered to overcome the inevitable challenges of this intense environment. This book provides a roadmap for thriving mentally, emotionally, and cognitively in law school, in the practice of law, and in life.
Publication Date: 2023
1L of a Ride ▶️ (VIDEO RESOURCE) by
1L of a Ride provides a candid, comprehensive roadmap to both academic and emotional success in law school's crucial first year.
Publication Date: 2021
Best Friends at the Bar by
Best Friends at the Bar: The New Balance for Today';s Woman Lawyer candidly addresses the problems unique to women in the practice of law and provides practical, helpful advice and solutions. This companion to Best Friends at the Bar: What Women Need to Know about a Career in the Law is based on research, the author's experience, and interviews with women attorneys who have successfully made the transition from one practice setting to another. These women, many with national reputations, tell their stories in their own compelling words. The lawyers profiled are Sally Blackmun, former Senior Associate General Counsel of Darden; Kathleen Tighe, Inspector General, US Department of Education; Bonnie Brier, General Counsel, New York University; Karen Kaplowitz, Law Firm Consultant, The New Ellis Group; Laura Oberbroekling, Solo Practitioner; Kathryn Spencer, former member of Women-owned Law Practice; Stephanie Kimbro, Virtual Law Firm Practice, Kimbro Legal Services; Victoria Pynchon, Alternative Dispute Resolution, She Negotiates at ForbesWoman ADR Services, Inc.; Deborah Burand, Professor, University of Michigan Law and former GC and VP, Legal Affairs, OPIC; Amy Yeung, Associate Counsel, ZeniMax Media Inc.; Honorable Marianne Short, Managing Partner, Dorsey & Whitney; and Markeisha Miner, Assistant Dean, Career Services and Outreach, University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. Features of Best Friends at the Bar: The New Balance for Today's Woman Lawyer Candidly addresses problems unique to women in the practice of law Provides practical advice and solutions Based on research, the author's experience, and experience of women attorneys who successfully transitioned from one practice setting to another The women interviewed, many with national reputations, tell their stories in their own words
Publication Date: 2012
Cracking the Case Method, Legal Analysis for Law School Success by
Description Coming Soon!
Publication Date: 2022
Critical Reading for Success in Law School and Beyond ▶️ (VIDEO RESOURCE) by
New book purchase includes complimentary digital access to the eBook and digital resources. Reading cases and statutes is challenging for students and attorneys. However, everybody can learn critical reading strategies and become effective legal readers and advocates. Critical Reading for Success in Law School and Beyond identifies the reading strategies used by expert legal readers and presents the strategies in a systematic sequence. Critical Reading is written in an easy to read style with lots of examples. Readers will learn: the purpose for reading cases, how to read with focus, case structure and important civil and criminal procedure terms, techniques for understanding complex text, strategies for identifying the parts of a case, how to brief a case, legal analysis skills such as analogical reasoning and case synthesis, and strategies for reading statutes. The second edition adds chapters that address reading on screens and techniques for reading bar prep materials. The second edition also has a seventeen part video series with PowerPoint slides. Each video introduces a reading strategy, provides helpful tips, includes a short student exercise, and gives students the opportunity to self-assess their proficiency. Critical Reading can be used in law school pre-orientation and orientation programs, academic success courses, bar prep courses, and legal writing and doctrinal classes. It is also useful for legal readers who want to improve their reading efficiency and effectiveness.
Publication Date: 2022
The Eight Secrets of Top Exam Performance in Law School by
Softbound - New, softbound print book.
Publication Date: 2007
Excelling in Law School by
Written by a recent law school graduate with an extraordinary success story, Excelling in Law School: A Complete Approach transcends merely surviving the experience, demonstrating how to earn high grades by working smart, excel in extracurricular activities, publish, and land top jobs. The author aced his first year at a fourth tier law school and transferred to a top-10 school from which he graduated, magna cum laude. Now, he shares his insights and his experience, surpassing expectations set by his less-than-lustrous LSAT scores. Miller relieves some of the anxiety about law school by conveying proven strategies that will appeal to today's tech-savvy law student. He outlines the available resources and study-aids and shows how to effectively use new technologies such as websites that distribute outlines, companies that provide MP3s of detailed lectures on first year courses, student-maintained outline banks, recorded lectures, professor podcasts, and PowerPoint slides. Students learn the specific, unique skills required to approach law reviews and scholarships and to hunt for jobs. Excelling in Law School: A Complete Approach observes successful tactics used by other students and guides readers in selecting the strategies and resources that best fit each personality. Features of Excelling in Law School: A unique book written by a recent law school graduate with a stunning success story Goes beyond the basics of surviving law school earning high grades excelling in extracurricular activities publishing landing top jobs Helps students excel shows how to work smart relieves some anxiety about law school conveys proven strategies Designed for today's tech-savvy law student Showcases the study-aid market and effective use new technologies websites that distribute outlines companies that provide MP3s of detailed lectures on first year courses student-maintained outline banks recorded lectures professor podcasts PowerPoint slides Reveals effective, specific skills and unique approaches law reviews scholarships job-hunting Outlines available resources Illustrates the author's personal success, one that can be tailored for any law school student how the author personally aced each area strategies and tactics observed in use by other students how to select the strategy and resources that best fit the reader's personality
Publication Date: 2012
The Guide to Belonging in Law School by
The Guide to Belonging in Law School is the only book of its kind and should be required summer reading before law school. It accomplishes two discrete goals. First, it requires readers to engage in an authentic, rigorous, mini-law school semester involving reading, studying, five Socratic classes (through the connected website), exam preparation, and exam writing. Second, the book provides a foundation for students from marginalized groups to recognize and manage both subtle and explicit barriers that can impede their progress. Law schools should recommend this book to every incoming law student, especially those from groups underrepresented in the profession. Professor McClain is a nationally-recognized expert on inclusiveness and minority student achievement in law school.
Publication Date: 2020
How to Write Law Exams by
Written for every law student who ever wondered how to get better grades in law school, How to Write Law Exams: IRAC Perfected provides students of all levels with a detailed, comprehensive, and practical guide to success on law school exams. What's more, How to Write Law Exams applies equally to all subject matters, making this text an ideal supplement for every law school course. Focuses on law school and bar exams rather than the kind of assignments seen in legal writing class. As such, the book helps students improve their grades in all of their substantive courses, not just in their first year legal writing class. Provides readers with a proven and easy-to-implement means of maximizing points on a law school exam. Rather than repeating vague generalities about grammar and style or providing simple bullet-point lists as other writing guides do, this text breaks the well-known IRAC method of legal writing into comprehensible segments and gives students the tools needed to master their law exams. Provides readers with detailed student-written examples of the IRAC method in action. Annotated with line-by-line critiques, these sample essays show readers exactly what can go wrong in a law school exam and how to fix those problems before they appear on a graded paper. Combining in-depth analysis, easy-to-understand writing, and innovative design features, How to Write Law Exams: IRAC Perfected is the answer to every law student's exam questions.
Publication Date: 2020
An Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning by
Now in its Third Edition, An Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning continues to be the ideal go-to for the first year law student. It is a short, practical book that introduces beginning law students and others to contemporary law and legal reasoning. By presenting these topics through various discussions of cases and examples, it provides students with a solid source to reference for years to come. A dependable, practical source, that: Covers analogical and deductive reasoning, as well as the roles of legal conventions, purposes, and policies in legal reasoning Discusses cases of varying difficulty to diversify the learning process Presents law and legal reasoning primarily through discussions of cases and examples that avoid the abstraction characteristic of most competing books Emphasizes the law as used in practice by lawyers and judges Provides an explicit and systematic introduction to law and legal reasoning Offers a source suitable for use as supplementary reading in any first year course, in legal research and writing courses, in paralegal courses, and in other settings This great new edition has been carefully updated to include: A new chapter, "Hardest Cases," that highlights cases notorious in the press Updates throughout that guarantee the most current legal information
Publication Date: 2007
Law School Exams by
Recognizing that law students operate under severe time constraints, Professor Calleros employs a reassuring, accessible style that makes points quickly and clearly. Starting with creative examples and illustrations from familiar, nonlegal contexts, the author introduces students to new concepts by analogy and then advances to more complex legal examples. Exercises and practice exams, with a focus on essay questions and model answers, help students identify their strengths and weaknesses, plan strategies, and organize their efforts. Law School Exams: Preparing and Writing to Win offers techniques for maximizing scores on several types of essay questions, as well as on multiple-choice and other questions. Exam anxiety is tackled by a helpful, positive perspective: the right amount of stress can serve as a motivator. Students get help in reducing anxiety to a productive level by learning how to place exams into proper perspective. Stress-management techniques are introduced, including, stretching, meditation, and listening to motivational music. The Second Edition introduces new sample flow charts into the presentation, and additional examples, questions, and sample answers appear throughout the text. Hallmark features of Law School Exams: Preparing and Writing to Win: --accessible, reassuring style o points are clear and concise for students under severe time constraints --creative examples and illustrations from familiar, nonlegal contexts o introduces students to new concepts by analogy o then advances to more complex legal examples --exercises and practice exams organize student's effort o identify strengths and weaknesses o focus on essay questions and model answers o help plan strategies --addresses techniques for maximizing scores o several types of essay questions o multiple-choice and other objective questions --tackles exam anxiety o helps students understand that a small degree of anxiety can motivate o shows how to reduce anxiety to a productive level --place exams into proper perspective --prepare thoroughly --adopt stress-management techniques: stretching, meditation, motivational music
Publication Date: 2013
Law School Survival Manual 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.
Publication Date: 2010
Mastering the Law School Exam by
Mastering the Law School Exam is designed to provide students with a knowledgeable, reasonable, and rational voice to navigate the intricacies of law school exams. This book is practical rather than theoretical where the emphasis is on providing the type of detailed examples necessary to show students precisely "how to do it" and "how to write it." By working with numerous illustrations in the context of substantive law, students learn to: Fill the gap between what the professor refers to as learning to "think like a lawyer" and the actual means for doing so. Create a successful path from note-taking--to outlining--to exam writing. Identify the basic skills that exams seek to test and the precise manner in which they are tested. Become familiar with the general types of law school exams through examples and detailed analyses of sample answers. Use the language of the law in the writing of issues, statements of the rule, and analysis of the facts. Draw appropriate inferences from the facts. Improve close reading skills as well as writing skills. Be pro-active by taking formative assessments in a variety of subject areas and formats. Simulate exam conditions by writing exams under timed conditions. Target assessments according to identified learning objectives. Self-assess by following detailed grading rubrics. Use formative assessment to improve learning through identified feedback mechanisms. Draw appropriate inferences from the facts. Organize their thoughts to write an organized analysis. Develop a facility with adapting the "IRAC" structure of legal analysis to answer multiple-choice questions, write essay answers, and address varying performance test tasks.
Publication Date: 2023
A Short and Happy Guide to Being a Law Student by
Softbound - New, softbound print book.
Publication Date: 2014
Steve Emanuel's First Year Questions and Answers by
Steve Emanuel's First Year Questions and Answers consists of 1,144 short-answer questions, covering the six subjects usually taken by first year law students. Each question gives you a fact pattern, and then asks you to make a conclusion, usually a yes/no conclusion (e.g., "Is there an enforceable contract?"). Within each subject, the questions are arranged in approximately the order that the topics they cover occur in the Emanuel Law Outlines for that subject. Thus the Civil Procedure questions begin with questions involving personal jurisdiction, proceed to subject matter jurisdiction, then to pleading, and so on.
Publication Date: 2011
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.
Publication Date: 2021
Writing Essay Exams to Succeed in Law School by
Ancillary purchase book appropriate for incoming and first - year law students, law students in academic support programs, pre - law students, and graduates studying for the bar exam. Features: The student answer to the Hayakawa problem in Chapter 4 is now annotated to show key features, such as explanations of rules, explanation of elements, application of sub-elements to facts, and conclusions An all-new Chapter 8 explains how exams are like the real practice of law
Publication Date: 2014
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