BOOKS ABOUT OUR GOVERNMENT & OUR LEGAL SYSTEM
BOOKS ABOUT THE LEGAL PROFESSION & WHAT LAWYERS REALLY DO
BOOKS ABOUT LEARNING & IMPROVING YOUR PROCESS OF LEARNING
CLASSIC, OR AT LEAST REALLY GOOD, BOOKS ABOUT THE LAW & LAWYERS
Your law school acceptance letter arrived!
You’re in!
Your law school experience has begun, and you want to be doing something to get ready, but what should that include?
You may have already been told (and if not, you almost certainly will be) that the biggest challenge you’ll face at law school is keeping up with the reading, reading and more reading.
So, should your prep for 1st year law really include … a reading list?
The right reading list can, in whatever time you have before the first day of law school, help prepare you for the profession you will be joining, as well as provide suggestions that might guide you, improve skills that might help you and share experiences that might amuse (or terrify) you.
The right reading list can also help if you are curious about what the world of law is really like. This might be the case if you have been lucky enough to avoid any personal contact with the legal system, so your view of the legal profession is taken from How to Get Away with Murder, Better Call Saul, (if you’re old enough) Ally McBeal or for the patriotic future lawyers, Street Legal and (by its filming location) Suits.
Your law school may have sent you a suggested reading list, which hopefully will not be too heavily weighted towards biographies of the profession’s éminence grise, but it may still be heavily weighted towards the heavy and the weighty.
While your law school’s list should not be ignored or replaced, some titles which may not be on that list but are listed under topic headings that have been generously and flexibly applied. While it is unlikely that anyone could or would have the time to read all of the suggested books you start your first year of law the list of almost three dozen has been provided in an effort to include titles which will appeal to as many potential readers as possible.
While these suggestions are intended for those studying at Canadian common law schools, there are some American titles and authors included where the material is still universal, or at least “continental” in application and (hopefully) in appeal. Comments and reviews are from sources as noted, which are not intended to be suggested or endorsed places of purchase. Biographies have not been specifically included, although some of the listed titles do cover the lives and impact of many legal greats.
Enjoy your reading!
BOOKS THAT DISCUSS & ASSIST THE STUDY OF LAW
1. Writing to Win: The Legal Writer
by Steven D. Stark
Stark, a former teacher of writing at Harvard Law, who has taught thousands of aspiring and practicing lawyers, has written the only book on the market that applies the universal principles of vigorous prose to the job of making a case--and winning it. (Goodreads)
2. The Elements of Style
by William Strunk JR. and E.B. White
An American English writing style guide and the best-known, most influential prescriptive treatment of English grammar and usage. Often required reading and usage in U.S. high school and university composition classes. Generations of college students and writers have learned the basics of English grammar from this short book. Rated "one of the 100 most influential books written in English" by Time in 2011. Author Stephen King recommended it as a grammar primer that all aspiring writers should read. (Amazon)
3. Introduction to the Study of Law
by Stephen M. Waddams
Waddams presents the fundamentals of formal legal study by introducing the reader to legal problem solving and providing an understanding of the language of law. It also surveys the structure of the legal system in Canada, the sources of our laws and the distinction between public and private law. References are also included to recent judicial decisions and to recent academic writing. Whether researching law as a career, familiarizing yourself with the role of lawyers or looking for a concise explanation of the Canadian legal system, Introduction to the Study of Law, 7th Edition is the perfect resource for insight and perspective. (Amazon)
4. Thinking Like a Lawyer: A New Introduction to
Legal Reasoning,
by Frederick Schauer
This primer on legal reasoning is aimed at law students and upper-level undergraduates…. It covers such topics as rules, precedent, authority, analogical reasoning, the common law, statutory interpretation, legal realism, judicial opinions, legal facts, and burden of proof. (Harvard University Press)
5. Reading Like a Lawyer: Time Saving Strategies for Reading Law Like an Expert,
by Ruth Ann McKinney
The ability to read law well is a critical, indispensable skill that can make or break the academic career of any aspiring lawyer. Fortunately, the ability to read law well (quickly and accurately) is a skill that can be acquired through knowledge and practice. The sooner the student masters these skills, the greater the rewards. Using seven specific reading strategies, reinforced with hands-on exercises at the end of each chapter, this book shows students how they can read law efficiently, effectively, powerfully, and confidently. (Goodreads)
6. Succeeding in Law School
by Herbert N. Ramy
As the Director of Suffolk University Law School’s Academic Support Program, Ramy begins receiving phone calls from new 1Ls as early as May. Their common question? "What do I need to do to succeed in law school?" In writing Succeeding in Law School, Ramy answers that question. (Goodreads)
7. Expert Learning for Law Students
by Michael Hunter Schwartz
Designed to help law students build the analytical skills necessary to succeed in law school, on the bar exam, and in law practice. Based on the findings of hundreds of educational studies, this book reveals how successful law students and lawyers plan, monitor, and implement their work. It also explains how experts reflect on their learning processes and identify any necessary adjustments to those processes, and it provides detailed guidance regarding individual student personality types and learning styles.
The book includes numerous examples of how to select and implement strategies for case reading and case briefing, taking notes, memorizing, managing time, stress, and workload, developing legal analysis skills, and preparing for and taking law school examinations. (Goodreads)
8. Getting to Maybe: How to Excel in Law School Exams
by Richard Michael Fischl and Jeremy R. Paul
The book begins by describing the difference between educational cultures that praise students for “right answers,” and the law school culture that rewards nuanced analysis of ambiguous situations in which more than one approach may be correct. Enormous care is devoted to explaining precisely how and why legal analysis frequently produces such perplexing situations.
"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. (Amazon)
9. Letters to a Law Student
by Nicholas McBride
Essential reading for anyone who is doing, or thinking about doing, a law degree at university. Nicholas J. McBride is a Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge; he was formerly a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. He is (with Roderick Bagshaw) the author of Tort Law, now in its third edition. (Amazon)
10. Winning Arguments: From Aristotle to Obama - Everything You Need to Know About the Art of Persuasion
by Jay Heinrichs
"Winning Arguments" will show you how to win more than your fair share of arguments, as well as: how to shine at work, avoid speeding tickets, and outwit argumentative partners.. The art of rhetoric, from eloquence and friendship to ready wit and irrefutable logic "Winning Arguments" is brimming with endless examples of persuasion and plenty of techniques to help you get your way.
BOOKS ABOUT LIFE AT LAW SCHOOL
1. The Law School Book: Succeeding at Law School
by Allan C. Hutchinson
Essential reading for anyone beginning the study of law or for those considering application to law school. Professor Hutchinson explores both the theoretical foundations of the Canadian legal system and the practical demands on law students today with humour and perceptiveness. His aim is to "provide the reader with insights and tips on how to cope with the routines of law school life and succeed in becoming a good law student and an even better lawyer." As a basic orientation to the law the book is accessible, though-provoking and, at times, controversial. (digitalcommons)
2. 1L of a Ride: A Well-travelled Professor’s Roadmap to Success in the First Year of Law School,
by Andrew McClurg
A candid, comprehensive roadmap to both academic and emotional success in law school’s crucial first year…topics in the revised and updated third edition include pre-planning, top student fears, first-year curriculum, the Socratic and case methods of teaching, effective class participation, top habits of successful students, essential study techniques, legal research and writing, exam strategies, maintaining well-being, and much more.” (Amazon)
3. One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School,
by Scott Turow
A wonderful book...it should be read by anyone who has ever contemplated going to law school. Or anyone who has ever worried about being human. --The New York Times
It was a year of terrors and triumphs, of depressions and elations, of compulsive work, pitiless competition, and, finally, mass hysteria. It was Scott Turow's first year at the oldest, biggest, most esteemed centre of legal education in the United States. Turow's experiences at Harvard Law School, where freshmen are dubbed One Ls, parallel those of first-year law students everywhere. His gripping account of this critical, formative year in the life of a lawyer is as suspenseful, said The New York Times, as the most absorbing of thrillers. (Amazon)
4. Law School Confidential: A Complete Guide to the Law School Experience: By Students, for Students
by Robert H. Miller
Written for students about to embark on this three-year odyssey by students who have successfully survived. It demystifies the life-altering thrill ride that defines an American legal education by providing a comprehensive, blow-by-blow, chronological account of what to expect. It arms students with a thorough overview of the contemporary law school experience. (Goodreads)
5. The Bramble Bush: The Classic Lectures on the Law and Law School
by Karl N. Llewellyn
This classic answers questions that all students have when starting law school, and virtually takes them inside the classroom like no other text. Karl N. Llewellyn offers understanding on the context of law, techniques on how to study the law without losing heart, and how to engage in the material within the classroom.
Required reading at many top tier law schools and is recommended by many Law School Deans for the insight it provides to new students. An outgrowth of Professor Llewellyn's introductory lectures at Columbia University School of Law, Bramble Bush continues to be the best introduction to the study of law for both potential and enrolled law students. (Amazon)
6. The Paper Chase
by John Jay Osborn Jr.
John Jay Osborn’s 1971 novel of law school and the main character Hart’s mostly one-sided psychic war with contracts professor Kingsfield.
Osborn started writing “The Paper Chase” in his first year at the Harvard Law School. The novel is formatted like a series of vignettes of law school linked together by Hart’s romance with Kingsfield’s daughter Susan, a relationship he finds every bit as challenging and frustrating as his relationship with her father. (Goodreads)
7. Ivy Briefs: True Tales of a Neurotic Law Student
by Martha Kimes
From first-day nerves to first-year grades, from bizarre job interviews to bar exam insanity, Ivy Briefs pulls back the curtain on the marbled halls of law school, revealing the absurdity often bubbling beneath the surface. Meet Martha Kimes: a naive small-town girl with strong neurotic tendencies who has (due to an inexplicable stroke of luck) been admitted to Columbia Law School. She's a Midwesterner in the middle of Manhattan, a student on the verge of a nervous breakdown. In her candid memoir - the best of its kind since One L and the only one written by a woman - Kimes makes her way through law school, doing battle with a memorable cast of characters. (Amazon)
8. So, you want to be a lawyer, Eh? Law School in Canada
by Adam Letourneau, QC, JD, LLM with Mitchell Heyland, JD
Every year, an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people apply to Canadian law schools, vying for just over 2,000 coveted spots. The competition is even fiercer when applying for a law job. Letourneau reveals many insider tips on how to gain admittance to law school in Canada, how to cope and succeed in law school, and most importantly, how to land a coveted law job post-graduation. Drawing upon personal experience and the experiences of numerous Canadian law school graduates, the author shares, in the 3rd insights on the LSAT, applying for law school, study strategies, summer jobs, the articling application process, succeeding as a lawyer and much more. (Chapters/Indigo)
BOOKS ABOUT OUR GOVERNMENT & OUR LEGAL SYSTEM
1. The Canadian Constitution,
by Adam Dodek
The first-ever primer on Canada’s Constitution for anyone who wants to understand the supreme body of law in the land. The Canadian Constitution makes Canada’s Constitution readily accessible.
Includes the complete text of the Constitution Acts of 1867 and 1982 as well as a glossary of key terms, a short history of the Constitution, and a timeline of important constitutional events. Explains how the Supreme Court of Canada works and describes the people and issues involved in leading constitutional cases. This book is a great primer for those coming to Canada’s Constitution for the first time as well as a useful reference work for students and scholars. (Goodreads)
2. How Canadians govern themselves,
by Eugene Forsey
First published in 1980, explores Canada’s parliamentary system, from the decisions made by the Fathers of Confederation to the daily work of parliamentarians in the Senate and House of Commons. Useful information on Canada’s Constitution, the judicial system, and provincial and municipal powers is gathered together in this one reference book. It is available for free on the Parliament of Canada website in PDF form.
3. Is Eating People Wrong?: Great Legal Cases and How they Shaped the World,
by Allan C. Hutchinson
This book explores eight exemplary cases from the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia that show the law as a living, breathing and down-the-street experience. It explores the social circumstances in which the cases arose and the ordinary people whose stories influenced and shaped the law as well as the characters and institutions (lawyers, judges, and courts) that did much of the heavy lifting.
By examining the consequences and fallout of these decisions, the book depicts the common law as an experimental, dynamic, messy, productive, tantalizing and bottom-up process, thereby revealing the diverse and uncoordinated attempts by the courts to adapt the law to changing conditions and shifting demands. Great cases are one way to glimpse the workings of the common law as an untidy but stimulating exercise in human judgment and social accomplishment. (Amazon)
4. Landmarks in the Law,
by Baron Alfred Denning
Written in Lord Denning's familiar vivid, staccato style, Landmarks in the Law discusses cases and characters whose names will be known to all readers, grouped together under headings such as High Treason, Freedom of the Press, and Murder. Thus, for example, the chapter on High Treason tells the stories of Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Roger Casement, and William Joyce--three very different cases, the first occurring nearly 350 years before the last, but each one raising constitutional issues of the greatest importance. (Amazon)
5. The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America,
by Thomas King
A deeply knowing, darkly funny, unabashedly opinionated, and utterly unconventional account of Indian–White relations in North America since initial contact. Ranging freely across the centuries and the Canada–U.S. border, King debunks fabricated stories of Indian savagery and White heroism, takes an oblique look at Indians (and cowboys) in film and popular culture, wrestles with the history of Native American resistance and his own experiences as a Native rights activist, and articulates a profound, revolutionary understanding of the cumulative effects of ever-shifting laws and treaties on Native peoples and lands. (Amazon)
BOOKS ABOUT THE LEGAL PROFESSION
& WHAT LAWYERS REALLY DO
1. 24 Hours with 24 Lawyers: Profiles of Traditional and Non-traditional Careers
by Jasper Kim
Are you thinking of attending law school or switching legal careers? About to graduate and wondering which path to take? Are you curious about what lawyers in different fields do in a typical day? Then spend twenty-four hours with twenty-four lawyers through this innovative book, 24 Hours with 24 Lawyers. Whether you want to be a full-time corporate lawyer, work as a legal consultant while pursuing your music career, or anything in between, this book gives you a unique "all-access pass" into the real-world, real-time personal and professional lives of twenty-four law school graduates. (Amazon)
2. The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law,
by Mark Herrmann
This collection of essays written by The Curmudgeon, offers practical, honest and you need to know this advice for surviving and thriving in a law firm. The book covers the basics of law practice and law firm etiquette, from doing effective research and writing to dressing for success, dealing with staff and clients, and building a law practice. Concise, humorous, and full of valuable (albeit curmudgeonly) insight, this is a must-read for every newly minted law school graduate or new lawyer. (Google)
3. Tomorrow's Lawyers: An Introduction to Your Future
by Richard Suskind
Tomorrow's Lawyers predicts that we are at the beginning of a period of fundamental transformation in law: a time in which we will see greater change than we have seen in the past two centuries. Where the future of the legal service will be a world of internet-based global businesses, online document production, commoditized service, legal process outsourcing, and web-based simulation practice. Legal markets will be liberalized, with new jobs for lawyers and new employers too., This book is a definitive guide to this future - for young and aspiring lawyers, and for all who want to modernize our legal and justice systems. It introduces the new legal landscape and offers practical guidance for those who intend to build careers and businesses in law. (ABE Books)
4. About Law: An Introduction
by Tony Honoré
A simple introduction to the intellectual challenges presented by law in the western secular tradition written by one of that tradition's most revered and eminent scholars.
This book provides the intelligent student contemplating a career in law with a brief yet comprehensive introduction to the subject. It also makes an ideal starting point for the general reader who is curious to explore the intellectual interest of the subject. Treating not just British law, but the whole western tradition of law, the author guides the reader through eleven topics which straddle various branches of the law, including constitutional and criminal law, property, and contracts. He also explores moral and historical aspects of the law, including a discussion of justice and the difference between civil and common law systems.
The law, the author argues, is mainly concerned with the question of obedience to authority and establishing the situations in which obedience is required and those in which it may be waived ought to be the central concern of all legal theorists. All these issues are examined broadly and simply, keeping technicalities at a minimum. The result is a book that offers as broad a picture of western law as possible, providing an accessible overview and a firm base for further study. (Amazon)
BOOKS ABOUT LEARNING &
IMPROVING YOUR PROCESS OF LEARNING
1. Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning
by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, Mark A. McDaniel
Drawing on cognitive psychology and other fields, the author offers techniques for becoming more productive learners, and cautions against study habits and practice routines that turn out to be counterproductive.” (Google Books)
2. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity,
by David Allen
Since it was first published almost fifteen years ago, this has become one of the most influential business books of its era, and the ultimate book on personal organization. 'GTD' is now shorthand for an entire way of approaching professional and personal tasks, and has spawned an entire culture of websites, organizational tools, seminars, and offshoots. Allen has rewritten the book from start to finish, tweaking his classic text with important perspectives on the new workplace, and adding material that will make the book fresh and relevant for years to come. (Amazon)
3. How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens
by Benedict Carey
Award-winning science reporter Benedict Carey sifts through decades of education research and landmark studies to uncover the truth about how our brains absorb and retain information. What he discovers is that, from the moment we are born, we are all learning quickly, efficiently, and automatically; but in our zeal to systematize the process we have ignored valuable, naturally enjoyable learning tools like forgetting, sleeping, and daydreaming. Is a dedicated desk in a quiet room really the best way to study? Can altering your routine improve your recall? Are there times when distraction is good? Is repetition necessary? Carey’s search for answers to these questions yields a wealth of strategies that make learning more a part of our everyday lives—and less of a chore.
CLASSIC, OR AT LEAST REALLY GOOD,
BOOKS ABOUT THE LAW & LAWYERS
1. To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
A haunting portrait of race and class, innocence and injustice, hypocrisy and heroism, tradition, and transformation in the Deep South of the 1930s, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird remains as important today as it was upon its initial publication in 1960, during the turbulent years of the Civil Rights movement. (Amazon)
2. The Sweet Hereafter: A Novel,
by Russell Banks
Four narrators--bus driver Dolores, upright Bill, shrewd Mitchell, and teenaged Nichole--address agonizing questions as they describe an accident that killed fourteen children and the effects of the tragedy on themselves and their town. (Amazon)
3. In Cold Blood
by Truman Capote
On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues.
As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. At the centre of his study are the amoral young killers Perry Smith and Dick Hickcock, who, vividly drawn by Capote, are shown to be reprehensible yet entirely and frighteningly human. In Cold Blood is a seminal work of modern prose, a remarkable synthesis of journalistic skill and powerfully evocative narrative. (Goodreads)
4. The Lincoln Lawyer
by Michael Connelly
Mickey is a Lincoln Lawyer, a criminal defence attorney who operates out of the back of his car, a Lincoln, taking whatever cases the system throws in his path. He's been a defence lawyer for a long time, and he knows just how to work the legal systems. When a Beverly Hills rich boy is arrested for brutally beating a woman, Haller has his first high-paying client in years. The evidence mounts on the defence's side, and Haller might even be in the rare position of defending a client who is actually innocent.
But then the case starts to fall apart, neither the suspect nor the victim are quite who they seem - and Haller quickly discovers that when you swim with the sharks, it's easy to wind up as prey. (Amazon)
5. Bleak House
by Charles Dickens
Widely regarded as Dickens’s masterpiece, Bleak House centers on the generations-long lawsuit Jarndyce and Jarndyce, through which “whole families have inherited legendary hatreds.” Focusing on Esther Summerson, a ward of John Jarndyce, the novel traces Esther’s romantic coming-of-age and, in classic Dickensian style, the gradual revelation of long-buried secrets, all set against the foggy backdrop of the Court of Chancery. Mixing romance, mystery, comedy, and satire, Bleak House limns the suffering caused by the intricate inefficiency of the law. (google reads)
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