The Importance of Law Books for Law Students
When embarking on the journey of law school, you undoubtedly enter with plenty of excitement and overwhelming to-do lists. Specifically, your to-do list would have been filled with application deadlines, bar exam dates, and a slew of other appointments and timesensitive tasks that are a necessity for any first-year law student. However, when it comes to studying law, you will quickly find that books remain one of the most important tools of the trade that will stay with you throughout your career. The beauty of studying law is that you get the opportunity to branch out into a myriad of different topics where literature can offer a robust insight into the judicial process and how and why it is important for our society. From discussing the jurisprudential importance of landmark cases (such as Brown v. Board of Education) to contemplating the ethical dilemmas that lawyers may face in representing particular clients , literature remains an indispensable tool to teach students about the importance of law in our society. Law books open up discussions that are not typically addressed in law school that can help students refine their skills.
While there are certainly countless resources available to law students, nothing has the same impact as poring over a well-crafted book that has an independent insight on judicial processes at the heart of our world. Furthermore, while textbooks are certainly helpful in their own respect, books written by practitioners and scholars give students the opportunity to seriously consider all aspects of an attorney’s role in the judicial process for a wide range of different fields of law. These rolls certainly include traditional attorney roles such as persuasive writing, oral advocacy, and effective legal research, among others. However, it also includes a number of topic areas that are often overlooked by traditional legal education models such as an attorney’s duties to their clients and the judicial system, the importance of asking the right questions, and the subtleties of persuasive language and overall advocacy skills.
Law Books for 1Ls (First-Year Law Students)
For first year law students, the first semester of classes guides them through the basics of Contracts, Torts, Constitutional Law and Civil Procedure. Here are some recommended books to help 1L’s in each area.
Contracts
Classics: Gifford, Corbin, Farnsworth
Recommended:
Farnsworth, Sanger and McDonnell: Contracts, Cases and Materials
Hugh A. Banker, Elements of Contracting, Third Edition
Sandeen, Understanding Secured Transactions
Spindler and Spindler, Uniform Commercial Code in a Nutshell
What not to read: Contracts For Dummies – I guess this is okay for Contracts 101 for the purpose of understanding the Legal Terminology of Contracts, but it is a useless for understanding principles of contracts law.
Torts
Beford and Currier, Torts, A Contemporary Approach
Fleming, The Law of Torts, Cases, Materials and Problems
Goldberg, Adler and Ellinghaus, Tort Law: Text, Cases and Problems, … 4th Edition
Vermont Law School Legal Study Aids, Torts Outline
Cannon, Torts ,Second Edition
Constitutional Law
Gordon, The Constitution of the United States
Floyd and Levi, Constitutional Law, Cases and Materials
Rosen and Lee, Constitutional Law: Keyed to American Constitutional Law by Chemerinsky
O’Neil, United States Constitutional Law, 4th edition
Civil Procedure
Cabranes and Risman, Cases and Materials on Civil Procedure
Freer, Civil Procedure: A Modern Approach, 6th edition
Zawisza and Plymouth Law School Faculty, Civil Procedure: A Structured Approach
Braucher, Civil Procedure, A Modern Approach, 3rd Edition
Reference Law Books for Upper-Level (2L and 3L) Law Students
Once you’ve got the basics down, it’s time for advanced law students to start broadening their horizons when it comes to legal reference books. Covering topics like corporate law, international law, intellectual property and more, here are the reference books to study from:
Black’s Law Dictionary
Still the most often used law book in the world, Black’s Law Dictionary is a go-to reference for legal terminology. Comprehensive and up-to-date, with hundreds of new definitions for the modern world. Even advanced law students can benefit from the legal terms highlighted in the margins to supplement a deeper understanding of legal language.
Cohen’s Handbook of Federal Indian Law (2012 ed.)
Recommended to all serious students of Native American Law, this is the 2012 edition of Cohen’s Handbook of Federal Indian Law. Essential for large and small law firms, as well as civil and private practice attorneys, this book delivers a fresh approach to a complicated field of law.
The Law of Business Organizations
This book, written by Robert J. Haft, is part of the Hornbook Series published by West Academic Publishing. This updated volume details today’s business organizations, how they are formed and how they are dissolved, including LLCs, limited partners, limited liability, research on business law and more. A perfect addition to any law student’s library.
Yale Law Journal
The Yale Law Journal is a prestigious journal that has been published continuously since 1891, making it by far the oldest continuously published law review in the United States. It is available mostly to Yale law students and Yale undergraduates, but can be arranged to be read at law libraries throughout the nation.
Law Casebooks and Their Usefulness to Law Students
Most law courses feature readings from authoritative case law books and supplemental texts. In addition, there may be certain assigned non-fiction legal texts and journals. Although these books have some similarities with scholarly journals, the differences are significant. The vast majority of academic scholarship does not belong in a first year law course. These textbooks offer summaries of important case law, and synopses of issues currently being litigated. Most practitioners read the executive summaries, so why should law students spend precious study time reading in-depth law articles? It is counter-intuitive. Scholarly journals are entered into evidence during trial. This is not appropriate law school material. When it comes to legal learning during the formative first year, law school textbooks that include important legal concepts and issues are superior. These texts offer targeted insights into not only what cases mean, but also what went on in the courtroom when the case was litigated. How has the law evolved? What happened before certain conclusions were reached? Who decided the law and why? What did the court hear, and what did it not hear? What really is the substance of what is being decided? Law school textbooks address these questions. With a law school textbook, the reader can clearly see how the case works and why it matters. Consider the difference in understanding between reading a journal entry about the Lochner era versus actually reading big business, owner-paid (very likely) private law firm’s arguments. Complex commercial law is difficult for law students to comprehend—especially when the material is written as if intended for other lawyers. Having a casebook that includes some of the original correspondence and arguments gives the student the tools that he or she needs to learn the law.
Good Study Guides and Exam Preparation Aids
No law school experience is complete without the dreaded whiff of exam fear, not even for the most seasoned lawyers. Study guides and aids for exam preparation provide invaluable support in the fight against the dreaded cram-all-night-into-the-day-before syndrome—or worse: getting a "fail" instead of a "pass." Among the current law school study aids are practice exams, outlines, and flashcards.
E&e by Aspen Publishing
The E&e series takes students inside the mind and exam strategies of law professors with its popular series of guides to exam prep. The books take a structured approach, looking at how to formulate exam answers , outlining the issues, and articulating viable arguments.
Exam Pro by West Academic Publishing
Exam Pro also utilizes faculty opinion in its series of exam-style question and answer books. Each book runs through real-world legal issues and more than complete sample answers are provided. Particularly useful for Bar Exam preparation, the books also provide common multiple choice questions similar to those seen on the Bar.
Siegel’s by Emanuel Law
These series of multistate bar exam style questions and answers are clear, concise, and to the point. Every style of multiple choice question is covered. A clear way to sharpen exam skills in all areas of law.
Books to Build Legal Skills
Beyond the foundational texts that address legal theory and principles, there is a robust catalog of law books that seek to hone specific skills in aspiring lawyers. In the law school context, these books can range from supplements for first-year classes to volumes aimed at developing broadly applicable skills such as research, writing, analysis, advocacy, and negotiation. One of the hallmarks of legal pedagogy is the Socratic and case method, where students study judicial opinions in order to become familiar with the contours of legal reasoning. But how about next-level skills such as practicing lawyering? Some suggested books that can help consuming students bridge this gap include Adam Gerencser’s Writing for the Legal Audience, which focuses on techniques for preparing legal documents; Bryan A. Garner’s The Art of Writing Opinions: Lessons from a Federal Appellate Judge, which examines techniques for producing clear judicial opinions; and A. Benjamin Spencer’s Introduction to Lawyering Skills, which chews through substantive law through the lens of cultivating practical lawyering skills. Practical advocacy skills form an important aspect of lawyering. Students preparing for a litigation or appellate practice should consider books such as Richard K. Neumann’s Winning on Appeal: Better Briefs, Oral Argument, and Winning on Appeal, which covers appellate advocacy to trial practice; Richard K. Neumann Jr.’s Winning Legal Writing: Litigating and Persuading as a Team, which provides concise tips on strengthening legal briefs and memoranda; and the aforementioned Crawford’s The Art of Argument: Principles of Persuasion for Lawyers and Other Advocates. For those who would like to take their legal arguments to the next level, consider Legal Argument: The Structure and Language of Effective Advocate; The New Advocacy: Brief-Writing in Plain Language; What Makes Lawyers Happy: A New Study Reveals the Keys to Satisfaction, Success, Life Balance, and Fee Income; and Your Trial: How to Prepare and Present Case (which, despite its title, is actually a book on advocacy). For developing other key skills, consider Legal Analysis: The Fundamental Skills, 5th Ed.; Mastering Legal Analysis and Writing; The New Lawyer: How to Start Your Career in a Commercial World; Strengthening Forensic Science in America: A Path Forward; and Forensics for Dummies. Other recent books with law school applications include The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law; Pass the Bar!; The Lawyer’s Guide to Writing Well; and Winning with Evidence: Demystifying the Rules of Evidence for Lawyers and Clients. In sum, there is a number of strong books related to law school studies that can augment traditional classes.
Reference Legal Treatises and Theory Law Books
For the serious student of the law, the insights of the best legal minds are found in classic works that illuminate important concepts and fields of study. For example consider the works of jurisprudence or legal philosophy, in which sages examine the nature of laws, their role within society and how they should relate to each other. The writings of Aristotle have for centuries been used to explain and set the foundation for Western legal and philosophical thought. Selections from Aristotle’s writings can be found in the Aristotle’s Politics and Ethics, the first of which focuses on law, government and politics and the latter on ethics.
The great 17th Century British philosopher and jurist Thomas Hobbes addresses law, governance, morality and social justice through his examination of the social contract in Leviathan.
French philosopher Jean-Jaques Rousseau’s writings on the social contract are considered a watershed work in Western philosophy, and continue to be studied by law students today.
Modern Classics – For a more modern treatment of jurisprudence, consider the works of H.L.A. Hart (1907-1992). Often cited by legal scholars, Hart’s works include The Concept of Law and A C. L. A. Revival and Other Essays, both of which explain and examine the foundations of jurisprudence and legal theory.
Civil Procedure – In addition to the Civil Procedure texts by Kaplan and the other more practical ones noted in my previous post, Hart’s The Judicial Process: Original and Appellate provides an in depth look at civil procedure issues from an academic version of the "Case Method" approach of teaching law. It does this by examining six cases in the light of the rules and theories of civil procedure. This is an interesting book to use with Kaplan’s Civil Procedure book and it helps the student have a better theoretical understanding of the subject. The great 19th Century French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville wrote extensively on the impact of the rule of law in his classic work Democracy in America.
The works of Professor Judith Resnik can be found in her book Managerial Judges. Resnik examines and analyzes the prevalent model of judgeship in America from the Colonial period to the present.
Max Radin has written scholarly articles and books on the conflict of laws and foreign judgments that are still widely cited, and you can find links to his writings in my earlier post.
Another influential contemporary writer is Robert Cover (1925-1981), who wrote a number of important scholarly pieces on law from a social and legal perspective. Cover’s writings are contained within his book Justice Accused: Antislavery and the Judicial Process.
Another contemporary legal scholar worth noting is David Luban, who critiques American legal ethics and American law in his books Lawyers and Justice and Legal Ethics and Human Dignity. This blog post discussing antipathy for certain legal ethics rules also drew on Luban’s writings, and is mentioned above.
How to Balance Textbooks with Practical Books
With professors that have entirely too many books on the course list, it is difficult for law students to navigate between real-world examples and theories. Most of the time 50% is a standard. Many students tend to over-exaggerate what they read just to get by, which essentially weakens research entirely. Thus, reading into entire books designed for practical purposes, and not just theories, will probably work in your favor. Some outlets to consider are guide books designed to help law students practice . Some books include Practical Lawyering Skills, Lawyers at Work, and The Young Lawyer. Those examples teach students tips about how to maneuver through employment internships, write opinions, prepare for court, and basic tips essential in the working world. Not to mention, real-world examples and the best way to tackle challenging issues. While textbooks are important for students to gain general knowledge, practical books come in handy for those looking to fully immerse themselves in the field and tackle their next challenge with confidence.