Law School Without Fear: Strategies for Success (Academic Text/Reader),   ISBN:9781599414195

Customer Rating: 

Very informative. Exactly what I was looking for and for a very reasonable price. Quite helpful!

Customer Rating: 

I was required to read this book by the law school I've enrolled in. I'll start by acknowledging that it's important to remember that no book is totally without merit. A good reader with an open mind should be able to take something away from every book they read. That being said, I am trying to keep this optimistic maxim in mind while I write my review of this book.

Let me stress to you that before you spend the $30 plus s/h on this little volume, you should REALLY try hard to check it out at your local library or your current university. Order it through inter-library loan if you have to. At best, maybe buy a used (cheap) copy.

This book was obviously well-intended, but is still shockingly disappointing, and borders on the truly condescending. Yes, it actually contains chapters on how to use an apostrophe and how to make certain that your subjects and verbs correlate in a written sentence. Do the authors think everyone going to law school missed elementary school?

Likewise, there are entire sections devoted to how to read a footnote, what a statute is, what a law review is, and how the U.S. government is structured. Hello? Let me save you $30 and a lot of time. There are three branches of government: namely, the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judiciary. Just in case you missed not only your basic Social Studies class AND never saw Schoolhouse Rock, these basic facts have been included in the book. Please, if you grew up in the U.S. and don't know this by now, don't go into law or politics. We have enough trouble as it is.

(As an aside, the fact that BOTH authors teach at Northwestern Law School - a highly competitive school, I might add - should scare all of us. Is THIS the standard of quality of their incoming classes? Really?)

Get it from the library first, and decide for yourself. In the meantime, if you decide to buy it, don't say you weren't duly warned.

Customer Rating: 

This is required reading for several of my potential law schools. Written by lawyer parents for their son as a guide for his journey through law schools, this book explains (without an overabundance of legalese)some very important basics for potential law students!

Customer Rating: 

No offense to the authors. I'm sure their intentions were good.
This book is dry as sand in your mouth and not specific enough to make any sort of difference to anyone.
My law school told me this was 'mandatory' and made sure that we purchased copies before orientation, specifically to learn about case briefing. Unfortunately, this book talks about case briefing in theory, but doesn't bother with teaching the student to brief or show examples of what a case brief looks like.
For a vague, general view of law school, this book does a decent enough job, assuming you have the patience, but if you want a book with tips and techniques, this isn't it. Law School Confidential is a much easier read and provides far more information in a far more organized and efficient way.

Customer Rating: 

Given the title of this book, I was expecting a bunch of fluff and drivel. But it's a somewhat useful book to read before starting your first year. That way you won't need to worry about learning legal/procedural basics while you're figuring out tort law. Most people in my class read about half of it. The odds are you'll skip a few chapters unless you completely slept through civics class.