Bibliography for Incoming Law Students
General Works About Law School
Books
Starting off Right in Law School / Carolyn J. Nygren, Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 2011.
The Zen of Law School Success / Chad Noreuil, Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 2011.
Law School Confidential: The Complete Law School Survival Guide: By Students, for Students / Robert H. Miller, New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2011.
Succeeding in Law School / Herbert N. Ramy, Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 2010.
Coming to Law School: How to Prepare Yourself for the Next Three Years / Ian Gallacher, Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 2010.
Law School Survival Manual: From LSAT to Bar Exam / Nancy B. Rapoport and Jeffrey D. Van Niel, Austin: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business; New York: Aspen Publishers, 2010.
Hard-nosed Advice from a Cranky Law Professor: How to Succeed in Law School / Austen L. Parrish and Cristina C. Knolton, Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 2010.
Demystifying the First Year of Law School: A Guide to the 1L Experience / Albert J. Moore and David A. Binder, Austin: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business ; New York, NY: Aspen Publishers, 2010.
What the L?: 25 Things We Wished We'd Known Before Going to Law School / Kelsey May, Samantha Roberts, and Elizabeth Shelton, Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 2010.
1000 Days to the Bar, But the Practice of Law Begins Now / Dennis J. Tonsing, Buffalo, N.Y.: W.S. Hein & Co., 2010.
Academic Legal Writing: Law Review Articles, Student Notes, Seminar Papers, and Getting on Law Review / by Eugene Volokh, with foreword by Alex Kozinski, New York : Foundation Press, 2010.
Deconstructing Legal Analysis: A 1L Primer / Peter T. Wendel, Austin: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business; New York: Aspen Publishers, 2009.
Law School Labyrinth: Guide to Making the Most of Your Legal Education / Steven R. Sedberry, New York: Kaplan Publishing, 2009.
1L of a Ride: A Well-traveled Professor's Roadmap to Success in the First Year of Law School / by Andrew J. McClurg, St. Paul, MN: Thomson/West, 2009.
Law School Without Fear: Strategies for Success / Helene Shapo, New York, N.Y. : Foundation Press, 2009.
Bridging the Gap Between College and Law School: Strategies for Success / Ruta K. Stropus & Charlotte D. Taylor, Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 2009.
"Just Trying To Be Human in This Place": Storytelling and Film in the First-Year Law School Classroom, 39 Stetson Law Review 247 (2009).
Acing your First Year of Law School: The Ten Steps to Success you Won't Learn in Class / Shana Connell Noyes & Henry S. Noyes, Buffalo, N.Y.: William S. Hein & Co., 2008.
Introduction to the Study and Practice of Law in a Nutshell / by Kenney F. Hegland, St. Paul, MN: Thomson/West, 2008.
Making Law Review: The Expert's Guide to Mastering the Write-on Competition / by Wes Henricksen, Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 2008.
Expert Learning for Law Students / Michael Hunter Schwartz, Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 2008.
The Law Student's Pocket Mentor: From Surviving to Thriving / Ann L. Iijima, Austin: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business/Aspen Publishers, 2007.
The Hidden Sources of Law School Stress: Avoiding the Mistakes that Create Unhappy and Unprofessional Lawyers / Lawrence S. Krieger, Tallahassee, FL: Krieger, 2005.
Reading Like a Lawyer: Time-Saving Strategies for Reading Law Like an Expert / Ruth Ann McKinney, Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 2005.
Law School 101: Survival Techniques from Pre-Law to Being an Attorney / R. Stephanie Good, Naperville, Ill.: Sphinx Pub., 2004.
Law School Survival Guide / from the editors of JD jungle and jdjungle.com, the leading sources of information for lawyers and law students, Cambridge, Mass.: Jungle Media Group/Perseus Pub., 2003.
The First Year Law School Survival Kit / by Jeff Adachi, [S.l.] : Survival Series Pub. Co., 1996.
One L by Scott Turow; with a new afterword by the author, New York : Farrar Straus Giroux, 1988.
Online Resources
How to Read a Legal Opinion: a Guide for New Law Students, Orin S. Kerr, George Washington University - Law School, posted to SSRN. Also published in The GREEN BAG, An Entertaining Journal of Law, Vol 11, No. 1, p. 51, Autumn 2007.
Wish I Would Have Known: Advice from Law Students on How They Would Do Things Over
JD Law Students Blog: JD candidates at Vermont Law School share their thoughts and experiences
Law School Exams
Law School Exams: A Guide to Better Grades / Alex Schimel, Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 2012.
Open Book: Succeeding on Exams from the First Day of Law School / Barry Friedman, and John C.P. Goldberg, New York: Wolters Kluwer Law and Business, 2011.
Movie Therapy for Law Students (and Pre-Law, Paralegal, and related majors): Are you Ready for Law School?: Prepare for law school, final exams, and the bar exam by watching movies! / Sonia J. Buck, Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2009.
Law School Success: A Guide to Studying Law and Taking Law School Exams, 2nd ed. (nutshell), Burkhart, Ann M. and Stein, Robert A., West Pub. Co., 2008.
Writing Essay Exams to Succeed (Not Just to Survive) / John C. Dernbach, New York: Aspen Publishers, 2007.
Getting to Maybe: How to Excel on Law School Exams / Richard Michael Fischl and Jeremy Paul, Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 1999.
Legal Reasoning, Theory & Methodology
Effective Lawyering: A Checklist Approach to Legal Writing and Oral Argument / Austen L. Parrish and Dennis T. Yokoyama, Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 2012.
Legal Analysis: 100 Exercises for Mastery: Practice for Every Law Student / Cassandra L. Hill and Katherine T. Vukadin, New Providence, N.J.: Lexis Nexis, 2012.
Legal Reasoning, Writing and Other Lawyering Skills / Robin Wellford Slocum, New Providence, N.J.: Lexis Nexis, 2011.
Applying Law / Bradley J. Charles, Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 2011.
Building Your Best Argument / Cecil C. Kuhne, III, Chicago, Ill.: American Bar Association, 2010.
Legal Analysis: The Fundamental Skill / David S. Romantz and Kathleen Elliott Vinson, Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 2009.
Thinking Like a Lawyer: A New Introduction to Legal Reasoning / Frederick Schauer, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2009.
Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges / Antonin Scalia and Bryan Garner, St. Paul, MN: Thomson/West, 2008.
Mastering Legal Analysis and Communication / David T. Ritchie, Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 2008.
Reason in Law / Lief H. Carter, Thomas F. Burke Publisher New York: Pearson Longman, 2007.
A Student's Guide to Legal Analysis: Thinking Like a Lawyer / Patrick M. McFadden, Gaithersburg [MD]: Aspen Law & Business, 2001.
Logic for Lawyers: A Guide to Clear Legal Thinking / by Ruggero J. Aldisert, South Bend, Ind.: National Institute for Trial Advocacy, 1997.
The Judicial Process
American Courts: Process and Policy / Lawrence Baum, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2013.
The Judge in Democracy / Aharon Barak, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008.
How Judges Think / Richard A. Posner, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 2008.
Judicial Process in America / Robert A. Carp, et al., Washington, D.C.: CQ Press 2007.
Before the Law: An Introduction to the Legal Process / John J. Bonsignore, et al., Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1998.
The Nature of the Judicial Process, by Benjamin N. Cardozo, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1921.
The U.S. Legal System
An Introduction to the American Legal System / John M. Scheb and John M. Scheb, II, Austin: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business; New York: Aspen Publishers, 2010.
Whose Monet? An Introduction to the American Legal System / John A. Humbach, Austin: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business; New York: Aspen Publishers, 2007.
Law 101: Everything you Need to Know About the American Legal System / Jay M. Feinman, New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
American law and the American Legal System in a Nutshell / by Lloyd Bonfield, St. Paul, MN: Thomson/West, 2006.
American Law in the 20th Century / Lawrence M. Friedman, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002.
The Dance of Legislation/ Eric Redman, Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2001.
Women & Law School
Books
Legally Mom: Real Women's Stories of Balancing Motherhood & Law Practice / Anne Murphy Brown, Chicago: American Bar Association, 2012.
The Woman Advocate / Abbe F. Fletman and Evelyn R. Storich, Chicago, Ill.: American Bar Association, 2010.
Reaching the Bar: Stories from Women at all Stages of Their Law Careers / Edited by Robin Sax, New York: Kaplan Publishing, 2009.
Best Friends at the Bar: What Women Need to Know About a Career in the Law / Susan Smith Blakely, New York: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business/Aspen Publishers, 2009.
Staying at Home, Staying in the Law: A Guide to Remaining Active in the Legal Profession While Pursuing Your Dreams / Julie Tower-Pierce, Chicago: American Bar Association, 2008.
Pioneering Women Lawyers: From Kate Stoneman to the Present / Patricia Salkin, Editor, Chicago, Ill.: Commission on Women in the Profession, American Bar Association, 2008.
Ending the Gauntlet: Removing Barriers to Women's Success in the Law / Lauren Stiller Rikleen, Eagan, Minn: Thomson/Legalworks, 2006.
Emotional Trials: The Moral Dilemmas of Women Criminal Defense Attorneys / Cynthia Siemsen, Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2004.
Women-At-Law: Lessons Learned Along the Pathways to Success / Phyllis Horn Epstein, Chicago, Ill.: ABA Law Practice Management Section, 2004.
Empowerment and Leadership: Tried and True Methods for Women Lawyers /American Bar Association, Commission on Women in the Profession, Chicago, Ill.: American Bar Association, 2003.
Databook on Women in Law school and in the Legal Profession / Produced by Law School Admission Council; editors-in-chief Gita Z. Wilder, Newton, PA : Law School Admission Council, 2003.
Taking Stock: Women of all Colors in Law School: Databook / Gita Wilder, Newton, PA: Law School Admission Council, 2003.
Don't Just Hear it Through the Grapevine : Studying Gender Questions at Your Law School / American Bar Association, Commission on Women in the Profession Other Title(s) Studying gender questions at your law school Publisher Chicago, IL : American Bar Association, 1998.
Online Resources
American Bar Association, Commission on Women in the Profession
Racial Identity & Law School
Books
Dear Sisters, Dear Daughters: Strategies for Success from Multicultural Women Attorneys / [C. Elisia, Frazier, Ernestine Forrest, editor] Publisher Chicago : American Bar Association, 2009.
Outsiders Within: Black Women in the Legal Academy After Brown v. Board / Elwood Watson Publisher Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008.
The Language of Law School: Learning to "Think Like a Lawyer" /Elizabeth Mertz, Oxford [England]; New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. (Specifically see the following chapter: Student participation and social difference: race, gender, status, and context in law school classes.)
The Road to Law School and Beyond: Examining Challenges to Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Legal Profession / Gita Z. Wilder, Newton, PA: Law School Admission Council, 2003.
Rebels in Law: Voices in History of Black Women Lawyers / edited by J. Clay Smith Jr., Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000.
Study Skills for Success: Practical Advice for Minority Law Students / Massachusetts Bar Association, Boston, MA: MCLE, 1997.
Online Resources
Diversity and the Legal Profession: The Next Steps, ABA Presidential Initiative Commission on Diversity, 2009-2010, American Bar Association, 2010. View online [PDF].
Visible invisibility: women of color in law firms / prepared for the Commission by Janet E. Gans Epner Publisher [Chicago]: American Bar Association, 2006. View online [PDF].
National Black Students Association
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
National Latina/o Students Association
Popular Legal Non-Fiction
Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America / Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2010.
Lawyers in your Living Room!: Law on Television / Michael Asimow, editor, Chicago : American Bar Association, 2009.
The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court/ Jeffrey Toobin, New York: Doubleday, 2007.
The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town / John Grisham, New York: Doubleday, 2006.
Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three / Mara Leveritt, New York, Atria Books, 2002.
A Civil Action / by Jonathan Harr, New York: Random House, 1995.
Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States / Helen Prejean, New York: Vintage Books, 1994.
Buffalo Creek Disaster / Stern, Gerald M., New York: Random House, 1976.
The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Court / Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1979.
Gideon's Trumpet / Anthony Lewis, London: Bodley Head, 1964.
International Students
Narrowing the Gap: Legal English for the New International Legal Practitioner / Kevin J. Fandl, Chicago, Ill.: American Bar Association, 2012.
Legal Reasoning, Research and Writing for International Graduate Students / Nadia E. Nedzel, New York, NY: Aspen Publishers/Wolter Kluwer Law & Business, 2008.
Succeeding as an International Student in the United States and Canada / Charles Lipson, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008.
100 Things Every International Student Ought to Know: A Self-Orientation Guide with Customs, Practices, Procedures, and Advice to Assist International Students to Adjusting to College in the U.S. / Juliet C. Rothman and Susan R. Kolko, Williamsville, N.Y.: Cambridge Stratford Study Skills Institute, 2004.
The International Student's Survival Guide to Law School in the United States: Everything you Need to Succeed / Rachel Gader-Shafran, New York: iUniverse, 2003.
Suffolk University Law School History
Books
Suffolk University/ David L. Robbins, Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia, 2006.
Suffolk University Law School, 1906-2006: Centennial Timeline: A Proud History of Access to Excellence/ Suffolk University Law School, Boston: Suffolk University Law School, 2006.
Online Resources
This bibliography was compiled by Professor Renée Landers and Diane D'Angelo, Legal Research Librarian. Additional faculty members and Admissions Office staff provided valuable input.
If you have any questions or comments please contact Diane D'Angelo, Legal Research Librarian.