 We know that the huge variety of law student study guide materials in the market today can leave your head spinning if there's no one around to explain which items are best for which situations. Well, that's what we're here for at BarristerBooks.com! Below please find what we like to call Study Guides 101- an introduction to just a few of the shapes and sizes of law student study guides that we offer!   Emanuel Law Outlines, Gilbert's Law Summaries and Casenotes Outlines are all examples of the "classic" style of law school outlines- thick, detailed, comprehensive texts that take a specific legal topic and cover it from top to bottom in an strict outline format. Pros:The outline format keeps information organized and assist a great deal in helping a student create their own class outlines, usually the grand culmination of a semester's worth of class notes. Cons: Can't see the forest for the trees? Outline formats are often clunky, staccato piles of information that are hard to read through smoothly, and thus aren't the easiest way to get the "big picture" overviews you sometimes need to grasp a legal topic. These study guides are recommended for: 1) Helping you create and fill out your own personal class outline, 2) Providing a great reference for troublesome legal issues you encounter day-to-day in the classroom and 3) Allowing you to nail down difficult legal concepts as you review for your exam. Examples of popular Law School Outlines are:  Casenotes Outlines: Torts Gilbert's Law Summaries: Property Emanuel Law Outlines: Constitutional Law   Gilbert Legalines, Casenotes' Legal Briefs and West's High Court Summaries are all essentially the same type of study guide, in that each title is keyed to an individual casebook author/authors. These types of study guides are great if you want in-depth treatment of a legal topic on a case-by-case basis, specifically dealing with the cases that appear in your particular casebook. These are study guides that you are more apt to use on a day-to-day basis as you work through your casebook in class. Pros:The stringent format focuses only on the cases in your textbook so you don't waste time studying cases you won't deal with in class. These books help you prepare quickly on a few cases that you know are likely to be dealt with in class that day, so you don't get caught unprepared when your professor calls your name. Like Law School Outlines (above) these also keep information organized and assist a great deal in helping a student create your own class outlines, usually the grand culmination of a semester's worth of class notes. Cons: Like Law School Outlines (above), these casebook-keyed formats are often clunky, staccato piles of information that are hard to read through smoothly, and thus aren't the easiest way to get the "big picture" overviews you sometimes need to grasp a legal topic. These study guides are recommended for: 1) Helping you create and fill out your own personal class outline, 2) Providing quick preparation help on cases you know will be covered in class, 3) Providing a great reference for troublesome legal issues you encounter day-to-day in the classroom and 4) Allowing you to nail down difficult legal concepts as you review for your exam. Examples of Casebook Keyed Study Guides are: Gilbert Legalines: Criminal Law (keyd to LaFave casebook) Casenotes Legal Briefs: Wills, Trusts & Estates (keyed to Dukeminier casebook) High Court Summaries: Constitutional Law (keyed to Chemerinsky casebook)  The "questions & answer" format study aids are extremely popular among students who feel that reading the "correct" answer to a legal exam issue is helpful for exam preparation, as these books are more closely representative of the types of questions professors will test on. Both the Siegel's Multiple Choice Q&A Series and the Bender Questions & Answers Series are excellent examples of these types of study aids. Pros: Excellent for getting you ithe "Exam Zone" state of mind and exercising your mental muscles in actaully having you think about issues and answers. Good for last-minute crunchtime exam preparation. Cons: Not much help in helping build your outline or being ready every day for class discussions. These books are recommended for: 1) Getting you in top mental shape for the big exam; Examples of Question & Answer Study Guides are: Siegel's Multiple Choice Q&A: Constitutional Law Questions & Answers Series: Wills, Trusts, Estates Easy readability and a knack for focusing on the truly important and tricky aspects of different legal topics define Aspen's Examples & Explanations series. A favorite of many law school students, the editions in this series are popular for the way they consistently break down complex and muddy concepts (like the Erie Doctrine) and present them to the reader in writing that is about as plain-English as you can get. And, like their name implies, these books are have some extremely helpful examples, along with even more helpful explanations of the correct answers. Professor Joseph Glannon's Civil Procedure: Examples & Explanations, perhaps the most popular edition of the series, is legendary for saving a multitude of students from smashing against the craggy rocks of first-year Civ Pro. Examples & Explanations aren't comprehensive enough to carry you through a course on their own, but they do a great job of smoothing out the conceptual bumps in road you inevitably come across. Pros: Easy-to-read plain-English narrative structure won't make your eyes water from confusion like some strict outline formats will. You are bound to have at least one epiphany moment with these books when the lightbulb suddenly goes off and enlightens a previously obfuscated legal area for you. Cons: These books will get you through some sticky doctrinal areas but won't pass your exam for you on their own. The narrative format can slow you down in getting information quickly and precisely. These study guides are recommended for: 1) Getting a bit more of the "big picture" of a legal topic; 2) Helping you navigate the notorious pitfalls of different legal topics (did someone say Erie?); 3) Providing a great reference for troublesome legal issues you encounter day-to-day in the classroom and 4) Allowing you to nail down difficult legal concepts as you review for your exam. Examples of the Examples & Explanations series include: Civil Procedure: Examples & Explanations Property: Examples & Explanations Intellectual Property: Examples & Explanations If you're looking for the maximum amount of information crammed into the smallest amount of space, then you're looking for BarCharts. Laminated 2- or 4-sided sheets, these items serve their purpose as quick-reference study guides for those times when fast access to information is vital. While sometimes overwhelming in what they strive to convey, BarChartshave often proven to provide a last-ditch lifeline to students in exams who can't spill forth that mnemonic formula they've been repeating to themselves all week prior to the exam. Pros: Instant gratification when you are under pressure and need it most. Cons: Can be a lot of information in a small amount of space. Not going to be much help in truly "understanding" a topic, just a quick hand in getting over a hurdle. These study guides are recommended for: 1) Saving your keister when the Rules of Evidence instantly scramble in your brain six minutes into an exam. Examples of BarCharts include: BarCharts: Contracts BarCharts: Sales  Need a broader scope than an Example & Explantions can provide but don't need a hardback Hornbook to lug around in your backpack? E-Z Review study guides are good, concise treatments of legal topics, perfect for reviewing a legal topic a few weeks before an exam. They provide a narrative stream that is informational and will give you plenty of background on a legal topic. Pros: Convenient books that will firm up your understanding of a legal topic area. Read these during your Thanksgiving holiday or spring break to underpin what you think you already know. Cons: Can't rely on these to get you through an exam by themselves, but good supplemental tools. Don't have the depth of a hornbook. These study guides are recommended for: 1) Getting a bit more of the "big picture" of a legal topic; 2) Providing a great reference for troublesome legal issues you encounter day-to-day in the classroom and 4) Allowing you to nail down difficult legal concepts as you review for your exam. Examples of the E-Z Review series include: E-Z Review: Civil Procedure E-Z Review: Evidence E-Z Review: Labor Law  While different types of study guides appeal to different types of students, this is even more true for Flashcards, Software and Audio study guides. Some students swear by the memory-strengthening attributes of Flashcards, which are especially popular for those classes, like Evidence and Professional Responsibility, where success is often dependent on memorization of rules. Students also tout the convenience of Flashcards-i.e. it's easy to stick a few in your pocket on your way out the door and study on the walk to school. Examples of Flashcards include: Law In A Flash Flashcards: Evidence Law In A Flash Flashcards: Professional ResponsibilityAudio Study Guide products, like Gilbert's Law School Legends Series (tapes) and the West Sum & Substance Series (CDs), are the products of choice for those students who've found that audio-reinforcement of certain legal topics helps them gain a firmer grasp on concepts that fail to leap off the textbook page. The effectiveness of these products is often dependent on the speaker and the Legends series gets high marks for showcasing speakers who are both tops in their legal areas andare gifted and entertaining lecturers as well. Examples of Audio Study Aids include: Sum & Substance Audio CDs: Constitutional Law Law School Legends Audio Series: Contracts  Hornbooks are formidable legal treatises authored by respected legal scholars that delve about as deep as you could hope to go into any specific legal topic. They are incredible resources, often blessedly written in a non-legalese style that makes for easy reading and comprehension. However, these 500+ page tomes are a step above your everyday law student study guides and are more appropriately classified as "legal reference" books. They won't be much use to you in cramming you through your exam in two days but, if you want a book that's going to be a cornerstone of your own personal legal library and will serve you well into your professional legal career, Hornbooks are what you are looking for. Pros: A lawyer's most powerful tools are books and these are great books to start building your legal libary. They are relatively inexpensive, crammed with fundamental legal knowledge and you will find yourself referring to them again and again both as a law student and as a practicing attorney. You want the big picture? Here you go. Cons: Not going to help you ace that Contracts final in the last 48 hours before the exam. More information than you usually require for law school (although that is not always a bad thing...). These books are recommended for: 1) Getting the "big picture" of a legal topic; and 2) Providing great long-term legal reference tools that you will use again and again. Examples of Legal Hornbooks include: Prosser and Keeton's Hornbook on Torts Stoebuck and Whitman's Hornbook on Property LaFave's Hornbook on Criminal Law  West's Law In A Nutshell series offers over general legal overviews on more than 100 legal topics. These Nutshells don't focus on cases to the extent that Legalines and Legal Briefs do, but they find their strengths on the narrow specialties they cover (for example, there are Nutshells for Indian Law, AIDS Law, and Agriculture Law) as well as in the easy readability that is often lacking from the strict outline formats. The Nutshells are quite helpful when a student is preparing for an exam and is searching for a "big picture" understanding of a legal topic. And here's a secret to success: many students find that reading Nutshells for the classes they are planning to take prior the start of the class provides them with a learning foundation that proves invaluable as the class progresses. Pros: Great for getting the lay of the land in almost any legal topic, these Nutshells provide broad, yet concise treatments. You can read through one fairly quickly to get a basic grasp of a topic required to build upon later with more in-depth materials, if you choose. Cons: These nutshells don't have the depth of information contained in a Hornbook, and they won't be as helpful as outline study aids in putting together your own outline. These books are recommended for: 1) Getting the quick "big picture" of a legal topic; 2) Learning about niche areas of law not usually covered by other titles 3) Providing great long-term legal reference tools that you will use again and again. Examples of Law In A Nutshell titles include: Law In A Nutshell: Products Liability Law In A Nutshell: Art Law Law In A Nutshell: Uniform Commercial Law  The Matthew Bender Understanding Seriesprovides wonderful tools for really getting into the nuts and bolts of a legal topic without getting too bogged down in the details that may accompany a hornbook. If you need to build a solid foundation of knowledge in a readable, narrative format, the Understanding Series is for you. They are the next best thing to taking a law school class. Pros: Great for giving you substantive knowledge on almost any legal topic, the Understanding Series titles provide broad, solid treatments of many legal areas, going into more detail than the Nutshell series. The narrative prose style makes them easy to read and comprehend. Cons: Not as detailed as a hornbook, and too lengthy to provide last-minute exam help. These books are recommended for: 1) Getting a solid "big picture" of a legal topic; 2) Providing great long-term legal reference tools that you will use again and again. Examples of Understanding Series titles include: Understanding: Insurance Law Understanding: Negotiable Instruments Understanding: Modern Real Estate Transactions |
