Some Resources for your First Year
Your first year is hard. Period.
You’re going to have to read archaic and confusing cases, and try to make some
sense of it all. Most of us hated our first year. Those of us that didn’t—well,
the Model Penal Code would say that as a result of a mental disease or defect
we lacked the substantial capacity to appreciate the situation. Okay, actually,
I would say that, but you get the drift.
Fortunately, there are some resources out there that make
your first year a little easier.
CALI lessons—these lessons are good for
testing your basic understanding of legal concepts: Contracts, Torts, Property,
and Civil Procedure II are substantially covered. Don’t rely on them
exclusively, but use them to make sure you understand areas that you’re having
trouble with.
Law School Help—this is a
decent site that gives you a basic overview of your core topics. Very basic, but a good place to start.
RomLaw—For about the price
of two printed study aids, you get a comprehensive law dictionary, briefs of every case from every major
casebook, flashcards, outlines, and exam writing materials. Buy the full
version. As far as study aids go, it’s
probably the most inexpensive and comprehensive. If you have exam anxiety, the
same company offers various exam lectures on MP3, including one exclusively on
exam writing. It’s not perfect, but it can save you a lot of time and give you
a jumpstart on exams.
There’s plenty of other stuff out there—some of it good,
some of it not-so-good. Just remember that no matter how good your study aids
are, you still have to make sure you understand the material. We can tell you
what worked for us, but you have to find what works for you.