Customer Reviews

Goode's Sum and Substance Audio Set on Evidence, 2d

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The last reviewer must have held too high an expectation for an oral treatment of a legal subject. I am a self-help person and have gotten about (9) of the Sum & Substance audio series to learn law for my own self-improvement. The purpose of the series is to give you the general picture- kind of like the law outlines used in courses. It is not a full treatment. I found this lecture was well done in giving you the "substance" and conveying knowledge. It passed on understanding that is not gotten from books. Some titles in the series are better than others. This one is the better and rates almost up with the tapes by Finz, Miller, and Dressler. I even found Juergensmeyer, Thomas, and Whaley to be OK. I didn't like Cox and Berring though- Cox seemed to be reading a book and Berring never went into depth- i didn't come away with much. I mention in case you are considering buying other titles in this series.

I think this is one of the single best study aids out there. As another reviewer put it - it provides understanding of perhaps the law's most confusing subject - hearsay. You cannot get that kind of explanation from any book I have read, and I have read several. I also really liked the mnemonic devices Professor Goode used. I had no trouble memorizing the many hearsay exceptions, theories of impeachment, character evidence rules and so on. I unequivocally recommend this book. I think it gave me a huge edge on my classmates.

CD's are good except he talks a bit too fast!! Actually, he talks very fast, so you might have to spend plenty of time pressing rewind on your CD player to catch what he is saying.

These tapes are excellent!!! If you really want to understand this subject matter, Professor Goode explains it extremely well. If you want to get an "A" on your lawschool exam, there is no better study aid available. Plus, if you plan on becomming a litigator these tapes will give you the foundational understanding of evidence that will aid you immensely in practice.

If you are familiar with this series, you are probably of the same opinion as I am that the quality of the presentation, the depth of the topic discussed and the ability of the professor to engage can vary widely from topic to topic. This is certainly one of the better in the series. The material is reasonably comprehensive for a general review and provides useful rules and tools for identifying and analyzing tpical exam issues. Professor Goode's presentation is light enough and engaging enough to keep you awake. Surprisingly well done!

I've listened to several of the Sum and Substance CDs and have not hesitated to say when one is awful. This one is not! Although he speaks quickly, he covers the field of evidence law nearly as comprehensively as any casebook. Moreover, he speaks clearly and decisively throughout all of the lectures.

This is a tough course to review on audio and the lecturer didn't make it any easier on me. Evidence must be practiced. Get yourself a book with tons of hypos and you'll save money and do much better on the EXAM.

The content of the tapes was okay. My main complaint is that the speaker simply talks too fast. This substantially increases the listener's workload because he is trying to keep up.
My recommendation: If you want to learn evidence, try Weissenberger's "Federal Rules of Evidence." It will help you much more than these tapes will.

Be careful if you buy this or any other CD set from Amazon, I was missing a CD in this set and I ordered the Constitutional law CD set, which was missing 2 discs. Amazon people are also impossible to get in touch with so you risk spending $65 on a defective product and never getting reimbursed. DON'T DO IT