Customer Reviews

The Insider's Guide to Your First Year of Law School: A Student-to-Student Handbook from a Law School Survivor

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

 

 

While there is some useful information in this book, the editors did a poor job. There is a printing error in one of the chapters- an entire section of the text is missing between the end of one page and the beginning of the next. Also, there are many errors where words are missing or obviously should have been in a different order.

Another issue with the book is that Spizman can be overly repetitive to the point where one must question his writing ability. I think he did a bad job of writing to his audience as well. Law students should be bright enough to know most of what is in his book without being told explicitly. All in all I would say there is some useful information if you're willing to dig through this over-simplified, repetitious book but I'm sure there are better books for future law students.

It's like this book was an undergraduate writing assignment requiring at least 200 pages. Unfortunately, Spizman only had about 30 pages of worthwhile material. So he did what we all did as undergrads; he filled the rest of his book with gratuitous excerpts and common sense strategies. I mean, is it really necessary to tell people how to organize business cards after networking, or what to bring to a test (pens, paper, a sweater if it gets cold)? I found the book to be mostly fluff and somewhat redundant. I especially enjoyed Spizman's 6 pointers to legal writing. Point 1 was "be concise" and point 5 was "short points"; they both say the exact same thing, which is be "straightforward and concise." The funniest thing about his pointers is that point 6 was "avoid redundancy." Anyway, to be fair, there was some very helpful information for 1Ls, particularly his in-class anecdotes and his approach to answering test questions. I think people can definitely benefit from that information.......by reading 30 of his pages, not 200.

I'm not your typical law student. Served in the US Navy for 20 years, retired and went to college (Wake Forest) on the GI Bill and now am headed to UNC School of Law-Chapel Hill this fall at the ripe old age of 41. One of my professors at WFU suggested I read the book.

I am definitely not going to follow everything that Spizman suggests, but many of the tips are very helpful. Overall, I think the book is very useful as a general overview of the first year of law school, and has helped me feel a little bit more prepared and have a better idea of what my schedule will be like. I would recommend it simply because I think the book is very well done. It is also nicely laid out. Law school takes order and this book gave me an outline for the order that I'll need to be successful in this educational endeavor. My undergraduate studies were 4 years of fractured study with the reward of a degree at the end for a major study in a certain area. Law school is a 3 year concentration in a single area with a comprehensive exam at the end (bar exam) to determine your fitness to practice your trade.

The book surely has lots of good information. It's fairly up to do date, good in-site and some great hints on the first year... do's and do nots ... I like that part the most. The most amazing thing to me is that people I know who are starting law school this fall haven't read any books on this subject nor they intend to... and are going blindly into law school on a prayer! I guess it takes all kinds. I mean for $15 bucks and a few hours of any EZ read... how much of a sacrifice is that? Isn't law school a $100K investment and another $150K minimum loss of income during that time? Makes you wonder who's headed off to law school... anyhow!

Spend the $15 smacks. Don't cheat yourself!

If you have half a brain and the slightest bit of common sense, you'll really have zero need for this book. The author makes such points as:

1. Create outlines regarding the course work.
2. Be polite to students and teachers.
3. Network
4. Don't fall behind on studying.

That's pretty much the scope of the book. Waste of money, you ask me.

Thank goodness someone took the time to write a fresh, innovative, and actually useful piece of literature for law students. There simply were few books out there that actually addressed my questions when I was a law school 1L. Thanks Justin! I will definitely give this book as a gift to all of my law school mentees I encounter.

After going through the law school experience myself, I can honestly say that this book covers it all. Justin's insight into both the stressful environment of law school life and the importance of networking and preparing for your career is fantastic. The Insider's Guide to Your First Year of Law School should be on every law student's summer reading list.

Any future law student would be foolish not to read Justin Spizman's "The Insider's Guide to Your First Year of Law School". It literally has everything you need to know from how to get in the good graces of your professors to how to get by when you just don't have time to study. With his "Insider's Guide" tips and clear headings, the format is fun and easy to read. I love how he relates University of Texas' football slogan to surviving your first year of law school. "The Insider's Guide to Your First Year of Law School" is an excellent, comprehensive read.