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One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School
 
 
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One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School [Paperback]

Scott Turow (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (163 customer reviews)

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Book Description

September 1, 1997
Newsweek calls him "an extraordinarily canny and empathetic observer." In bestseller after bestseller, Turow uses his background as a lawyer to create suspense fiction so authentic it reads with the hammering impact of fact. But before he became a worldwide sensation, Scott Turow wrote a book that is entirely true, the account of his own searing indoctrination into the field of law called ... The first year of law school is an intellectual and emotional ordeal so grueling that it ensures only the fittest survive. Now Scott Turow takes you inside the oldest and most prestigious law school in the country when he becomes a "One L," as entering students are known at Harvard Law School. In a book that became a national bestseller, a law school primer, and a classic autobiography, he brings to life the fascinating, shocking reality of that first year. Provocative and riveting, One L reveals the experience directly from the combat zone: the humiliations, triumphs, hazings, betrayals, and challenges that will make him a lawyer-and forever change Turow's mind, test his principles, and expose his heart.

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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Actor Paul Rudd deftly narrates this fascinating story of author Turow's experience as a first-year Harvard Law School student. Moreover, Rudd's voice sounds remarkably like Turow's, who provides an introduction. Personal narratives written by successful, famous persons should have to pass a humility test in which all references to entrance exam scores, grade point averages, and collegial or professional honors are stricken from the text, and editors' jobs should depend on how well they apply that test. The editor of this production would receive a solid A-. Even though we know he goes on to fabulous success as both a lawyer and a writer, Turow's initial ego is beautifully subdued by the end of his year as a "One L."?Mark Pumphrey, Polk Cty. P.L., Columbus, NC
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"The most accurate, complete, and balanced description yet of a century-old rite of passage in America."--Bruce Bortz, Baltimore Sun

"A sensitive, dramatically paced account of the author's fist year at Harvard Law School...I read the book as if it were the most absorbing of thrillers, losing track of the time I spent with it, and resenting the hours I had to be away from it...It should be read by anyone who has ever contemplated going to law school. or anyone who has ever worried about being human."--Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times
--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1st Trade Prn Sep 1997 edition (September 1, 1997)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0446673781
  • ISBN-13: 978-0446673785
  • Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (163 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #131,125 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Scott Turow was born in Chicago in 1949. He graduated with high honors from Amherst College in 1970, receiving a fellowship to Stanford University Creative Writing Center which he attended from 1970 to 1972. From 1972 to 1975 Turow taught creative writing at Stanford. In 1975, he entered Harvard Law School, graduating with honors in 1978. From 1978 to 1986, he was an Assistant United States Attorney in Chicago, serving as lead prosecutor in several high-visibility federal trials investigating corruption in the Illinois judiciary. In 1995, in a major pro bono legal effort he won a reversal in the murder conviction of a man who had spent 11 years in prison, many of them on death row, for a crime another man confessed to.

Today, he is a partner in the Chicago office of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal an international law firm, where his practice centers on white-collar criminal litigation and involves representation of individuals and companies in all phases of criminal matters. Turow lives outside Chicago

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 39 people found the following review helpful
By John P.
Format:Paperback
Even though this memoir was first published almost 25 years ago, it is still the best depiction of what law school is *really* like. When I went to Harvard Law School (starting in 1995, exactly 20 years after Turow), everyone told me "It's not like One-L anymore." That's only half true -- One-L is overly dramatic, but the basic events and emotions he depicts rang true again and again. Of course, as the other reviews show, some law students are able to blow off the intensity, others (like Turow) become consumed by it, and the rest (like me) swing back and forth between panic and enjoyment. All in all, this is an excellent peek at the law school experience. Just don't use this as your only basis for deciding whether to go to law school and/or to Harvard.
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49 of 55 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Turow's book is the generally accepted bible of law school life and it lives up to that reputation in part. His depictions of the pressures of the first year of law school are by-and-large accurate, for law schools throughout the U.S., not merely at Harvard. First and foremost, the amount of work required to succeed at law school is at least double or triple the amount of work that a law student expended in college. I attended one of the five most difficult, academically competitive and intensive universities in the country as an undergraduate, studied twice as much as the average college student and was completely unprepared for the workload required at law school.

There is some competition between students, but the most extreme cases of this usually involve students whose ambitions outstrip their abilities.

Some discussions that Turow left out:

1. Should the student even be in law school? Most law school graduates, upon obtaining some experience after graduation, realize that they made a mistake and should have done something else with their lives. There are reasons for attorneys' dissatisfactions with the law, including excessive pressure, workload and stress from dealing with unreasonable clients, counsel and judges.

2. What should be the goals of the law student or law student-to-be? Turlow relates the pressures of competition for a high class rank and membership on law review, but does not even hint that within five years of graduation, those factors become minor and have nothing to do with job satisfaction post-law school.

However, Turow's failure to discuss these issues is consistent with the naive notions of most first year law students. The majority of 1L's believe that success and happiness in life are guaranteed by obtaining a job with a large, prestigious law firm and most rate each other not just as potential lawyers, but as persons, based on whether or not the law student has suceeded in obtaining that six figure salary with the ten office firm. Most (but certainly not all) lawyers do not like working in large firms or even smaller private firms. It is unfortunate for most law students that they do not understand themselves well enough at the time they enter law school or even by graduation, to figure out what will make them happiest for the long run. Turow's book will not provide that information.

So, what Turow does provide is a reasonable accurate account of life as a laws student, interspersed with fiction. This year- long tale is not purely a work of historical accuracy, as Turow does add some additional elements to keep it interesting. Chief among these fictional interludes is the storyline of the death of Turow's fellow student who could not handle the pressure at school. One of my professors was in Turow's class at Harvard and categorically denied that any student in their first year committed suicide or died.

Overall, a decent, if somewhat sensationalized account of law school from a student's perspective. If you are contemplating attending law school, though, you should first determine from reading books on the actual practice of law and from talking to practicing lawyers, whether the profession is right for you. Pick up One-L only after you have made a conscious and well-reasoned decision to go to law school or are intending to read the book purely for pleasure.

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57 of 65 people found the following review helpful
The real Paper Chase! April 1, 2005
Format:Hardcover
I originally read ONE L, I think, because I was a big fan of The Paper Chase. This version includes an afterward, written after PRESUMED INNOCENT was published.

As a first-year law student, Turow had to study the law of Contracts, Torts, and Property, Criminal Law, and Civil Procedure. A lot of this reminded me of the Paper Chase with professors using the Socratic method in which students are interrogated at length on selected court cases from which they are expected to deduce legal principles.

Rudolph Perini, Turow's Contracts professor, will definitely remind you of Professor Kingsfield. "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, the mornings we have Contracts . . . I'm nearly sick to my stomach. . . . I can't believe it, but I think about that class and I get ill," Turow complains.

Another Paper Chase element is the study group. A small number of students, usually between four and eight, would meet regularly to discuss common concerns. Turow valued his group for its therapeutic function. At first Turow and his cohorts in the study group disdained grades, but that gradually changed as Midterms drew closer. The top five or six people in each 1L section would be elected to The Law Review the next summer. Those elected would glean faculty contacts, the opportunity to teach at a law school, and the possibility of a Supreme Court clerkship.

Some parts of ONE L are rather funny. For instance, students often retaliated against a professor by hissing, "a piece of student weaponry frequently used when a professor dismissed a student's comments unfairly or said something hardhearted". Another instance would be the night before Midterms when Turow took a sleeping pill, and a Valium, but still couldn't get to sleep. He got up and had a drink, then another, had sex twice with his wife and finally fell asleep at three. Also, on test day, Turow brings along earplugs, paper, four pencils, four pens, three rolls of mints, two packs of cigarettes, a cup of iced coffee, a Coke, two chocolate bars, a pencil sharpener, an extension cord for my typewriter.

We also get to meet a rather famous personage. Turow signs up for Constitutional Law taught by Archibald Cox, but quickly drops the course because Cox is a dull lecturer. There is also the beginning of fundamental change. Nearly a quarter of American law students were now women. In Turow's class ten percent were black, three percent Latin, twenty-one percent women. The first female president of the Law Review was also elected.

Turow has several suggestions on how to improve Harvard Law school, especially the first year: Smaller classes, more opportunities for students to write and to make contact with the faculty, different formats for evaluation of student performance, election to the Law Review without reference to grades. He also felt that being frightened was more detrimental than motivating. He would supplement case reading with film, drama, informal narrative, and actual client contact.

Turow ends by suggesting more of a practical application. Students should be taught "brief writing, research, courtroom technique, document drafting, negotiation, client counseling, and the paramount task of gathering the facts." He would also emphasize legal ethics, suggesting that the general public has a dim view of lawyers, rating them only slightly higher than used car salesmen. What are the ethical imperatives for a lawyer who is confronted with a client who wishes to save his business, his liberty, his life, by lying under oath? he asks, implying that this sort of thing happens more often than one might think.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
THE LAW MADE FLESH
Forget all the stuff about: "You must read this book before going to law school" rubbish - because this book was written over 30 years ago. Read more
Published 8 days ago by Rocke Harder
Great Book for Law students
The book was a great read, it illustrated in great detail the expectations and experances that first year law students face. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Matt S.
Timeless
Not much has changed in the study of law in the decades since ONE-L was first published. Though I attended law school almost 30 years after Mr. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Brian Brockmeyer
A classic portrayal of a neurotic 1st year Law student
A must-read for future law students. The competitive nature of law school and the overwhelming workload create a haven for the ugliest side of the best and brightest minds. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Ricardo
nice
Nice book and somewhat relevant to today's issues. I did not purchase this item on Amazon. This is a review of the book not my purchasing experience obviously.
Published 5 months ago by J Kennedy
Still Interesting After Three Decades
I've just completed this book, even though I graduated from law school in 2000. I wish that I had read the book before law school or after the first semester, because it would... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Laura Penn Warren
ONE L
Always wanted to know how law study works and how a top school that teaches the subject goes about the teaching. Book a must to understand law. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Craig Reynolds
Didn't go to law school, but...
I thought this book was well written and extremely interesting. I've never been to law school, so I don't know if this was an accurate representation of the law school experience. Read more
Published 10 months ago by YYYRat
Potential 1 L's Must Read - Do you still want to go?
This is an accurate picture of the highs and lows of a 1 L at the The Harvard Law School and I suspect a number of other top law schools. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Deke Smith
One of my favorite books of all time
After reading this I could carry on a conversation about law with an attorney like I magically became fluent in Japanese. Dynamic read. So well written, fun and relaxing.
Published 16 months ago by Espree Devora
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They called us "One Ls," and there were 550 of us who came on the third of September to begin our careers in the law. Read the first page
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Harvard Law School, Nicky Morris, Legal Methods, Peter Geocaris, Mike Wald, Karen Sondergard, Model Penal Code, New York, Ned Cauley, Sandy Stern, Professor Mann, Jack Katz, Bertram Mann, Dean Langdell, Harvard Square, Ivy League, Jack Weiss, Lawbook Thrift Shop, Phyllis Wiseman, Wade Strunk, Civil War, Con Law, Dean Pound, Harold Hochschild, Willie Hewitt
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