Reveals the hidden secrets of law school superstardom and shows why conventional law school wisdom is a trap for unsuspecting students. In 24 detailed chapters this book sets out everything a student needs to do to get to the head of the class.

I WISH I KNEW THEN WHAT I KNOW NOW! Don't get to the end of your law school career muttering these words to yourself! Take the first step toward building a productive, successful, and perhaps even pleasant law school experience—read this book! Written by students, for students, Law School Confidential has been the "must-have" guide for anyone thinking about, applying to, or attending law school for more than a decade. And now, in this newly revised third edition, it's more valuable than ever. This isn't the advice of graying professors or battle-scarred practitioners long removed from law school. Robert H. Miller has assembled a blue-ribbon panel of recent graduates from across the country to offer realistic and informative firsthand advice about what law school is really like. This updated edition contains the very latest information and strategies for thriving and surviving in law school—from navigating the admissions process and securing financial aid, choosing classes, studying and exam strategies, and securing a seat on the law review to getting a judicial clerkship and a job, passing the bar exam, and much, much more. Newly added material also reveals a sea change that is just starting to occur in legal education, turning it away from the theory-based platform of the previous several decades to a pragmatic platform being demanded by the rigors of today's practices. Law School Confidential is a complete guide to the law school experience that no prospective or current law student can afford to be without.

Professors Fischl and Paul explain law school exams in ways no one has before, all with an eye toward improving the reader’s performance. The book begins by describing the difference between educational cultures that praise students for “right answers,” and the law school culture that rewards nuanced analysis of ambiguous situations in which more than one approach may be correct. Enormous care is devoted to explaining precisely how and why legal analysis frequently produces such perplexing situations. But the authors don’t stop with mere description. Instead, Getting to Maybe teaches how to excel on law school exams by showing the reader how legal analysis can be brought to bear on examination problems. The book contains hints on studying and preparation that go well beyond conventional advice. The authors also illustrate how to argue both sides of a legal issue without appearing wishy-washy or indecisive. Above all, the book explains why exam questions may generate feelings of uncertainty or doubt about correct legal outcomes and how the student can turn these feelings to his or her advantage. In sum, although the authors believe that no exam guide can substitute for a firm grasp of substantive material, readers who devote the necessary time to learning the law will find this book an invaluable guide to translating learning into better exam performance. “This book should revolutionize the ordeal of studying for law school exams… Its clear, insightful, fun to read, and right on the money.” — Duncan Kennedy, Carter Professor of General Jurisprudence, Harvard Law School “Finally a study aid that takes legal theory seriously… Students who master these lessons will surely write better exams. More importantly, they will also learn to be better lawyers.” — Steven L. Winter, Brooklyn Law School “If you can't spot a 'fork in the law' or a 'fork in the facts' in an exam hypothetical, get this book. If you don’t know how to play 'Czar of the Universe' on law school exams (or why), get this book. And if you do want to learn how to think like a lawyer—a good one—get this book. It's, quite simply, stone cold brilliant.” — Pierre Schlag, University of Colorado School of Law (Law Preview Book Review on The Princeton Review website) Attend a Getting to Maybe seminar! Click here for more information.

This book contains 30 detailed chapters, plus addenda and additional material that set out everything a law student must do to excel in law school ...an absolute requirement for getting a good law job. It is completely updated, with an analysis of hundreds of legal resources and the realities of law school and the legal profession. Its 800 pages are an exhaustive and unique compendium of materials, advice, and precaution for the law student or soon-to-be law student.

To get straight to the point, Law School: Getting In, Getting Good, Getting the Gold ("GGG") is, without a doubt, one of the most important law school and legal career books currently available. There are, of course, other guides that have made a huge impact in the market for such materials; "Planet Law School" (which is now PLS II) and "Law School Confidential" are two that immediately spring to mind, and which the prospective law student has most likely heard of. But whereas PLS and LSC are rather practical in nature, which is not in itself a bad thing because being led through the practicalities of applying to law school, preparing, studying, finding jobs and so forth are obviously important, GGG offers all this and so much more. Not more of the same, however, although GGG does cover standard material such as rankings and taking exams, and thankfully chooses to omit the tedious and common-sense generic topics such as how to apply for financial aid and how to pick upper level courses during 2L/3L, while emphasizing the important subjects such as the LSAT. There is little room in the market for a mere copycat comprehensive law school guide, and GGG recognizes this. What sets GGG apart from - and above - PLS and LSC is that the author, Thane Messinger, has taken considerable care to help the reader think about the traditional basic (but solid) law school advice, rather than just absorb it, and explains to the reader why the advice is given and why it is important. Furthermore, GGG even encourages a healthy skepticism in its readers, challenging them to explore their own reasons for attending law school, whether they would truly enjoy a legal career, and where they want to end up when all is said and done. In other words, GGG treats its readers like intelligent grown-ups who are looking for more than platitudes and third-hand advice, instead of mere young adults who are too inexperienced to know what they want. This alone is refreshing in a sea of "do this and you''ll succeed" books, none of which actually work in real life. GGG is a lengthy book, coming in at close to four hundred pages. Even for a comprehensive guide, this is a generously-proportioned piece of work. While it can be read in its entirety, as I have spent the past week doing, the author encourages the reader to use the book in a more efficient manner, focusing in on those sections which are most important to the reader at any particular time. Some comprehensive guide books tend to build upon earlier sections in a linear progression, making it all but impossible to dip in and out at will. Readers of GGG will be pleasantly surprised at the structure of the book - discrete sections for each facet of the legal education process, each readable as a stand-alone module or as part of the whole. Modern readers weaned on a diet of hypertext and easy-access to information will appreciate the care that has been taken to make it simple for the book to be used as a brief reference from which information can be quickly gleaned, or for a more in-depth exploration of the topic in question. An example of the author''s attention to efficiency is the summary of each of the three main sections of the book. These elegant summaries barely cover two pages each, but - and I''m not exaggerating here - the summaries are worth their weight in gold, hitting the high points of each section, spelling out what the reader really must know. A law school applicant should, after buying the book, photocopy the summary to the "Getting In" section and tape it to the front of his or her LSAT prep book so it is seen every single day. The same goes for law students, who should tape a copy of the "Getting Good" summary to the wall by their assigned library seat in law school so the advice can be followed each and every time a case book or outline is opened. GGG also stands out from PLS and LSC by virtue of the fact that GGG is a good five years more recent than the others. While much of the advice in PLS and LSC is still relevant, GGG was published recently enough to bear some of the scars of the economic collapse that demolished the legal industry, and from which the legal industry is still slowly recovering from. Not much has changed in legal education over the past decade, but when it comes to legal hiring and how to find work - the goal of every law student - reading up-to-date information is vitally important. Techniques that may have worked in 2000 certainly aren''t as effective today. Think of GGG as a 2.0 version of the standard law school guide. Notwithstanding the foregoing, there''s one particularly compelling reason to buy this book that isn''t mentioned within its pages: The author. Let me explain. Thane Messinger has been heavily involved in the legal education world for many, many, many years. He knows what he''s talking about. He has written books on the subject, edited books on the subject, and seen more great, good, mediocre, bad, and dangerous advice than just about anyone else on this planet. He stands behind his name and stands behind his wisdom. As he states in the introduction to GGG, "it''s difficult to know whether the advice is actually good or not - until it''s taken (or rejected) - by which time it''s usually too late to do anything differently." Thane is your insurance policy against bad advice from an inexperienced author. Law school is an extraordinarily expensive and time-consuming endeavor to screw up. There is so much information available on legal education, both in print and online, and very often, the reputation of the author is ignored in favor of the latest secret tips, techniques and gimmicks for success. There is a difference between taking advice from a recent grad and from a seasoned expert. There''s also a difference between taking advice from an interested party (such as a law school admissions adviser or pre-law counselor) and taking advice from an independent, non-establishment, experienced and impartial expert. GGG is a distillation of Messinger''s expert and independent knowledge, his understanding of what works and what doesn''t work, and his expertise derived from about two decades of carefully watching countless law students succeed and countless law students fail. In short, he knows what he''s talking about, and his advice can be trusted (as can the advice in other books he publishes and edits). And in a modern world where it''s becoming so difficult to figure out who is on your side and who is out to take advantage of you, it''s increasingly rare to find authors such as Messinger who can be relied upon to look after your best interests. If you''re thinking about attending law school, you''re about to make a $100,000 purchase that will affect the rest of your career. Spend the money on this book and give yourself the most up-to-date, independent, insightful and reliable advice available. To do otherwise is madness.

One L, Scott Turow's journal of his first year at law school and a best-seller when it was first published in 1977, has gone on to become a virtual bible for prospective law students. Not only does it introduce with remarkable clarity the ideas and issues that are the stuff of legal education; it brings alive the anxiety and competiveness--with others and, even more, with oneself--that set the tone in this crucible of character building. Each September, a new crop of students enter Harvard Law School to begin an intense, often grueling, sometimes harrowing year of introduction to the law. Turow's group of One Ls are fresh, bright, ambitious, and more than a little daunting. Even more impressive are the faculty. Will the One Ls survive? Will they excel? Will they make the Law Review, the outward and visible sign of success in this ultra-conservative microcosm? With remarkable insight into both his fellows and himself, Turow leads us through the ups and downs, the small triumphs and tragedies of the year, in an absorbing and thought-provoking narrative that teaches the reader not only about law school and the law but about the human beings who make them what they are. In the new afterword for this edition of One L, the author looks back on law school from the perspective of ten years' work as a lawyer and offers some suggestions for reforming legal education.