Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 340.071173
EAN: 9780312318819
ISBN: 0312318812
Label: St. Martin's Griffin
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 352
Publication Date: 2004-01-01
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Studio: St. Martin's Griffin

Law School Confidential is written for students about to embark on this three-year odyssey by students who have successfully survived. It demystifies the life-altering thrill ride that defines an American legal education by providing a comprehensive, blow-by-blow, chronological account of what to expect. It arms students with a thorough overview of the contemporary law school experience. This isn't the advice of graying professors or battle-scarred practitioners decades removed from law school. Miller has assembled a panel of recent graduates to act as "mentors", all of whom are perfectly positioned to shed light on what law school is like today. From taking the LSAT, to securing financial aid, to navigating the notorious first semester, to taking exams, to applying for summer internships, to getting on the law review, to tackling the bar and beyond...this book explains it all.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Completely wrong about almost everything
Comment: This book seems to have 'all the answers.' He gives you a study method, tells you how to apply for jobs, etc. Then, I actually went through my first year of law school (did quite well at a top 10 school and got a top firm job in case you think I'm just bitter). Everything he says is just wrong. The study method: the point isn't to know the cases, their holdings, the point is to know how they interact and what do they say about the cases that don't fit neatly into one category or another. He completely misses that (which is why he emphasizes the writing competition as the best way to get on law review--he didn't do that well.) With regards to the job search, almost everything is either outdated or WRONG! The start of search for 1Ls is 12/1, not 11/1, they give terrible cover letter/interview/call back advice which backfired on me badly. Its not hard to notice that there are no 'experts' in this book who got a top 10 or even 20 firm in NYC. I'm no snob but don't claim to be an expert when you're not. In fact, this book basically amounts to a simple attempt to defray all of their insecurities: a. bad study method=nobody did that well. b. No mention of Columbia or NYU=he went to Yale UG but couldn't get in to either. c. trashing top firms in NYC (despite the incredible opportunities they give you)=nobody got a good job there. d. Pushing clerkships, etc.=because that's what they did, partly because they needed to.
Its not terrible read, but not worth paying for. Go on abovethe law they'll give you better advice.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Best Law School Prep Book Available.....
Comment: I feel this was the most useful law school prep book that I read. And I read quite a few !!! Loads of useful tips and information to make the beginning of this journey easier. Especially liked the colored marker system of highlighting. Saves time and makes organization a snap.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Law School Confidential
Comment: This bood was excellent. I really enjoyed it and I can recommend it without a problem. It was very useful and informative. It was a great resource, it was an excellent comprehensive guide for new law school students.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: One Big Opinion
Comment: Found this to be very opinionated and filled with doomsday advice. You would do better going to your undergrad school's pre-law advisor and asking them to connect you with alumni who are either finishing their 1L or who have graduated from law school.
Read it for a thorough understanding of LSATs and applications to graduating and getting a job but don't let it be your only source of information. And you would do better to just borrow it from your library and save your money for text books. You'll need it.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Guide of What to Do Before Even Thinking About Law School
Comment: Any guide to law school should start with the pointed questions of "why do you want to be a lawyer?" and "what do you think lawyers do?" Getting into law school (especially the "best" ones), making it through academically, getting a summer associate position and then a post graduation job can all be nerve wracking enough, but what then? Right, you are a lawyer and, unless your dad paid for school, your first loan payment is coming in 6 months and will be coming for the next 10 or 15 years minimum. In short, you had better like your job because you will be living it for a while.

I am a lawyer. I have obviously gone to law school, which I enjoyed and did not find stressful in the least. Being a lawyer is very different from law school. You law school students out there, you will learn more in your first 2 months of being a lawyer then you did all through law school. That stress you felt first year--thinking "how can I cram all this stuff into my brain and then spew it out again for a decent grade?" is nothing compared to the stress of answering to a client whose livelihood may depend on whether you got the answer right and who likely only gave you half the relevant facts. Those nights that you spent studying late into the night and thinking that all this hard work will pay off, embrace that life style because it will not get better and you will be required to account for every 6 minutes of your day. Being a lawyer is exactly that--a life style. It is not a job, not for anyone who is successful as a lawyer. It is not all court room drama and big paychecks and traveling to fun places. There may be some of that but it is also long hours reviewing tens of thousands of documents in a windowless room in a strip mall warehouse in Tulsa. And anyone who thinks things get easier when you make partner, think again. It gets harder because you don't just have to do the legal work, but you have to get clients and manage the firm too. The government attorneys may have it a bit easier on average, but I have certainly called one at 10 pm before and they have picked up the phone, so I wouldn't bet on it.

Also those of you who think that getting a law degree is a "gateway" degree to a broad array of job possibilities--wrong. Getting a law degree qualifies you, sometimes, to be a lawyer. There may be a number of people out there who have law degrees, and have a non legal job, but the high likelihood is that they had other qualifications that got them that job.

So all of that is a way of saying...understand what you are getting into because it can be a very expensive and unhappy mistake if you do not. Before you pay a dime to a law school, get a job in a law firm for the summer or a few months. See if it is something that you can enjoy. If you are 23 or 25, do something else for a year or two and see if you are thinking law just because you don't have a different idea. Law school will always be there. I went to law school when I was 31 and the timing was good because it was actually a nice break from work. I am generally happy in my law firm job and have been at the same place for 8 years. If you decide that law is your path, go for it, but try to avoid having the realization that it is not your path and that you are stuck with 250k in loans after your first year as a lawyer, which a very large number of people do.

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