Law school supplies?

[GoBigOrGoHome]

Wondering what law school supplies people who graduated within the last 5 years would recommend purchasing.

I have a very very good discount right now on quality supplies (pens, pads of paper, dividers, etc.), so trying to figure out what to buy and how much of it (the discount is huge so I want to buy it all in one shot). 
 

I don’t have a discount on tech, but will keep an eye out on deals. I already have the following:

- laptop stand 

- monitor arm and extra monitor

- book stand 

-portable charger 

- silent easily packable mouse 

Will be buying: 

- looking into the various e-note/e-reader/tablet options but will probably wait on this 

- a thing that makes a USB-C laptop charger magnetic so if someone runs into my cable my laptop won’t go with it 

- mx keys mini 

 

Anything you recommend? 

Edited May 27, 2022 by GoBigOrGoHome

[Professor Lupin]

Consider the following in addition to the above:

• Desk Lamp: I got one from Amazon for ~$50 and its made studying at night much more pleasant
• A Good Chair: you'll be sitting down a lot. In case you don't have a solid chair already, I'd say its worth spending a bit of money on it to make long study sessions more tolerable
• Not necessarily a traditional school supply, but make sure you use Cloud storage. The last thing you want is to have everything saved locally only to have your laptop crash and all your notes go missing (happens to someone every year)

[goosie]

#1 thing I would recommend (especially if you prefer studying at home over going to the library) is having an ergonomic chair or backrest. I bought a backrest I could strap onto my chair and it helped me not be in horrifying achy pain every night after finishing readings.

I'd also note that the vast majority of students don't handwrite their notes (with the exception of classes where professors require it). I did throughout all three years, but I was definitely one of the few, especially after first term of 1L when a lot of people decided to switch to typing. If you have a good discount it might be worth buying anyway, but generally I'd advise against getting a ton of writing supplies before you figure out how much handwriting you'll actually want to be doing.

[GoBigOrGoHome]

Yeah the ergonomic chair makes a difference. Adding a keyboard tray to a standing desk and monitor arms made it much better. 
 

(BC public sector employees - FYI you can get a discount on Herman Miller and steelcase right now. The BC government’s corporate supply arrangement for office furniture has been extended to employees in the BC public sector and broader public sector due to the pandemic. Last week it was still showing on the BC government intranet as still existing. I ordered things as a broader public sector employee. 
 

As for office supplies - You need to be a BC government employee that works in one of the offices listed on the employee office supply discount site or in broader public sector and your office is in one of the buildings - usually provincially owned. They will not ship to your home. The website is already populated with office addresses they will ship to. 

The discounts are very very huge so if you or one of your household’s members have access, look into it. 

If you need more information, message me. In your message tell me if you have an IDIR (you will know if you do) or an organizational BCeID (one linked to your organization that they set up for you - not a personal BCeID). 

[OntheVerge]

Book weights. Some of the texts are too large/unwieldy for book stands, so having a book weight to hold the pages down is really helpful.

 A good pen. Even if you're not planning on taking notes by hand, it's still worth it to find a pen you enjoy writing with. Everyone has their particular preferences, and sometimes you don't even know a pen can be SO GOOD until you find the right one. And when you find the right one, buy a few. I have a fancy pen I bust out for client meetings (I never realized how much people notice pens), a nice pen but not fancy (rose gold and sparkly), and finally, a plastic one I got for free that looks cheap and hideous but is my favourite to write with 😕 It's too ugly to leave my desk though, so it's my hidden shame. 

Oh, and a million highlighters. Multiple colours if you plan on colour-coding, but I'm a purist and just did yellow. 

[ZineZ]

6 hours ago, OntheVerge said:

Oh, and a million highlighters. Multiple colours if you plan on colour-coding, but I'm a purist and just did yellow. 

100%. This was probably the item that I needed the most during law school.

GBGH - invest in a decent laser printer and stock up on  paper. You'll save costs on printing as drums are significantly cheaper (especially third party drums) and it's a lifesaver during exams. I went through ~1000+ pages of printing per semester between summaries, notes and other things. Though I am very paper-based, so YMMV.

I have something similar to this: https://www.123ink.ca/p-365094-hl-l2390dw-brother-hl-l2390dw-all-in-one-monochrome-laser-printer?from_pla=google&sku=376693&gclid=CjwKCAjw7cGUBhA9EiwArBAvohtolUPu-nnDc98drv3bVqAHMEdpPv7fi9DoRJQ2rs7qvZgtluVveRoCB-YQAvD_BwE#sku376693

[Patient0L]

15 hours ago, GoBigOrGoHome said:

(BC public sector employees - FYI you can get a discount on Herman Miller and steelcase right now

!!!!!! Is employees of the province exclusively? ...or can municipal employees get on in it? 

[GoBigOrGoHome]

2 hours ago, ZineZ said:

100%. This was probably the item that I needed the most during law school.

GBGH - invest in a decent laser printer and stock up on  paper. You'll save costs on printing as drums are significantly cheaper (especially third party drums) and it's a lifesaver during exams. I went through ~1000+ pages of printing per semester between summaries, notes and other things. Though I am very paper-based, so YMMV.

I have something similar to this: https://www.123ink.ca/p-365094-hl-l2390dw-brother-hl-l2390dw-all-in-one-monochrome-laser-printer?from_pla=google&sku=376693&gclid=CjwKCAjw7cGUBhA9EiwArBAvohtolUPu-nnDc98drv3bVqAHMEdpPv7fi9DoRJQ2rs7qvZgtluVveRoCB-YQAvD_BwE#sku376693

Would you recommend having duplex scanning or is one sided enough? Or do you not ever need to scan?

[cherrytree]

Depending on your preferences and circumstances, a good pair of noise cancelling headphones can be essential for productivity. Now that I'm out of law school, I still enjoy putting on my headphones and doing work to my playlists, it really helps me stay focused

[GoBigOrGoHome]

6 hours ago, Patient0L said:

!!!!!! Is employees of the province exclusively? ...or can municipal employees get on in it? 

Yes technically you can but be mindful of your organization's policies about accepting discounts from vendors. In public service this is something you do have to be careful about. 

 

My organization explicitly has a policy that permits us to accept discounts if those discounts are generally offered to other organizations of the same type. 

I will message you privately and give extra information when I open my computer over the coming days. 

[ZineZ]

4 hours ago, GoBigOrGoHome said:

Would you recommend having duplex scanning or is one sided enough? Or do you not ever need to scan?

I rarely had to scan documents. But my printer did have it and I think it was worth the extra money. But if you're thinking with a budget, it's not necessary. You'll likely be living at your library regardless and for those odd circumstances, you can scan there. 

I will say that Brother, as a company, restored my faith in printer manufacturers. Go with them. 

 

 

[bocuma]

Someone already mentioned noise cancelling headphones, I also think a bunch of foam earplugs are worth it. I can sleep when I need to if my neighbours are loud, i use them to study if I really need to focus and don't feel like music, and I'll use them for exams as well.

[GoBigOrGoHome]

1 minute ago, bocuma said:

I also think a bunch of foam earplugs are worth it. 

I think that Mack’s ultra soft foam earplugs are the best ones ever madE. Expensive in Canada. Much cheaper if you can grab them in the USA 

[Garfield]

I second the laser printer suggestion. Very important for printing out your summaries, committing tests to memory for exams (people learn better off paper than screens), etc. 

Edited May 28, 2022 by Garfield

[Patient0L]

20 hours ago, ZineZ said:

100%. This was probably the item that I needed the most during law school.

GBGH - invest in a decent laser printer and stock up on  paper. You'll save costs on printing as drums are significantly cheaper (especially third party drums) and it's a lifesaver during exams. I went through ~1000+ pages of printing per semester between summaries, notes and other things. Though I am very paper-based, so YMMV.

I have something similar to this: https://www.123ink.ca/p-365094-hl-l2390dw-brother-hl-l2390dw-all-in-one-monochrome-laser-printer?from_pla=google&sku=376693&gclid=CjwKCAjw7cGUBhA9EiwArBAvohtolUPu-nnDc98drv3bVqAHMEdpPv7fi9DoRJQ2rs7qvZgtluVveRoCB-YQAvD_BwE#sku376693

You think that one has the right features? I’m about to “add to cart.” The entire machine is less than 1/2 of the cost of a set of ink cartridges for my Epson!

 

EDIT: Never mind. Just bought it.

Edited May 28, 2022 by Patient0L
Relevance

[ZineZ]

On 5/28/2022 at 11:50 AM, Patient0L said:

You think that one has the right features? I’m about to “add to cart.” The entire machine is less than 1/2 of the cost of a set of ink cartridges for my Epson!

 

EDIT: Never mind. Just bought it.

Sorry that I didn't respond. I hope that this one works out for you!! 

Edit: quick note - Canada Computers sells replacement cartridges that are third-party for Brother printers. My printing costs are approximately ~$30 for 2000 pages and the ink doesn't go bad. It's phenomenal. 

[Patient0L]

My printer should be arriving tomorrow and will give a report. 

Q: Book stands. Does anyone have a good recommendation? Hopefully something that looks somewhat attractive in my house?

TIA!

[halamadrid]

I'll repeat what others have said in that a good chair is necessary. You'll be sitting and reading for quite a while everyday and spending some extra money here could save your back.