Textbooks in 1L

[LMP]

What's the good word on textbooks? I know some people scoff at them but how useful are they for 1L. 

I was gungho to buy them until I saw how many students are selling their old ones, completely unopened. 

[TobyFlenderson]

How much you'll need the textbook really depends on the class. There's a lot to be said about learning to read caselaw, though, and reading the textbook is a big part of that for most students. A lot of textbook cases are excerpts, too, so if you find there's one case that's stumping you, or you decide you want to read x case, it might be super long on CanLII but only a few pages in the book. As a 1L, you'd be much more likely to miss the key point of the case that the prof is trying to draw out if you have a lot of extraneous information obscuring it.

Generally, though, you'll learn what classes you can get by with/without the readings. Some profs essentially regurgitate the text, others provide high-level discussions that require you to read the text and fill in the blanks. When you know who your profs are, and you experience their lecture style, you'll discover quickly which classes need more/less reading.

[Chief Keef]

100% depends on the class/prof. I would say it was 50/50 whether I needed it so I ended up buying all of mine. Try to talk to some upper years that aren’t selling the books if you can to find out. 

[Obi-wan]

I echo what was said above, mostly. I found that for almost all of my substantive 1L classes I needed the assigned casebooks (with the exception of a legal research/writing course). For some professors I found it especially important to at least skim the assigned readings/cases because some of the assigned material was not explained in lecture, but was ultimately examinable. Also - just for my own learning I found it helpful to refer to casebooks for their commentary + explanations.

It really comes down to the prof and your learning style. Personally, I would advise getting your hands on copies of all required materials in 1L. 

[Toad]

It's much safer to purchase the textbooks in 1L and to adjust your strategy as to how you use them throughout the year.

For the first half of 1L I read through and took notes on almost all of the readings. Since I was so inefficient at reading and summarizing cases at the time I found that I was spending an inordinate amount of time summarizing cases.

For the second half of 1L and for 2L/3L my strategy was to take notes using a CAN and then to read through the case in the text and add any additional information that I think the CAN missed or that I found important. I found this method to be at least twice as fast and equally as effective as if I read through and summarized every case by myself.

If you can find a good CAN sometimes you can skip the readings altogether, but as a 1L it can be hard to determine the quality of the CAN. Some students write their CANs in such a way that what is in the CAN is basically just a signpost to remind them what they learned in the case. If you haven't personally read the case, then these types of CANs are not great for teaching yourself the class.

 

Edited June 7, 2021 by Toad

[QueensDenning]

Dear god please buy your 1L textbooks are you kidding me ?!?! Except if you're supposed to buy a textbook for legal research and writing... that was not needed.

[Ben]

Buy your textbooks and don't skip the readings

[Dussy]

Buy your textbooks, do all your readings (except for the ones in your legal research course). Get way ahead on your readings over reading week, and start preparing for exams 3-4 weeks out. 

[Ryn]

On 6/7/2021 at 4:16 PM, LMP said:

I was gungho to buy them until I saw how many students are selling their old ones, completely unopened. 

A story about how my textbook saved me, if you'll indulge me:

So, if a prof is good, and you take good notes, you may not need a textbook. Everyone learns differently. I found textbooks helpful, always, and basically always used them. That said, I get that not everyone needs a textbook if they have the resources to learn all of the needed information some other way.

BUT

Your notes and your textbook are the only things you'll be able to take into your exams. It's usually crazy to start flipping through your textbook in an exam. If it's not in your notes, you're wasting valuable time trying to find it in a book.

So, cue my property exam. I printed out my notes, which were basically at the level of a summary or CAN as some schools called them, the night before the exam. Hole punched, in a binder, ready to go.

Got in early, exam started. First question in and I'm flipping through my notes trying to find the section on joint tenants vs. tenants in common and I'm not finding it. Dozens of pages, flip, flip flip. Suddenly it dawns on me that the headers are repeating every few pages.

WTF.

My entire printed summary and class notes were the first few pages repeated dozens of times. How had this not printed properly??

Well, too late to think about it now. Out comes the textbook. I spent the next three hours between the index and skimming chapters, anxiety at a sustained high. At least I remember reading most of it.

I ended up getting a B. Quite frankly, I was pretty happy about that because it could have been disastrous. I probably could have gotten a better grade if I had my notes and wasn't pressed for time as a result. But it turned out alright in the end.

So the moral of the story: Always buy your books. They can save you. Their cost is negligible compared to the entirety of your law school fees. Just do it. You'll make back part of the money when you sell them. But they may pay dividends in the meantime.