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Mon 11 Jul, 2005 10:27 am
Hatchling
Glass asked an interesting question in
another thread: what are the best books about law school and lawyering? Anyone have some candidates? In particular, what would be a good book for someone who is contemplating going to law school?
When I was in the middle of my first year in law school, I saw a list of "books that every future law student should read" (granted, I should have looked for those kinds of lists before I went to law school, but that bridge has already been crossed). As I recall, the list included the two standards: IL by Scott Turow and The Bramble Bush by Karl Llewellyn. I didn't read either of those before I went to law school and I still haven't read either of them, so I can't offer any comments (I did, however, meet Scott Turow once -- nice guy).
Another book on the list was The Common Law by Oliver Wendell Holmes. I read this book many years after graduation, and I think I would have been thoroughly confused if I had read it before entering law school. Either that or I would have switched to accounting.
On the whole, I don't read books about lawyering (too much like a busman's holiday for me), and the law books that I read are more focused on technical or philosophical issues. In short, I really don't know of any good books for aspiring lawyers. Anyone have any better advice?
When I went to Law School, I was given The Conscience of a Lawyer by Professor David Mellinkoff. It's a book on legal ethics, very interesting. I still have the book, still find it interesting, and I graduated Law School almost 20 years ago.