by Heather Hamilton, 1L
November 2006

How to Do Your Best on Law School Exams
John Delaney
KF283 .D44 2001
Delaney Series

This book provides instruction on day-to-day exam preparation, outlining, and also offers multiple methods of exam writing, depending on the test question – a unique approach since most books seem to offer a universal exam writing method (IRAC, etc). The author's unusual writing style could make this book hard to follow for some, but it seems to be one of those things that will seem quirky to a few and will make perfect sense to others. The author uses uncommon phrases and displays a colorful vocabulary. For sheer readability, it does not flow as well as it could. However, it contains gold nuggets of information. There are invaluable techniques in this book that are not available elsewhere.

Getting to Maybe : How to Excel on Law School Exams
Richard Michael Fischl and Jeremy Paul
KF283 .F47 1999

This book is great for getting a better understanding of what to expect from law school exams in general. The professors who wrote this book purport to explain “all” law school exams and they back this claim by noting that in the United States , law education is fairly uniform, and therefore, the skills required to perform well on law school exams are fairly uniform. Due to their experience with academic research, the authors recommend breaking down law school exams into small components, and then to thoroughly analyze those components. The result is a comprehensive analysis of the structure of law school exams and the skills required to do well on these exams. This book does not outline a specific system for taking exams, but what it does provide is a good overview of the different types of gray areas that appear in one form or another on almost all law exams. This will help students "spot the issues" and give them a feel for the kind of stuff their own professors want to see in exam answers. There are also plenty of general tips that are helpful. This book will definitely help students focus on the important stuff in class and in the reading.

 

Learning the Law
Steven J. Frank
KF283. F73 1997

This book is a comprehensive guide to having success not just in law school but in a legal career – consequently, the section which focuses on exam-taking is brief. However, one good thing about this book is that it gives examples of exam questions as well as possible answers to the questions – this is useful to the first-time exam taker. While the book offers very little in the way of useful advice on how to ace an exam, it does allow students to practice issue-spotting and organizational skills with its practice fact patterns.

 

Law School 101 : Survival Techniques from Pre-Law to Being an Attorney
Stephanie R. Good
KF283 .G66 2004

This book is more of a comprehensive law school experience book than one which focuses on exam preparation. The sections which do talk about law school exams are very brief and cover topics that many students have already become familiar with, such as IRAC. This book is written to an audience of both current law students and those who are thinking of attending law school, and for this reason, there isn't a lot of new or useful information concerning exam prep or exam-taking.

 

Law School Survival: A Crash Course for Students by Students
Greg and Shannon Gottesman & Friends
KF283 .G68 1998

This book does not focus specifically, or even in-depth, on exam preparation or taking an exam, but it does offer funny, upbeat anecdotes from various law students. The tips cover time-management and organization skills as well as a helpful guide for avoiding post-exam stressing. This book is a good one to seek out for those who may have fears concerning various aspects of the law school experience, but will not be very helpful to those seeking detailed coverage of the law school exam experience.

 

Law School Confidential : A Complete Guide to the Law School Experience
Miller, Robert H. (Robert Harrax)
KF283 .M55 2004

This book covers a wide variety of information and some of it isn't relevant to those who have made it into law school (things like taking the LSAT, etc). However, even in the section addressing the LSAT, students can find useful tips to apply to taking exams. The parts which discuss test taking are some of the best sections of advice in the book; the author talks about practical tips for test-takers that have little to do with outlining and more to do with having the right environment to study, as well as the right mindset. This is a good comprehensive law school guide, with a few sections dedicated to exam prep.

» Exams and Study Aids Home

» More Research Links


Last updated: 4/24/2008