First Years
First-Year Courses
You will take seven courses during your first year. The writing course meets for half of the first term and for half of the second term. The remaining six courses are split evenly, three per term:
Torts
This course is a survey in civil law. Depending on your professor, you might cover the civil law for assault (she scared me on purpose), battery (she hit me on purpose), negligence (she should have known better), and strict-liability (it’s her fault no matter what).
Contracts
This course’s content also varies by professor. But most profs will cover the standard concepts behind agreements that bind people and some of the things done in consideration of those agreements.
Constitutional Law
This course covers the various nuances of the decisions made by the Supreme Court and, to a lesser extent, the various Courts of Appeals. The course will probably touch on the powers of the three branches of the federal government, the ways in which the Supreme Court interprets those powers, and the protections derived from the amendments (Equal Protection and Due Process in particular).
Civil Procedure
This course covers the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the ways in which those rules are interpreted. These rules govern the life cycle of a lawsuit in federal court and other such things. While this material is perhaps the most practical that a prospective litigator can learn while in law school, it is the only first-year course not covered on state bar exams.
Property
This course covers the laws surrounding property. In this course you might focus on theory (e.g. is this mine because I made it or because I found it?), you might discuss more practical considerations (e.g. is this grant of title valid if “O devises to A for life and then to B so long as he does not swear, drink, fornicate, or fail to attend religious services”?), or maybe both.
Criminal Law
This course covers the laws that are the basis for the hit TV series Law and Order. Actually, that may not be true as we have not way to back that claim up. Nevertheless, the course does tend to be as interesting as anything you’re likely to see on TV. The crimes outlined in the Model Penal Code and discussed in class include arson, burglary, rape, criminal assault and battery, and various levels of homicide. If you like this class enough, you’ll want to invent your own criminal statutes, for example, “Criminal Ignorance” and “Criminal Conduct Not Worthy of a Professional Criminal.”
Legal Analysis Research & Writing
This course meets for the first half of both the fall and spring terms. Expect your semesters to be somewhat front-loaded: the fall memo is due right after Fall Break and the two spring assignments are due before Spring Break. You will also have several short research assignments. While this course is worth three credits and the others are worth four and a half, do resist the temptation to blow off either the writing or research assignments. Lawyers need to be excellent writers and researchers, so you can either learn this as a 1L, when your mistakes are free, or you can learn it later as an associate, when your mistakes can cut into your precious free time and cost your firm and clients a lot of money. Note that while everyone takes LAR&W during their first-year, your remaining schedule will vary. In the spring, you will take the remaining first-year courses that you did not take in the fall.
Buying your books
There are several ways to get the books that you’ll need for classes. By the time orientation begins, you will have already learned which section you’ve been assigned to and which professors you will have. Once you know who your professors are, it’s time to buy books.
Some students call the school to get their section number in time to order their books online. We’ve been told that if you’re willing to accept used books without seeing them, ordering online is a great way to save money.
Other students will take the traditional route and take print-outs of their printed schedule to either the on campus bookstore in the Bryan Student Center, or, to avail themselves of one of Durham’s institutions, The Book Exchange (http://www.bookexchangenc.com/). The latter is more popular because the staff in the back–where the law books are located–has a good supply of corporate knowledge about which study guides go better with which casebooks. Trust us when we tell you they are helpful even though it might seem like they’re trying to scare you into buying books.
Commercial "Study Aids"
The research instructor for your LAR&W course will provide several handouts that are designed to help you prepare for your first year. In some places, we have taken a complete excerpt from these sources. We whole recommend that you review these handouts and take time to look at the items that interest you most.
But beware: reckless use of these “study aids” can be perilous.
Some people will avoid study aids altogether and do very well. The authors sometimes make mistakes of law and, as you will learn in Criminal Law, a mistake is no defense. Not only that, your professor may use a different “rule” in her class–if that’s the case, you will soon find out that knowing her rule is the only exam answer that gets credit. In other cases, while the material presented in the study aid may be accurate, it is presented in a format that is not visually accessible to you. Certain formats work better for certain people, so take time to look through the study aid before you drop the cash or plastic for it. See if your upper-class friends will sell you theirs at cut-rate prices–chances are they’ll never need them again, and if they aren’t helpful you won’t have spent as much for them.
We feel obligated to mention at least a few other study aids not discussed below. The first is Planet Law School, by one who goes by the alias of Atticus Falcon and refuses to identify where he went to law school. (But some sources in the know say he’s a Univ. of Texas grad.) One of us paid my $19.95 for this book and used it to get a somewhat skewed idea of what law school is about. The tone of this book is decidedly negative. Our good Atticus likely had a bad experience with law school. However his book is still helpful; he does a pretty good job of breaking down the more mechanical aspects of law school, i.e. studying and study aids. But some of his advice truly comes from another planet: form study groups but deny having them so that your peers won’t feel like studying; don’t speak up so that nobody asks you for help and saps your time; and if you make law review your future is full of milk and honey.
While that might be good advice for students at other schools, that kind of negativism is not a healthy way to spend three years in an entering class of two hundred people. The fact is that this school is small and close-knit. Even if you don’t get to know everyone in your entering class during your first year, you will likely work with or otherwise befriend them before graduation. If you aren’t interested in discussing either your academic strategies or diabolical schemes, it is perfectly polite to just tell that person that you don’t want to talk about school and are trying not to think about it right now. Note: this is especially so if you are out at what is supposed to be a “social” function. But in spite of Atticus’ cynicism, his book remains a useful reference.
The other study aids that we should mention are Chirelstein’s Contracts and Wentworth Miller’s Law Exam Essay Writing System (WWW.LEEWS.COM). Many people, including some of us, swear by Chirelstein’s “sailboat” book–so named because there’s a sketch of an infamous contracts tall-ship, the Peerless, on the cover. In contrast, we found LEEWS’ style and advertising to be a little too much like Planet Law School for our taste. That makes sense because the two are very well acquainted. Of course, some of us very much liked the material. Remember that whether you will benefit from a given study-aid is a personal question–you have to look at each one, assess all of the available information, and then decide for yourself.
The information below is taken from the Library handout mentioned above. It is a partial list of the references they recommend and is quoted verbatim. But you need not read any of these books to do well; you might have enough experience or practice in this type of work to excel on your own. If not you may want to read one or two of the below and focus on the areas you feel you need to improve in. You do not need to read all of them–that would probably be time poorly spent. But without further ado:
Miller, Robert H., Law School Confidential: The Complete Law School Survival Guide: By Students, For Students, Rev. ed. 2004. One of the better books that gives advice on how to handle law school life. Written by a graduate of University of Pennsylvania Law School along with a dozen law students, this book takes an informal approach in discussing how to succeed in law school and how to obtain clerkships and other legal jobs after graduation.
Maximizing the Law School Experience II, 29 Stetson Law Review 1016-1327 (2000). This special issue is a collection of articles by law professors, recent law graduates and practicing lawyers designed as an introduction and orientation to the profession of law. Selections include, Living a Full Life, Forging an Analytical Mind, and Working With Professors ... Outside the Classroom.
Bell, S., comp., Full Disclosure: Do You Really Want to be a Lawyer?, 1992. In addition to describing the law school experience, this book contains descriptions of different types of law practice, both traditional and non-traditional.
Munneke, Gary A., How to Succeed in Law School, 3d ed. 2001. This guide covers a variety of topics from a description of the first year curriculum to how to study in law school and take exams. The book also describes how to avoid the pitfalls of law school. The appendix includes sample tort exam questions and answers.
Burkhart, A., How to Study Law and Take Law Exams in a Nutshell, 1996. The first half of this book covers the law school experience, and includes a section on reading and briefing cases. The second half consists of sample exam questions and answers for first-year subjects.
Delaney, J., How to Do Your Best on Law School Exams, 1982. This book is unique in that the author exhibits a sense of humor in his discussion of a topic not considered funny by most law students. Seven sample law school exam questions are presented along with a good and bad answer. The reasoning given for each good and bad answer is thorough.
Examples and Explanations Series: This series of books by Aspen Law & Business includes over a dozen titles which are great exam preparation aids. The books give a narrative overview of key concepts and rules followed by examples (hypothetical questions) and explanations (answers to the questions). The series covers topics such as contracts, civil procedure, bankruptcy, environmental law, securities and tax and are written by law professors. Most of these books can be checked out. In the online catalog search the title “examples and explanations" to see a list of all books in the series.
Hornbooks: These books were written especially for law students and are reviews of specific areas of law in a summary, narrative form. They are thorough but not exhaustive. The primary producer of Hornbooks, West Publishing Co., has now divided its Hornbooks into two editions: Practitioner's and Student's. The practitioner's edition usually contains additional chapters which discuss practice-oriented issues not normally of interest to students. The library usually has both versions on Reserve. The Legal Text Series of Hornbooks by Matthew Bender are specifically designed for law students and give a summary of the law coordinated with standard casebooks. The titles are all begin with “Understanding” and then add the topic, e.g., “Understanding Civil Procedure.” To find titles in this series search the title "legal text series" in the library catalog.
Nutshell Series: These books contain a comprehensive outline of a specific area of the law and are usually written by a noted authority on the subject. They provide a big picture look at the law and avoid in-depth analysis. They contain fewer footnotes and references than hornbooks but generally give greater coverage of a subject than Gilbert's, Emmanuel's, or Legalines. The most current Nutshells are on Reserve.
There are many more study aids listed on the library handouts. Again, we encourage you to take some time after classes kick off to go back and look at the ones that appeal to you. Even the “top” students, if they are being honest, will admit that they didn’t just “get it.” It takes a bit of time and energy to master the required material and prepare for your examinations. But it can be sort of fun–a unique challenge of sorts–if you know in advance what you should expect.
We will end with this editorial from our student newspaper as a gentle reminder to enjoy your time here at Duke. There is more to an education than books bought and library hours clocked:
“Enjoy it while it lasts”, Staff Editorial, October 27, 2003
The Devils Advocate noticed a distinct drop in participation by law students at this year’s basketball campout, both in terms of the number of attendees and beer consumed per capita. We'd like to give more credit to the many 3Ls who attended, but since we haven't see you around school we're not sure we remember what any of you look like anymore.
We all know that there is always something hanging over your head during your three years of law school, and it is easy to find an excuse to get out of just about anything: You have to outline so can't go home for Thanksgiving, you have to catch up on reading so can't go to bar review, or you have an interview next week so you can't attend campout. There's always one more memo to write, one more study guide to read, one more case to brief, one more law firm to research, or one more meeting to attend. We constantly work for the payoff: the good grades to get the good summer positions to get the good jobs.
The reality is, time will become infinitely more scarce once we leave these hallowed halls and enter the real world. We understand that the purpose of school is to learn and, for most of us, to become accomplished attorneys. But not all learning must take place in the classroom; there is a whole world out there that many of us have never taken advantage of. There's the Broadway Series in Raleigh, the Eno River Forest trails to hike, golf lessons, cooking classes, and deep-fried candy bars at the State Fair. There are museums, restaurants and used bookstores. The Bryan Center has movies every weekend and decent plays every once and a while. The mountains and the coast are not that far away, and a little fresh air might help get [Professor] Christie off your mind.
We know that the thought of adding one more event to your calendars seems, well, Ludacris. But we ask you to take a moment or two, perhaps during your trek to Fuqua [the Business School] or Public Policy for food, to imagine what life will be like after graduation. After a good long vacation following the bar exam, most of us will be lucky to see 10 hours of daylight per week. We will spend our free time tied to our Blackberries, cancel weekend trips to take care of "emergencies" at work, and see our friends far too infrequently since they'll all be working long hours, too.
We only have a few more years to enjoy lazy mornings before 12 O'clock classes and three-day weekends. While you may be reluctant to journey outside the law school for fear of some “Deliverance”-inspired tragedy — “if you're going to get robbed or assaulted, wouldn't you rather be doing something more exciting than studying late?”
