Suggested Reading List for Pre-Law

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The following list of selected books videos are reprinted with permission from the prelaw readings list published in the Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools 2004 Edition.

Some of these publications list sources for financial aid, but applicants will need to call or write the individual organizations for the most up-to-date information. Some of these books can also be found in on-line libraries. This list should not be construed as the official bibliography of Law School Admission Council or ABA or the Office of Pre-professional Programs as it is beyond the scope of those organizations to provide any sort of definitive catalog of prelaw readings.

Some of these books have already withstood the test of time, and are as relevant today as when they were first written and published, generations ago. Example is: Karl Llewellyn's The Bramble Bush-a classic study of how legal education shapes our legal institutions.

It will be up to you to search out the titles that pique your interest and make your own determination of their worth. The aim of our list is merely to give you a head start. We hope that those interested in pursuing legal studies will find the issues raised and the ideas discussed in these works helpful in making the decision to choose law as a career.

Law School and Legal Education

Believe and Achieve: Latinos and Law. [video, 20 mins.] Newtown, PA: Law School Admission Council, 2000.

Bay Monica. Careers in Civil Litigation. Chicago: American Bar Association/Law Student Division, 1990.

Briggs, Amy Thompson. Degrees of Difference: A How-to Guide to Choosing a Law School. Washington, DC: National Association of Law Placement, 1998.

Dworkin, Elizabeth, Jack Himmelstein, and Howard Lesnick. Becoming a Lawyer: A Humanistic Perspective on Legal Education and Professionalism. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing, 1989.

Farnsworth, Edward A. An Introduction to the Legal System of the United States. 3d ed. Dobbs Ferry NY: Oceana Publications, 1996. (available in the Columbia Law Library)

Getting There: 4 Paths to Law School. [video, 20 min.] Newtown, PA: Law School Admission Council, 2001.

Gillers, Stephen, ed. Looking at Law School: A Student Guide From the Society of American Law Teachers. 3d ed. New York: NAL/Dutton, 1990.

Hirshman, Linda. A Woman's Guide to Law School. Bergenfield, NJ: Viking Penguin, 1999.

Indian Lawyers: Translators of Two Worlds. [video, 20 mins.] Newtown, PA: Law School Admission Council, 1999.

Journeys: Minorities and the Law School Experience [video, 22 mins.] Newtown, PA: Law School Admission Council, 2001.

Llewellyn, Karl N. The Bramble Bush: On Our Law and Its Study. rev. ed. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications, 1981.

OutLooks. [video, 27 min.] Newtown, PA: Law School Admission Council, 1998.

Roth, George. Slaying the Law School Dragon: How to Survive-and Thrive-in First-Year Law School. 2d ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1991.

Shapo, Helene and Marshall Shapo. Law School Without Fear: Strategies for Success. (2nd ed.) New York: Foundation Press, 2002.

So You Want to Be a Lawyer: A Practical Guide to Law as a Career. Newtown, PA: Law School Admission Council, 1999.

Stelzer, Richard. How to Write a Winning Personal Statement for Graduate and Professional School.Princeton, NJ: Peterson’s Guides, 1997.

Stewart, Mark. Perfect Personal Statements. New York: Macmillan, 1996.

Stevens, Robert. Law School: Legal Education in America From the 1850s to the 1980s. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1983. (available in the Columbia Law Library)

Stover, Robert V. Making It and Breaking It: The Fate of Public Interest Commitment During Law School. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1989.

Turow, Scott. One L.: An Inside Account of Life in the First Year at Harvard Law School. New York: Penguin Books, 1978.

Legal Profession

American Bar Association Center for Pro Bono. Law School Public Interest Law Support Programs: A Directory. Chicago: ABA, 2000.

Abrams, Lisa L. The Official Guide to Legal Specialties: An Insider's Guide to Every Major Practice Area. Chicago: The BarBri Group in association with the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), 2000.

Caplan, Lincoln. Skadden: Inside the Business of Law in America. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1993.

Epstein, Cynthia Fuchs. Women in Law. 2d ed. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1993.

Fox, Ronald W. Lawful Pursuit: Careers in Public Interest Law. Chicago: American Bar Association, Career Series, 1995.

Glendon, Mary Ann. A Nation Under Lawyers: How the Crisis in the Legal Profession is Transforming American Society. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1994.

Greene, Robert Michael. Making Partner: A Guide for Law Firm Associates. Chicago: American Bar Association, Section of Law Practice Management, 1992.

Henslee, William D. Careers in Entertainment Law. Chicago: American Bar Association/Law Student Division, 1990.

Kelly, Michael J. Lives of Lawyers: Journeys in the Organizations of Practice. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1994.

Luney, Perey R., Jr. Careers in Natural Resources and Environmental Law. Chicago: American Bar Association/Law Student Division, 1987.

Munneke, Gary A. The Legal Career Guide: From Lazv Student to Lawyer. Chicago: American Bar Association Career Series, 1992.(available on-line at NetLibrary.

Munneke, Gary A. and William D. Henslee. NonlegaI Careers for Lawyers. Chicago: American Bar Association, 1994.

O'Neill, Suzanne B. and Catherine Gerhauser Sparkman. From Law School to Law Practice: The New Associate's Guide. Philadelphia: American Law Institute /American Bar Association Committee on Continuing Professional Education, 1989.

Shaffer, Thomas L., with Mary M. Shaffer. American Lawyers and Their Communities: Ethics in the Legal Profession. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1991.

Short Stories From the Real World of Law. [video, 20 min.] Newtown, PA: Law School Admission Council, 1997.

Shropshire, Kenneth. Careers in Sports Law. Chicago: American Bar Association/Law Student Division, 1990.

Smith, J. Clay, Jr. Rebels in Law: Voices in History of Black Women Lawyers. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1998.

Strauss, Debra M. Behind the Bench: The Guide to judicial Clerkships. Chicago: The BarBri Group, 2002.

Wayne, Ellen. Careers in Labor Law. Chicago: American Bar Association /Law Student Division, 1985.

Biography

Auchincloss, Louis. Life, Law and Letters: Essays and Sketches. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1979.

Baker, Leonard. John Marshall: A Life in Law. New York: Macmillan, 1974.

Barth, Alan. Prophets With Honor: Great Dissents and Great Dissenters in the Supreme Court. New York: Vintage Books, 1975.

Cray, Ed. Chief Justice: A Biography of Earl Warren. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997.

Douglas, William O. Go East Young Man: The Early Years. New York: Random House, 1974.

Douglas, William O. Court Years, 1939-1975: The Autobiography of William O. Douglas. New York: Random House, 1980.

Dunne, Gerald T. Hugo Black and the Judicial Revolution. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1977.

Frankfurter, Felix. Felix Frankfurter Reminisces. New York: Reynal & Co., 1960.

Goldman, Roger, with David Gallen. Justice William J. Brennan, Jr.: Freedom First. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc., 1994

Griswold, Erwin N. Ould Fields, Nezo Corne: The Personal Memoirs of a Twentieth Century Lawyer, St. Paul, MN: West Publishing, 1992.

Gunther, Gerald. Learned Hand: The Man and the Judge. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994.

Jeffries, John, Jr. Justice Lewis E Powell. New York: Scribner, 1994.

Lynn, Conrad J. There Is a Foundation: The Autobiography of a Civil Rights Lawyer. Westport, CT: Hill & Company, 1978.

Mason, Alpheus. Harlan Fiske Stone: Pillar of the Law. New York: Viking Press, 1956.

Noonan, John T., Jr. Persons and Masks of the Law: Cardozo, Holmes, Jefferson, and Wythe as Makers of the Masks. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1976.

Strum, Phillippa. Brandeis: Beyond Progressivism. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1993. Thomas, Evan. The Man to See: Edward Bennett Williams, Ultimate Insider; Legendary Trial Lawyer. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991.

White, G. Edward. Earl Warren: A Public Life. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.

White, G. Edward. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes: Law and the Inner Self. New York: Oxford University , 1993.

Williams, Juan. Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary. New York: Time Books, 1998.

Financing Law School

Schlachter, Gail Ann. Financial Aid for Women, 1999-2001. E1 Dorado Hills, CA: Reference Service Press.

Schlachter, Gail Ann and R. David Weber. Financial Aid for African Americans, 1999-2001. El Dorado Hills, CA: Reference Service Press.

Schlachter, Gail Ann and R. David Weber. Financial Aid for Asian Americans, 1999-2001. El Dorado Hills, CA: Reference Service Press.

Schlachter, Gail Ann and R. David Weber. Financial Aid for Hispanic Americans, 1999-2001. El Dorado Hills, CA: Reference Service Press.

Schlachter, Gail Ann and R. David Weber. Financial Aid for Native Americans, 1999-2001. El Dorado Hills, CA: Reference Service Press.

Schlachter, Gail Ann and R. David Weber. Financial Aid for the Disabled and Their Families, 1998-2000. El Dorado Hills, CA: Reference Service Press.

Updated financial aid directories by Schlachter are available at NetLibrary.