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The Official LSAT PrepTest 51

Law School Admission Council

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Just what I was looking for..... 5 out of 5 stars.
12 of 18 people found this review helpful.

In my studies for the LSAT, I found these great prep-tests - they are real former LSAT tests (without the experimental section). They helped in my preparation for the real thing. Now I'm just waiting to get my score!

LSAT wow! 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

LSATs are hard!!!!! This book was great to practice with. I wrote all over it and really feel that I have a greater understanding of what is expected of me. There is only one full test in this booklet and for me, it is much better than having 10 or more practice tests in one book. I really liked this format and this booklet and I look forward to getting another and another to practice with.

Ladies And Gentlemen Of The Jury: Greatest Closing Arguments In Modern Law

Michael S Lief, Ben Bycel, H. Mitchell Caldwell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Celebrity cases, mostly of the left - certainly not the "greatest." 3 out of 5 stars.
12 of 20 people found this review helpful.

The authors claim that these "greatest closing arguments in modern law" were chosen for the "quality of [their] summation, as well as for [their] historical significance." The immediate question is who is judging the quality of the summation and, more importantly, their historical significance?

The view here is obviously that left-wing causes have the most historical significance, though some cases, such as Nuremburg, are politically neutral. Clarence Darrow's summation in behalf of two young men who brutally murdered another is an argument against the death penalty. Many would consider the resulting verdict an injustice, compounded by early release of one of the murderers. Also, the fact that the case was argued in a Cook County, Illinois courtroom, one of the most corrupt jurisdictions in the nation, casts the power of this closing argument into doubt since the parents of the murderers were wealthy and in Cook County, money has always spoken loudly even when passed in silence from one hand to another.

Gerry Spence is without a doubt one of the most eloquent and effective litigators in the nation. But the science his Silkwood argument rests upon is, to some, suspect as were the alleged facts.

The closing arguments are presented with a wrapping of context, though it is a bit on the light side. With that in mind, the closing defense argument in the John DeLorean case is truly great, cataloging a series of government misdeeds. But the reader searching for political balance may be troubled by equally meritorious closing arguments in the Rosenberg and Alger Hiss cases.

Vincent Bugliosi's closing in the case against Manson and his followers is competent, but isn't great. It is a narrative that virtually any competent prosecutor could have put together. The Manson case involved celebrities, but otherwise wasn't much different than many murder cases of the same nature: groups of people motivated to murder. Johnny Cochran's closing in the O. J. Simpson case was far more powerful, in my opinion, far outclassing Bugliosi in persuasiveness.

The inclusion of Robert Jackson's closing at Nuremberg is puzzling. It was not an American trial. The guilt of the accused was beyond doubt, though law underpinning the tribunal was not. From the commentary, I derived the feeling that the authors were trying to rescue Jackson's reputation from his disastrous cross examination of Hermann Goering.

William Kunstler, in the opinion of many, was a living insult to the practice of law. The authors describe his closing in the Chicago Seven case as a "four-part clinic in how to excel in persuasive argument." Others might see it and Kunstler's behavior in a circus presentation of how to flout the law. All of Kunstler's clients were convicted: so much for the persuasiveness of his argument. The convictions were overturned owing to the trial judge's behavior. Again, this was in Cook County, Illinois where for many years both the state and federal judiciaries were of abysmal quality, products for the most part of the Democratic political machine. (Many of the "murderers" convicted under the current Chicago Mayor, Richard M. Daley, had their convictions overturned because DNA testing became available. At least one Cook County judge accepted bribes to free a murderer. Great place.)

The authors note that it is probably "terribly presumptuous" of them to choose the ten greatest arguments - and they are correct. They admit to choosing only "noteworthy" trials . . . and it is there that they blinded themselves to a far wider range of great closing arguments.

All the arguments are interesting and all the lawyers who made them were clearly eloquent, so more so than others. But to call these ten the greatest in modern law? I think not.

Jerry

Editorial Review:

Presents to the reader a selection of the finest closing arguments in American history. Softcover. DLC: Summation (Law)--U.S.

God, Guns, & Rock 'N' Roll

Ted Nugent

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 76 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

What is WRONG with you people? 1 out of 5 stars.
10 of 34 people found this review helpful.

Anyone who buys into Nugent's "patriot" hype is somehow totally misinformed. He was a well-known draft dodger back in the Vietnam era. All of his flag-waving is nothing but a publicity stunt. As for his big talk about values, he has the morals of an alleycat.

Why is it that the radical right-wing these days has to promote chickenhawks and hypocrites as their spokesmen?

Why do so many otherwise fully functioning, well-meaning Americans buy into their bull?

If you want to promote this clown's masquerade as an uberpatriot, then buy this book. If you're truly concerned about the future of our country, then speak out against these merchants of intolerance. America works best when we work together. These guys who try to turn us against one another are doing a lot more harm than good. They appeal to your base emotions, without providing any solutions. Don't be sucked in.

Editorial Review:

Rock and roll legend Ted Nugent contends that a lot of what is wrong with this country could be remedied by a simple, but controversial concept: gun ownership.

CrunchTime: Evidence

Steven Emanuel

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Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Feeling reassured by having more books? 3 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

At six-hundred pages, your average overworked law student is not too keen on reading another 40 pages a night, especially with a full slate of classes. That being said, this book contains a "Casebook correlation chart," which helps you decide which part of the book to read in the approximate order of your own textbook. It covers: Green Nesson, "Evidence" (3rd Ed. 2000); Wellborn, "Cases & Mat..." (1st ed. 2000); Mueller & Kirkpatrick, "Evidence Under the Rules" (4th Ed. 2000), and Waltz & Park, "Evidence" (9th Ed. 1999).

I would suggest checking this out of your law library instead of buying it and reading the relevant parts of the "Capsule Summary" (79 pages) if you're pressed for time and you want a nuanced overview of Evidence.

The rest of the book is nicely outlined, but way too much information for the average to under-achieving student. However if you want it for clarification on certain rules, or just having it in your bookshelf would make you feel better about Evidence, you can get it so cheap that it can't hurt.

Editorial Review:

The most trusted name in law school outlines, Emanuel Law Outlines support your class preparation, provide reference for your outline creation, and supply a comprehensive breakdown of topic matter for your entire study process. Created by Steven Emanuel, these course outlines have been relied on by generations of law students. Each title includes both capsule and detailed versions of the critical issues and key topics you must know to master the course. Also included are exam questions with model answers, an alpha-list of cases, and a cross reference table of cases for all of the leading casebooks.

How to Start & Build a Law Practice, 5th Edition (Career Series / American Bar Association)

Jay G. Foonberg

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 34 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Invaluable 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I am an attorney specializing in family law and criminal defense. My partner has 35 years of experience, so I wasn't exactly starting or building a law practice, but this book has been invaluable to me. An older attorney let me borrow his first edition copy of the book after I had been practicing for a couple months. What an eye-opener! There were so many suggestions for ways to be more efficient and practical that I quickly applied them and started saving a lot of time and making more money. I bought this edition of the book and use it on a daily basis, from using form letters to deciding whether or not to take certain cases. I would recommend this book for any new attorney, regardless of where he or she works.

Very smart and very practical 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This "how to" book is a practical guide to starting a law practice. Mr. Foonberg's book contains a wealth of practical suggestions organized in short chapters. While one could sit down and read the book front to back, as I did, it also is a an excellent refrence book, that I can see refering to as questions come along.
Probably the most important thing I got out of the book is the feeling that I COULD start my own law practice. This book helped me to feel that starting a practice was a reasonable option.

Editorial Review:

A classic ABA bestseller, you'll find over 100 chapters packed with techniques for getting started.

One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School

Scott Turow

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Total reviews: 137 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Other law students assume you have read this book 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I hear references to this book all the time in the halls of my law school and on fellow student's face book message boards. I do not go to a top tier law school like the author (he went to Harvard). I also have a different background than the author and our political views are not similar.

Nonetheless, this book does relate a lot of the experiences and attitudes a law student can expect to run across during the first year. The overly aggressive professor, the students who have a problem with those who succeed, the students who do not know how to succeed but annoy everyone with their efforts, the students who panic, the students who mooch, and the ever present fear that no person could ever master the amount of information a law student is expected to know by the time of the final...but someone will and they will push down the curve. Every law student has run across these types of people and experiences.

I do not think law school is as hard or stressful as the author seems to think it was. I am not sure he played up that aspect of the school for dramatic effect, he just can't handle stress, or life at Harvard Law School is really just that much more intense than my own. Still, reading this book gives a prospective student a taste of what is to come.

The book is very readable and I finished it quickly; however, it is not a classic I would recomend to everyone. I am not sure a person who has no interest in going to law school will really be that excited about reading "One L," but if you are thinking about going to law school, you should read this book.

Editorial Review:

Memoirs adapted from the author's diary chronicle his emotionally and intellectually challenging first year in law school and records the fierce and sometimes hysterical competition that is faced by Harvard Law School students. Reprint. Tour. NYT. "