A Beginner's Guide to Legal Education

Professor James R. Elkins
College of Law, West Virginia University

Life in Law School: a calendar of readings

Week One

One Teacher's Perspective

Acquiring a Legal Mind   An Education in Cleverness    Looking Ahead

Law School: What Kind of Story Is It?   Scott Turow's First Year at Harvard Law School

John Grisham's Rudy Baylor Education as Journey & the Two Worlds Problem

The Transformation of Self   Mark Twain Becomes a Riverboat Pilot  

 Socrates and the Socratic Method      Law School Reading Practices

Things We Carry Into Legal Writing   Introspective Writing in Legal Education  

An Introduction to Story   Legal Education Bibliography (in progress)

Web Resources for Law Students

Preparing for Law School	Briefing Cases
The Socratic Method	Study Skills & Learning Strategies
Study Aids, Outlines, & Notes	Legal Research and Writing
Law School Examinations	Legal Reasoning
Thinking Like a Lawyer	Legal Education in Perspective
A Critical Perspective	Lawyer Ethics
Looking Ahead	An Eye on the Professors
A Humanistic Perspective	The Law School Experience

YouTube Videos

The First Day of Law School: Tutorials

A Web Tutorial from Southern Methodist University

Legal Education: Wikipedia