Study Aids
There are a variety of study aids available to you at the UNH Law Library. The resources listed here support the 1L curriculum but, once you understand the publishers and patterns, you'll find what you need. Of course, if you have any questions, please ask the Law Librarians. We're happy to help.
CALI hosts and facilitates the creation of CALI Lessons, a library of over 1,000 interactive legal tutorials written by law professors and geared towards law students on over 35 research topics. You got a CALI password during 1L orientation but, if you need assistance, please contact Sue Zago.
While not 'study aids' per se, the law library has many popular titles on how to succeed in law school. Many of these are shelved in the Academic Success Annex. Here are some of the more popular titles:
Getting to Maybe: How to Excel on Law School Exams (Call # KF283 .F47 1999)
This book begins by describing the difference between educational cultures that praise students for 'right answers,' and the law school culture that rewards nuanced analysis of ambiguous situations in which more than one approach may be correct. Enormous care is devoted to explaining precisely how and why legal analysis frequently produces such perplexing situations.
Law School Confidential: A Complete Guide to the Law School Experience: By Students, for Students (Call # KF283 .M55 2011)
Written by students, for students, Law School Confidential has been the "must-have" guide for anyone thinking about, applying to, or attending law school for more than a decade.
Succeeding in Law School (Call # KF283 .R36 2010)
This book has chapters that are geared toward success both in law school and in the job market including materials on interviewing techniques, creating a writing sample, and writing a resume are designed to help students market themselves to prospective employers.
1L of a Ride: A Well-Traveled Professor's Roadmap to Success in the First Year of Law School (Call # KF287 .M38 2009)
Covered topics include top student fears, the first-year curriculum, effective class participation, types of students and professors, essential study techniques, legal research and writing, exam strategies, stress management, and much more. Combines anecdotes, comments from law students, empirical research, and authentic samples of signature documents from the 1L experience: exam questions, Socratic dialogue, and student case-briefs, class notes, and course outlines.
The study aid collection is located in the Academic Success Annex on the second floor of the library, next to the sofa and chairs, across from the Circulation Desk. You will know if a book is in the study aids collection if it has the location, "Academic Success Annex" in the Library Search box.
The Law Library has many study aids in the Academic Success Annex but, many of them are part of a series. A list of the major series and a description of each is below. (Clicking on the series name brings you to a list of titles and call numbers in the Law Library catalog.)
Black Letter Outlines (West Academic)
Black Letter Outlines are designed to help a law student recognize and understand the basic principles and issues of law covered in a law school course.
Crunchtime outlines are designed for exam studying. Each book contains flowcharts and capsule summaries of major points of law and critical issues, as well as exam tips for identifying common traps and pitfalls, sample exam and essay questions with model answers
Emanuel Law Outlines are well-correlated to all major casebooks to help you to create your own outlines. Sophisticated yet easy to understand, each guide includes both capsule and detailed explanations of critical issues, topics, and black letter law you must know to master the course.
Examples and Explanations (Wolters Kluwer)
The Examples & Explanations ("E&E") series provides an alternative perspective to help you understand your casebook and in-class lectures. Each E&E offers hypothetical questions complemented by detailed explanations that allow you to test your knowledge of the topics in your courses and compare your own analysis.
Gilbert Law Summaries (West Academic)
Each Gilbert includes a concise capsule summary, comprehensive outline of the law, and charts, as well as exam tips, and multiple choice, true/false, and essay questions with explained answers.
Hornbooks are one-volume treatises written primarily for law students on subjects typically covered by law school courses. Unlike casebooks, which are collections of cases (or excerpts of cases) chosen to help illustrate and stimulate discussion about legal issues, hornbooks attempt to summarize and explain the law in a specific area.
Law in a Flash (Wolters Kluwer)
Good for exam study, Law in a Flash Cards are pre-made flash cards. Each card has a question on one side and a concise answer on the reverse side.
Nutshells are compact, soft-covered study guides that explain the most important issues of law, highlighting key cases and statutes.
This study guides include multiple-choice and short-answer questions arranged topically for ease of use during the semester, plus an additional set of 40 questions comprising a comprehensive "practice exam." For each multiple-choice question,there is a detailed answer that indicates which of four options is the best answer and explains thoroughly why that option is better than the other three options. Each short-answer question is designed to be answered in fifteen minutes or less.
Sum & Substance (West Academic)
Audio CDs on various topics of law. Good if you have a long commute to school or, want to review Torts as you work out. These are housed at the law library circulation desk.
The concise, yet comprehensive, analysis contained in each Understanding title provides a foundation for true understanding of the subject and facilitates more than mere rote learning.
