Suggested Reading for Future Law Students
The following list includes resources and books that provide insights into the law, the legal profession, notable legal cases, and the law school experience. This is not a required reading list, nor do we suggest that you read everything on this list. Instead, we advise creating a list based on your interests. Consider a book that exposes you to an interesting legal case, consider advice on how to succeed in law school, read the biography of a legal practitioner, or take a look at some of the recent publications of your MSU Law faculty. If you’re considering or have decided to attend law school, these books will provide you with practical advice, motivation, and a variety of perspectives on your future profession.
Suggested Reading for Future Law Students (PDF)
Accounts of Legal Cases
- Curriden, Mark & Leroy Phillips, Jr., – Contempt of Court : The Turn Of The Century Lynching That Launched 100 Years of Federalism (1999 Faber & Faber)
- Earley, Pete – Circumstantial Evidence: Death, Life, and Justice in a Southern Town (1996 Bantam)
- Fehrenbacher, Don Edward – Slavery, Law and Politics: The Dred Scott Case in Historical Perspective (1981, Oxford Univ. Press)
- Garrow, David J. – Liberty and Sexuality: The Right to Privacy and the Making of Roe v. Wade (1988, upd. ed., Univ. of California Press)
- Harr, Jonathan – A Civil Action (1996, repr. ed., Vintage)
- Irons, Peter H. – The Courage of Their Convictions: Sixteen Americans Who Fought Their Way to the Supreme Court (1990 repr. ed., Penguin)
- Jones, Howard. – Mutiny on the Amistad (1997, reissue ed., Oxford Univ. Press)
- Kluger, Richard – Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America’s Struggle for Equality (1977, Random House)
- Knight, Alfred H. – The Life of the Law: The People and Cases that have Shaped Our Society, from King Alfred to Rodney King (1998, repr. ed., Oxford Univ. Press)
- Larson, Edward J., – Summer for the Gods : The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate over Science and Religion (1998, repr. ed., Harvard Univ. Press)
- Smalla, Rodney A. – Deliberate Intent: A Lawyer Tells the True Story of Murder by the Book (Crown 1999)
- Vidal, John – McLibel: Burger Culture on Trial (1998, New Press)
- Stern, Gerald M. – The Buffalo Creek Disaster: The Story of the Survivors’Unprecedented Lawsuit (1977, Random House)
Introduction to Law
- Cardozo, Benjamin – The Nature of the Judicial Process (1949 Yale University Press) ISBN 0300000332
- Dworkin, Ronald D. – Taking Rights Seriously (1977 Harvard University Press) ISBN 0674867106
- Feinman, Jay M. – Law 101: Everything you Need to Know About the American Legal System (2000 Oxford University Press) ISBN 0195132653
- Hart, H.L.A. – The Concept of Law (1997 Oxford University Press) ISBN 0198761236
- Mill, John Stuart – On Liberty (1921 Longmans, Green, and co.)
- Monk, Linda – The Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution (2003, Hyperion)
Getting Ready and Excelling in Law School
- Deaver, Jeff – The Complete Law School Companion : How to Excel at America's Most Demanding Post-Graduate Curriculum (1992 Wiley), ISBN: 047155491X
- Falcon, Atticus – Planet Law School II: What You Need to Know (Before You Go), But Didn't Know to Ask... and No One Else Will Tell You (2003 Fine Print Press), ISBN: 1888960507
- Greene, Rebecca – Law School for Dummies (2003 John Wiley & Sons) ISBN 0764525484
- Iijima, Ann L. – The Law Student’s Pocket Mentor: From Surviving to Thriving (2007 Aspen Pub) ISBN 0735540349
- Miller, Robert H. – Law School Confidential (Revised Edition): A Complete Guide to the Law School Experience: By Students, for Students (2004 St. Martin's Griffin), ISBN: 0312318812
- Munneke, Gary – How to Succeed in Law School (2001 Barron’s Educational Series)ISBN 0764113879
- Noyes, Shana Connell & Henry Noyes – Acing Your First Year of Law School (1999 Fred B. Rothman) ISBN 0837709121
- Nygren, Carolyn – Starting Off Right in Law School (1997 Carolina Academic Press), ISBN: 0890898774
- Shapo, Helene S. & Marshall S. Shapo – Law School Without Fear: Strategies for Success (2002 Foundation Press), ISBN: 1587781875
- Stropus, Ruta & Charlotte Taylor – Bridging the Gap Between College and Law School: Strategies for Success (2001 Carolina Academic Press), ISBN: 0890899452
- Roth, George – Slaying the Law School Dragon (1991 Wiley) ISBN 0471542989
- Ware, Sandra Guerrilla – Guerilla Tactics for Law School Academic Success (2003, Law Student Success Publishing) ISBN 0974302309
Practical Skills for Law Students and Lawyers
- Aldisert, Ruggero J. – Logic for Lawyers : A Guide to Clear Legal Thinking (1989 C. Boardman Co.) ISBN 087632636X
- Fischl, Richard Michael & Jeremy Paul – Getting to Maybe: How to Excel on Law School Exams (1999 Carolina Academic Press), ISBN: 0890897603
- Garner, Brian –The Winning Brief: 100 Tips for Persuasive Briefing in Trial and Appellate Court (2004 Oxford University Press), ISBN: 019517075X
- Hricik, David – Law School Basics: A Preview of Law School and Legal Reasoning (2000, Nova Press) ISBN 1889057061
- LeClercq, Terri – Guide to Legal Writing Style (2000 Aspen Law and Business) ISBN 0735512256
- O’Connor, Patricia T. – Woe is I: The Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English (1996 Putnam) ISBN 1573226254
- Strunk, William, Jr & E.B. White – The Elements of Style (2007, Filiquarian Publishing, LLC) ISBN 1599869330
- Truss, Lynn – Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation (2004 Gotham) ISBN 1592400876 (U.S. Edition, not the British edition)
- Wydick, Richard C.– Plain English for Lawyers (2005 Carolina Academic Press) ISBN 1594601518
The Legal Profession
- Abrams, Lisa L. –The Official Guide to Legal Specialties (2000 National Association of Law Placement
- Arron, Deborah–What Can You Do With a Law Degree?: A Lawyer's Guide to Career Alternatives Inside, Outside & Around the Law (1997, Niche Press) ISBN 0940675463
- Bachman, Walt – Law V Life: What Lawyers Are Afraid to Say About the Legal Profession (1995 Four Directions Press) ISBN 0962765988
- Richard A. Zitrin & Carol A. Langford – The Moral Compass of the American Lawyer: Truth, Justice, Power, and Greed (Ballentine 1999) ISBN 0449006719
The Law School Experience
- Dieker Jr., Lawrence - Letters from Law School: The Life of a Second-Year Law Student (2000 Writer’s Club Press), ISBN: 0595009751
- Turow, Scott – One L: The Turbulent Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School (1988 Farrar, Straus and Giroux), ISBN: 0374226474
A sampling of publications from MSU College of Law Faculty
- Bitensky, Susan – Corporal Punishment of Children: A Human Rights Violation (2006), ISBN: 1571053654
- Kalt, Brian – Sixties Sandstorm: The Fight over Establishment of a Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, 1961-1970 (2001 Michigan State University Press), ISBN: 0870135597
- Kennedy, Kevin – The First Decade Of NAFTA: The Future of Free Trade in North America (Series on International Law and Development) (2004Transnational Publishers, Incorporated), ISBN: 157105183X
- Mercuro, Nicholas – Economics and the Law: From Posner to Post-Modernism (1998Princeton University Press), ISBN: 0691005443
- Morag-Levine, Noga – Chasing the Wind : Regulating Air Pollution in the Common Law State (2003Princeton University Press), ISBN: 0691094810
- Ravitch, Frank – School Prayer and Discrimination: The Civil Rights of Religious Minorities and Dissenters (2001 Northeastern University Press), ISBN: 1555534775
- Saunders, Kevin – Saving Our Children from the First Amendment (2006 New York University Press), ISBN: 0814740359
Legal Biographies
- Kalman, Laura – Abe Fortas: A Biography (1990, Yale University Press)
- Ball, Howard – A Defiant Life: Thurgood Marshall and the Persistence of Racism in America, (2001 Crown)
- Friedman, Jane M. – America’s First Woman Lawyer: The Biography of Myra Bradwell (1993 Prometheus Books)
- Papantonio, Mike – Clarence Darrow, the Journeyman (1997, Seville)
- Clanton, Karen – Dear Sisters, Dear Daughters: Words of Wisdom from Multicultural Women Attorneys Who've Been There and Done That (2000, ABA Publishing)
- Motley, Constance Baker – Equal Justice Under Law: An Autobiography, (1998, Farrar Strauss & Giroux)
- Gunther, Gerald – Learned Hand: The Man and the Judge (1994, Knopf)
- Kinoy, Arthur – Rights on Trial: Odyssey of a People’s Lawyer (1993 Harvard University Press)
Law Student Favorites
- Dickens, Charles – Bleak House (1905 Macmillian and co)
- Grisham, John – A Time to Kill (1992 Island Books) ISBN 0440211727
- Lee, Harper – To Kill a Mockingbird (1970 Dramatic Publishing) ISBN 0871299208
- Lewis, Anthony – Gideon’s Trumpet (1964 Random House) ISBN 0679723129