Law books

>>9042271
>I am going into pre-law this fall
first of all fuck you you stupid gunner

second, pre-law is one of the worst majors for aspiring law students. do math phil econ or even polisci instead.

third, underageb&

>>9042301
Why is pre law a bad choice?

Lawyer here. Obviously, it depends on where you live. I am going to assume the Anglosphere. One of the best is probably The Common Law by O.W. Holmes, which traces the main theories of tort, criminal, civil, etc. areas of law; although over a hundred years old, Holmes is one of the three most cited scholars of the 20th century. Another, simpler book to start out with is the Ages of American Law by Grant Gilmore.

If you are looking for the applicable rules, Barbri is a course that helps law students prepare for the bar and they have an outline called the Conviser Mini Review that simplifies things greatly.

If you want to be super intense and wade into Roman law and its civil progeny, there is the Corpus Juris Civilis of the emperor Justinian.

I agree with the above poster btw. Pre-law is bad because it doesn't show you have any interests beyond the law. Law schools want to cast the image of having students who are cultured and widely read (even though most of them are nothing but lecherous drunks). You would be better off with political science, economics, the classics, or a hard science major. The hard sciences are especially valuable because they allow you to take the patent bar.

>>9042309
lookup average lsat score by major, and when you read it know that being 'pre-law' doesn't give you an edge in the admissions process.

and if you dont get into a good school you have a literally useless degree

He is right. I went to a T30 school and even there, many of my classmates are still doing doc review or working for pennies on the dollar. If you are the only attorney in your town or get into Biglaw, the eating's good, but otherwise take a hard, hard look at how much debt you want to take on.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/04-70.ZO.html

read this and decide if thats what you want to do for three years.

Yo I'm going to law school soon (not crazy american postgrad shite), can I have some real basics recs on Common Law/Legal Philosophy as well?

I'm Interested in the contrast between Legal Positivism and Natural Law if that helps.

>>9042355
just read some landmark SCOTUS decisions with a lot of concurring and dissenting opinions. Our justices always have very different theories about the law which make their side-by-side analyses of the same fact patterns quite interesting. Personally I'm a fan of Scalia.

I suggest reading U.S. v. Lopez (1995) and following up with Gonzales v. Raich (2005)

>>9042378
ahaha I should state more clearly that I'm not American

Anything in general on the common law would be good but preferably British stuff, I live in Australia but I don't think we have much legal literature

>>9042383
>Anything in general on the common law would be good but preferably British stuff

why British? there's hardly any good law left that predates America's usurpation of their motherland. Now common law countries borrow from the states.

I'm a big advocate of reading the source material... there aren't going to be many secondary sources tailored at novices, introduction to the common law is what law school is for.

Read some literature about the New Deal era I guess because that's when the common law went to shit. You could also read about Louisiana to see how civil law and common law operate within the same space.

more generally you could read arguments for and against laissez-faire/dirigisme because the same arguments more or less apply to common and civil law.

>>9042355
>>9042355

Scalia wrote a book that came out a few years before he died called Reading Law. Even though he uses primarily American examples, he also cites to other common law jurisdictions. It lays out the different philosophies on how to interpret texts.

As for natural law versus positive law, bear in mind very few people actually use natural law anymore. About the only legal scholar I can think of is Robert P. George. Blackstone is probably the best to get an idea of natural law's philosophy with his Commentaries on the Laws of England, but Bentham was really the guy to critique Blackstone with his A Comment on the Commentaries and for proposing a codified legal system for England.

Lord Denning is one British judge in recent decades who has garnered some respect across the pond.

OP here, will change programs to something other than pre-law. I also regret making this thread because now I'm stressed over my decision to applyl for the pre-law program and can't get to sleep.

>>9042484
We don't say this to you trying to freak you out. Just trying to warn you that if you want to be a lawyer (which is a sturdy profession), there are better majors that pre-law. Consider political science if you want something with a lot of overlap. Do that and you'll be fine.

>>9042484
changing majors is the simplest thing in the world

my suggestion is to take the easiest classes possible and get as close to a 4.0 as you can.

t. T14

>>9042503
this

>>9042541
is it possible to pass law school while smoking weed, playing vidya and listening to rap everyday

>>9042271
Deuteronomy
The Trial

I wish everyone followed my law. My laws are the best because of how few they are. When the state is most corrupt, then the laws are most multiplied. One law: obey me. Thus, I've created the least corrupt state. Is that not something you'd desire? Things would actually get done, and you needn't worry as I'd have many expert consultants.

>>9042271
I couldn't help you about Common law, but lemme know if you want some book about Civil law. However I don't know any written in english...

>>9042926
By that logic isn't the law of the state: "Obey the law of the state".