What are the best books on law? (1 Viewer)

[Seventeenthofdecembe]

Hey!

I'm interested in pursuing law as a career. I am planning to continue Legal Studies after Prelims, but the general hearsay is that the subject has nothing to do with actual law. So what are some good books/resources to learn more about the practice?

 

[Seventeenthofdecembe]

Oh yeah, and I've already read To Kill A Mockingbird if anyone was going to suggest that.

 

[BandSixFix]

Law is very broad, you can't expect a HSC course to remotely compare with anything you learn at Uni. But from what I can see is that, albeit to a minimal extent, legal studies does relate to some aspects of 'actual law'

You'll find this in other HSC subjects as well, especially regarding the sciences.

 

[sida1049]

The best law textbook of all.

 

[clementinez]

Preliminary Legal Studies didn't really touch upon law much as far as I remember but I remember HSC Legal Studies being a lot more focused on actual legal studies (prelim. was more like sociology imo). Definitely keep the subject for HSC if you're interested in law because, while it's not a true representation of law school, it's the only subject that will touch topics like torts, international law, consumer affairs.
I remember the Excel study guide being very useful.

 

[neo o]

Fuck books, university has nothing to do with practice either. Hit up the parents of your friends to see if you can get some work experience.

 

[wannaspoon]

Fuck books, university has nothing to do with practice either. Hit up the parents of your friends to see if you can get some work experience.

Probably the best advice one can offer on BoS...

Don't beat around the bush, I know people from Monash that have been unemployed for 2 years because they didn't: volunteer, take genuine interest they didn't even so much as bother to work while in uni...

Even if the job, volunteer opportunity, etc is not related... Find something where the skills are interchangeable with the field and go with it... Retail is a really good example...

 

[clementinez]

Fuck books, university has nothing to do with practice either. Hit up the parents of your friends to see if you can get some work experience.

While this is absolutely true, you still need a good academic foundation. Law is a professional degree that is very applicable to practice. But the OP is in the HSC so they don't have to worry about any of that stuff yet..

 

[surethingmate]

Don't know why I'm on this forum, but I have an LLB, LLM and I'm currently doing a PhD. All in law.

If you want a practical introduction to the study of the law, I'd probably suggest "Laying Down the Law" 9th edition. You'd probably be prescribed that in your 1L Foundations of Law unit anyway. This will give you a solid introduction to the study of the law and isn't too technical.

As to specific areas of the law (contract, tort, criminal) the Nutshell series is a good, cheap option. "Nutshell: Torts" 6th ed & "Nutshell: Contract Law" 7th ed would be two good options. You can get those two brand new for only $35 each. I see Laying Down the Law is listed on LexisNexis at a shocking $96 (was more like $45 when I was in 1L what seems like not that long ago). You'd probably be better off consulting this text at your nearest university's law library... Just walk in one day and find it on the shelves. As long as you don't try to steal it, staff won't kick you out for being curious! So there's three good recommendations for you.

I think it's commendable you're looking for an actual insight into what the study of law will be like. The To Kill a Mockingbird reference did make me smile, so many people have said they wanted to do law because of that book, but as you can imagine it's not really a good insight into what the study will really be like. Do you have moot court as an extra-curricular activity at your school? If so, I suggest checking that. That would be a good bit of experience. Apart from that, you're just going to need a high ATAR. Best of luck.