The Best Study Supplements for Your Law School Exams

It's the most wonderful time of the year - finals season. The never-ending, three-week-long grind of trying to understand and memorize a million different concepts. 

During my first year of law school, I purchased so many study supplements. I wanted to have example problems, simplified explanations, and every possible pre-made outline. I probably spent hundreds on these study aids - let me tell you, some of them are more worth it than others. 

To save you a bit of time, energy, and money, I have compiled a list of my favorite law school study supplements. These are the study aids that work best for me, so consider where you’re at in your studying journey before purchasing any of these supplements. 

1. The best study aid you can buy is the one your professor recommends. 

There are some professors that will tell you the specific study aid that they recommend. These should be the first study supplements that you purchase - if the professor recommends it, the supplement likely contains the analysis they are looking for on the exam. This, in my opinion, is the key to doing well on your finals.  

However, in my experience, some of these supplements are not particularly helpful if you need someone to explain the material simply. I could not understand certain Con Law topics to save my life, so reading through an E&E that provided a very nuanced analysis wasn’t all that helpful for me. If, and only if, your professor’s study supplement is not helpful to you, should you purchase the following materials. 

2. The Short and Happy books provide the best, dumbed-down version of key first year topics. 

Again, like I mentioned, you should only use these books if your professor’s recommended supplements are not getting you anywhere. My friends and I probably contributed a decent amount to the Short and Happy authors’ incomes during our first year of law school. We read those books religiously. When none of us understood how felony murder, impleader, or the Erie Doctrine, these books quite literally saved our grades. 

• A Short & Happy Guide to Criminal Law by Joseph Kennedy

• A Short & Happy Guide to Civil Procedure by Richard Freer 

• A Short & Happy Guide to Torts by Roger Schechter

• A Short & Happy Guide to Contracts by Epstein, Markell, and Ponoroff (this was one of my favorites because the authors always make fun of each other throughout the examples)

• A Short and Happy Guide to Constitutional Law by Mark Alexander 

• A Short and Happy Guide to Property by Paula Franzese

These books won’t give you practice problems, but you will most definitely walk away understanding the materials. 

3. Examples & Explanations - to help you apply key concepts. 

I was not an E&E girl until the second semester of law school. The E&Es felt too long for me and some of them offered overly complex explanations. However, adding E&Es into my study routine was life changing. These books provide thorough explanations on how every piece of case law operates, and, more importantly, provide you with practice problems for each key topic. 

• Examples & Explanations for Civil Procedure by Joseph R. Glannon

• Examples & Explanations for Constitutional Law 

  • National Power and Federalism by Cristopher May, Allan Idles, and Simona Grossi

  • Individual Rights by Christopher May, Allan Idles, and Simona Grossi (only purchase this one if your professor went over the due process clause, equal protection clause, first amendment, etc.). 

• Examples & Explanations for Criminal Law by Shima Baradaran Baughman

• Examples & Explanations for the Law of Torts by Joseph R. Glannon

• Examples & Explanations for Property by Barlowe Burke and Joseph Snoe

• Examples & Explanations for Contract Law by Brian A. Blum

I hope these examples are helpful to you all. Remember, your grades do not define you. You should be proud of everything that you have accomplished this far. 

Best of luck on finals!