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| Authors: Richard Michael Fischl, Jeremy Paul
Publisher: Carolina Academic Press
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
Buy New: $22.50
You Save: $2.50 (10%)
Rating:  53 reviews
Sales Rank: 9030
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 348
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6
ISBN: 0890897603
Dewey Decimal Number: 340.076
EAN: 9780890897607
Publication Date: May 26, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 Expensive and Not Helpful November 12, 2005
33 out of 40 found this review helpful
I read this book early in the fall of my 1L year. At the time, I thought that the book was useful and that reading it would give me an edge over my classmates. In retrospect, the book did not give me any edge and reading the book was a waste of time.
The book does give you confidence. It leads you to think that you will be able to take apart a legal exam, reduce it to its essentials, and reason in a manner that your professors will appreciate. I guess it might be worth your reading if you need a shot of self-confidence.
But I do not think that the book will make much of a difference in how anyone does on law school exams. The authors' main point is to look for ambiguities (or "forks"). When you see something on your exam that looks ambiguous, try to explore all the ambiguities. In other words, argue in the alternative--i.e., point out that if X is said to occur, then Y results, whereas if A is said to occur, then B results. Let your professors know that you can see the little things that might produce completely different legal results.
This method is great as a theory. However, it is difficult to apply the method in an actual test setting. I remember that my first exam during my 1L year was in criminal law. I was given a long fact pattern, and I tried to apply the "Getting to Maybe" method. One problem I found was that I was pushed for time. It was not possible to discuss all the ambiguities in the amount of time allowed. The method the book suggested was just not possible in the context of my three-hour bluebook exam. There was no way I could explore all the ambiguities on the exam the way the authors suggest.
Another problem I have with the book is that it is not really giving you any special advice. Reduced to a sentence, the authors are just telling you not to be conclusory with your answers--in other words, show that certain items in the fact pattern could be argued multiple ways. This is hardly novel law school exam advice worth $22.00!
I have read reviews by people who claim that this book helped them make law review or whatever. I also know many people who have read this book and have gotten below average law school grades. I do not think that this book will make a difference in how anyone does in law school. If you are one of those people who has to read everything, because you don't want your classmates to have read something you haven't read, then by all means read this. If, on the other hand, you are concerned about using your time effectively, then you are probably better off working on your outlines or reviewing your lecture notes rather than wasting your time reading this book.
 Everyone Needs Help at some point... December 26, 2000
23 out of 24 found this review helpful
Whether you want to believe it or not...taking a law school exam is unlike any exam you took in undergrad. I found that out after I bombed my first exam, and a friend recommended this book. If you do nothing else, skip to the part where it talks about how to write an exam, how to address all the issues that your prof is looking for and "czar of the universe." "Czar" was a section that I found VERY helpful when I had to write a dissent for an exam! My school didn't really tell any of us 1Ls how to take an exam and I wish I had read this book before I even started. Don't worry about making law review or any of those other "extras" that people seem so concerned about--because if you can't perform well on an exam and spot issues in an allotted time, law review will be the least of your concerns. My contracts prof even suggested this book when prepping for his exam.
Great for improving exam writing, legal analysis, and writing skills April 16, 2006
19 out of 20 found this review helpful
In my first year of law school, my legal writing tutor recommended this book. After reading it, my grades went up, which I believe was partially because of how this book helped me improve writing law school exams. It helps new law students understand what it means to "think like a lawyer." That is, it gives students a framework for analyzing complex issues.
Reading this book also significantly increased my performance in our legal writing class. At the end of my first year, my professor said my writing went from nearly the worst in the class to the best. This progress was a direct result from reading this book, improving my writing organization, and practice.
I highly recommend this book for new law students who want a head-start improving their legal analysis skills, and especially for students struggling with their legal writing. Law students have so much to read, it's hard to find more time for a book like this. But even reading a few chapters will provide students with a new paradigm for their legal analysis and writing.
This book would make a great gift for a student prior to starting law school because it is easy to read and introduces readers to subjects they will cover in their first-year courses.
The way to pass the law school exam. May 20, 2004
18 out of 21 found this review helpful
This book saved my law school carreer. law school tests are notoriously ambigous. There are no right answers. Unfortunatly, there seems to be no help for students. One of the proscribed methods is the IRAC method (when you get to school you will learn this and this is not the time to write about it). This book gives you a different way of acheving success in the test. The book does criticize IRAC and offers its own way of handling the testing questions. "Getting To Maybe" is written by law professors and who would know more about passing their tests as well as how a professor thinks? The book is a well written philosophy on the test and the mistakes. The authors spend a great deal of time explaining their philosophy and it is helpfull for the second half of the book. The book shows the common test question mistakes and how to fix them. The book also provides sample tests with sample answers and explanations of why they are good answers. This is the best part of the book, a side by side comparison of good and bad answers which makes this book invaluable. Highly reccommended.
A Solid Rhetoric for Law School Exams October 19, 2003
16 out of 19 found this review helpful
A very thorough, explicit, step-by-step guide to what law school professors want to see on your written exams. Very lucid, sometimes even witty. Most law schools still adhere to the Socratic, sink-or-swim method, in which students are kept in the dark about what's expected of them. As a result, many students are totally flummoxed and panic-stricken when exam time rolls around. Be sure to read this book just before you head off to law school; then read it again a couple of weeks before your first exam. If you follow the authors' advice, you are practically guaranteed good grades. Hey, you might even make the Law Review. It worked for me.Other good books to read before heading off to law school:
Law 101, by Jay Feinman
Introduction to U.S. Legal System, by William Burnham
Planet Law School, by "Atticus Falcon"
The first two give a nice overview of the whole subject and will help you tie everything together. The last is an overcynical but very amusing description of the kind of mind games you're likely to encounter; it also contains the best study tips I've seen. Also: If you have the time and money, enroll in an intensive paralegal training course before law school. I did, and it really saved my ass during 1L. Last but definitely not least: Spend at least six months prepping HARD for the LSAT. Work your way through a good logic textbook (I recommend Copi's), study a good prep book (e.g., Jeff Kolby's), and practice on as many real LSATs as you can, under time-pressured conditions. It really pays off.
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