SMU Class of 2015 Forum

[miy]

I noticed Black's Law Dictionary wasn't on the textbook list. Should we get this, hold off, or buy another version?

You all may want a small dictionary or blacks for iphone. You will be looking up words as you start to read.


ETA: God, it feels so weird not going back to school. When do you all start?

Friday the 17th.
So glad I don't have Friday classes this semester.

Best friend is getting married on the 19th, have bachelor stuff on the 17, rehearsal crap on the 18, and wedding stuff on the 19th. FUN first weekend on LS. I'm assuming we are going to get loaded up with reading that weekend?

[1abc23]

Is anyone interested in using getting to maybe or LEEWS? Pm me if you are.

LEEWs - like new, very few hi-lights/marks, the best prep for exams, you'll see the pamphlets everywhere 1L ($100)

Getting to Maybe - new condition, no hi-lighting or marks of any kind, best explanation of writing policy answers ($20)

[alphasteve]

I noticed Black's Law Dictionary wasn't on the textbook list. Should we get this, hold off, or buy another version?

You all may want a small dictionary or blacks for iphone. You will be looking up words as you start to read.


ETA: God, it feels so weird not going back to school. When do you all start?

Friday the 17th.
So glad I don't have Friday classes this semester.

Best friend is getting married on the 19th, have bachelor stuff on the 17, rehearsal crap on the 18, and wedding stuff on the 19th. FUN first weekend on LS. I'm assuming we are going to get loaded up with reading that weekend?

It will be posted online before then. Bridge's reading is a lot (or it was 3 years go, from my understanding).

[YYZ]

I noticed Black's Law Dictionary wasn't on the textbook list. Should we get this, hold off, or buy another version?

I bought a nice, brand new Black's dictionary and didn't open it once. It never left my house. For the few times you'll need a definition, you can do it online (Westlaw, Lexis, etc.). Also, the last thing you'll want to do is lug another book around.

[kalvano]

There are plenty of free online legal dictionaries.

[AgLaw]

Is the first Friday actually Friday classes or do they pretend it is a Monday/Tuesday?

[swilson215]

Is the first Friday actually Friday classes or do they pretend it is a Monday/Tuesday?

It's your Friday schedule. They do it this way so it evens out at the end of the semester when you don't have your last Friday class or something.

[alphasteve]

Is the first Friday actually Friday classes or do they pretend it is a Monday/Tuesday?

It's your Friday schedule. They do it this way so it evens out at the end of the semester when you don't have your last Friday class or something.

So they say. I never bought that shit. And the semesters all seemed longer than the former (until the last one).

[kikiqt07]

Does anyone know if we'll need some of our books for the entire year, not just the fall semester? I was thinking about renting some of my books since that would make it $500 instead of $1500 at the bookstore, but if we need to hold onto any for the whole year then I'd rather buy those.

I bet for Torts, Property, Civ Pro and Contracts you'll use the same book all year. We did last year.

Regarding renting, I think you can only markup 25% of the book, so you want to be careful about doing that. If your books aren't a brand new addition, try not to buy them in the book store. I found several of mine on half.com or amazon. You can typically find a book with very little writing in it for much less than $100. I bought one of my case books for this year for only $25, brand new.

I was totally thinking that we would have to spend another 1500 next semester for books! I was wondering why they listed books as 2000 for the school year when first semester was almost that much. What a relief!

[AgLaw]

It says that part of orientation is outside, are they setting up a slip and slide? Dress accordingly sounds like work out clothes to me... what do they really mean?

[alphasteve]

It says that part of orientation is outside, are they setting up a slip and slide? Dress accordingly sounds like work out clothes to me... what do they really mean?

Tables outside for food. I'd dress in shorts.

[swilson215]

It says that part of orientation is outside, are they setting up a slip and slide? Dress accordingly sounds like work out clothes to me... what do they really mean?

Tables outside for food. I'd dress in shorts.

Yes. I'd wear shorts and a blouse (for girls) or button down/polo for guys. You don't want to look too scrubby, and some people WILL dress up (don't be one of those tools, though).

But bring a sweater. I'm not kidding. Even though it will be at least 95 outside (probably hotter) it will be approximately -8 degrees in Karcher during your orientation.

You'll thank me Monday.

[Burgstaller04]

Hey everyone,
I'm a 2L and I wanted to say, first, congrats on the choice to come to SMU. I love it and I know a lot of other people do too. Secondly, I have a lot of textbooks/supplements available for sale.

Supplements:
Emanuel's set of Fall 1L classes (Torts, Civ Pro, K's, Property, Crim Law)
BarBri 1L review and 1L Law School Success

Texts:
Crim Law - Cases and Materials on Criminal Law 5th ed. by Dressler
Torts - Tort Law - Responsibilities and Redress 2nd ed. by Goldberg
Property - Modern Property Law 6th ed. by Bruce
Contracts - Cases and Materials 7th ed. by Farnsworth
Selections for Contracts 2010 by Farnsworth
Civ Pro - Coursebook by Glannon
Rules, Statues, and Other Materials 2011 by Glannon
E&E 6th ed. by Glannon
Q&A 2nd ed. by Dorsaneo and Thornburg
LRWA - Legal Writing and Other Lawyering Skills 5th ed by Schultz
Basic Legal Research 4th ed by Sloan
Persuasive Legal Writing 3rd ed. by Sirico
Plain English for Lawyers 5th ed by Wydick

Let me know if you are interested in any of those and I'll quote a price (the more you take at one time, the more likely I'll be to discount them). Hope you have a great first year and I'll see you all around.

[swilson215]

I still have my legal writing books for sale.

How was everyone's first day at orientation?! Did you learn soooooooo much?

[miy]

The morning was pretty interesting and I enjoyed listening to the dean and Camp. Ivy's westlaw/IT/Library talk in the afternoon almost killed me. The dude has no color.

And LRWA seems pretty crazy. I'm about to go over this course packet. Prof(?) Cross came across as super intense when she started, but I ended up really enjoying her.
Also, I liked our mentors alot. They seem excited to be moving past 1L, haha.

[Burgstaller04]

Prof(?) Cross...I ended up really enjoying her.

This will, almost certainly, change.

[kalvano]

Prof(?) Cross...I ended up really enjoying her.

This will, almost certainly, change.

That was almost exactly my thought. I LOL'ed.

[miy]

Yeah- that's what I hear. I did not like her as much the second day or orientation. Do we interact with her regularly? Or do we pretty much just stick with out LWRA instructor?

[kalvano]

I've only spoken with her once I think. So no interaction, unless you take a class with her.

[swilson215]

I've only spoken with her once I think. So no interaction, unless you take a class with her.

Unless you count really annoying, bitchy emails.

[Burgstaller04]

You won't talk to her, but she's directly responsible for most of the pain of LRWA. I imagined her face on the front of my binder everytime I saw it. Made me dislike her a lot more. I don't recommend it unless you enjoy hating people.

[guyindfw]

I have the following supplements. Let me know if you are interested. ($10 each or $20 for all three) send a PM.you can pickup at school.

The Law of Torts: Examples & Explanations

Civil Procedure: Examples & Explanations

Contracts: Examples and Explanations

[swilson215]

Any 1Ls want my Persuasive Writing LRWA book (the new one you need for this semester)? First $25 takes it.

[sikemenow]

Pro & cons / Benefit of attending "Meet the Firms" night on Thursday for a 1E without grades? (BTW, the amount of time it takes to get first semester grades back is unreal).

[swilson215]

Pro & cons / Benefit of attending "Meet the Firms" night on Thursday for a 1E without grades? (BTW, the amount of time it takes to get first semester grades back is unreal).

As a 2L I'm still missing grades. I think everything about SMU is slow. As far as attending the meet the firms night, I didn't think it was super helpful as far as networking, because they're talking to three hundred people in a night. Plus most of the firms there aren't going to hire until 2E. There's some pretty sweet swag, though.