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Book Exchange

If you swap books, please e-mail bkozlowski@jd11.law.harvard.edu so we can remove the posting!

For those who aren't familiar with all of the many different kinds of commercial study guides available, we've provided a brief primer on some of the major brands. If you think we left something out or got something wrong, please let us know by e-mailing bkozlowski@jd11.law.harvard.edu.

Gilberts: Gilberts provides a basic outline of black letter law for a given subject. It's generally useful if you get lost in a class or if the professor does a bad job of telling you what the actual legal rules are. Keep in mind that certain professors may also disagree with what's in Gilberts, so you should never use it as a substitute for an actual outline.

Examples and Explanations (E&E): Examples and Explanations study guides tend to focus primarily on broad concepts, rather than the doctrinal contribution of individual cases. They are really useful if you're getting lost in the middle of the course or to test your grasp of the course right before the final. In general, they probably contain too little information about specific cases to completely replace an outline for a class.
      E&E guides are broken down into short chapters on specific subjects within a given course. Each chapter concludes with a series of example questions and thorough explanations of the answers to those questions. These questions and explanations are generally mini-issue spotters, which makes E&E books very helpful for test prep.
      Joseph Glannon's E&E on civil procedure is notorious. The Evidence E&E by Arthur Best is also very good.

Emanuel Law Outlines: The book starts with a "capsule summary," which is a "short" review outline of the entire course. For an idea of length, the Con Law book, which covers both our 14th and 1st Amendment classes, has a capsule summary of 88 pages. It hits all the big points and is very useful for actual exam day. Then each chapter has a short "chapter scope" outline of the chapter (1 page or less). The bulk of the chapter is an outline of the given topic. The sub-points are more like mini paragraphs though. It's not really choppy outline form like some other books. At the end of each chapter, there is a "quiz yourself" section with a few review questions and answers, followed by a few exam tips for the given topic. At the end of the book, there are a few sample full length exam questions and answers. Finally, there are both case and topical indexes.

 

The Exchange

Class Professor Title Edition Condition Sell/Trade/Rent/Borrow Price Contact E-mail Comments
MPRE N/A Emanuel flash cards The cards are in good condition although the box is a little marked up. Giving Away $0 Samatha Crane scrane@law.harvard.edu I used these for the MPRE, not for any class, but they were good for studying (although I'd recommend an actual outline as well). They have little MPRE-type hypos on one side, and answers/explanations on the other, so they're not just memorization tools. I am giving them away for free - some model rules have changed this year so only some of the topics in this set will be useful (luckily the cards are classified by topic!).
Con Law (Separation of Powers) Neuman Emanuel Constitutional Law Outline 25th (2007) This outline is in very good condition for the most part, although I wrote in some answers in the self-quizzes. Otherwise, no marks, dog-ears, or highlights. Sell/Trade/Borrow $10 or trade for Corps outline. I'll also lend it to someone for free if nobody buys it. Samatha Crane scrane@law.harvard.edu It was good, but huge - there's no way you're reading through this whole thing while studying for an exam, but at least it's likely to cover pretty much everything your 14th Amendment class covers (and then some - it also covers First Amendment), and it's pretty clear.
Administrative Law Kagan In a Nutshell, Administrative Law and Process 5th Edition (Thompson West, 2006) Like new. Sell/Trade/Borrow $10 or trade for Corps outline. I'll also lend it to someone for free if nobody buys it. Samatha Crane scrane@law.harvard.edu I used this for Kagan's Admin, which obviously is not being taught anymore, but I think it would also be helpful for LegReg or the new Admin classes. Nutshell books are very small and succinct, but cover a lot. They're better for actually synthesizing the big picture than for having something that briefs all of the cases you read in class, but for something like Admin, that's really helpful!
Evidence Whiting Examples & Explanations, Evidence 6th Edition (Aspen 2007) Like new. Sell/Trade/Borrow $10 or trade for Corps outline. I'll also lend it to someone for free if nobody buys it. Samatha Crane scrane@law.harvard.edu It's a great book for explaining concepts in Evidence, although honestly Whiting's class was so straightforwardly black-letter-focused that I didn't really need it.
Evidence Whiting "E-Z Rules" for the Federal Rules of Evidence 2007 Like new. Sell/Trade/Borrow $10 or trade for Corps outline. I'll also lend it to someone for free if nobody buys it. Samatha Crane scrane@law.harvard.edu This is a nifty, SMALL little book, great for taking into an Evidence exam - it's not really a hornbook, just a statutory compilation that breaks the actual text of the FRE into outline format so it's really easy to read and apply. Also has summaries of the advisory committee notes. I'm happy to lend it for the semester (I love it too much to part with it permanently!).
Evidence Whiting Federal & California Evidence Rules 2007 Very good condition, no markings. Lend/Trade/Give Trade for a Corps outline, or free Samatha Crane scrane@law.harvard.edu This is a big statutory compilation with three sections: the FRE and California Rules of Evidence on facing pages for easy comparison, the FRE alone, and the California Rules alone. Also has a few notes, comments, and some legislative history. It's great for a class that actually compares both sets of rules; I used it as my statutory supplement for Whiting's exam because he didn't allow us to bring in any supplements that had hornbook-type analysis in them (the notes and comments are just historical, or describe advisory committee notes).
Administrative Law Kagan Examples & Explanations, Evidence 2nd, 2007 It is in very good condition and I've sticky-tabbed it for convenient reference, there are some markings. Lend N/A Samatha Crane scrane@law.harvard.edu I used this book for Kagan's Admin, but it would probably work for LegReg or a new Admin class. It is REALLY HELPFUL at explaining Admin cases and big-picture concepts, which I found incredibly confusing. I'm not willing to part with it but would happily lend it for the semester.
Health Care Law Visitng Professor In a Nutshell, Health Care Law And Ethics 2nd, 1999 Very good condition, no markings. Lend N/A Samatha Crane scrane@law.harvard.edu I used this book for Health Care Law with a visiting professor. It is really helpful and concise, I actually just read it straight through when studying, which did not take very long. I bought it in Spring 2007 so I think the 1999 edition is really the most recent one. I'm not willing to part with it but will lend it for the semester.
Trusts and Estates Mann In a Nutshell, Wills and Trusts 3rd, 2007 It's in very good condition but there are some pen underlinings on the very first few pages. None elsewhere. Sell/Lend Sell for $10 or lend for a semester Samatha Crane scrane@law.harvard.edu This book is a very good overview of Wills and Trusts, although I didn't really use it that much - I took T&E with Mann and he was really good at explaining the doctrines, and the "nutshell" books mainly focus on the "big picture" and not on specific cases. Also has little "quizzes" on individual topics, and some nice diagrams.
Property Mann Emanuel Law Outlines, Property 6th Almost new Sell $12 Rebecca Kahane rkahane@jd11.law.harvard.edu Useful because it contains virtually all the cases studied in class.
Criminal Law Suk Emanuel Law Outlines, Criminal Law 2007 Like new Sell $15 Rebecca Kahane rkahane@jd11.law.harvard.edu Useful. Note: Will throw in Aspen's Crim Casenote/Legal Briefs for $20 bucks.
Civil Procedure Cohen Emanuel Law Outlines, Civil Procedure 2007 Like new except for one folded corner of outside cover Sell $15 Rebecca Kahane rkahane@jd11.law.harvard.edu Very useful.
Civil Procedure Cohen Casenote Legal Briefs, Civil Procedure ? New Sell $8 Rebecca Kahane rkahane@jd11.law.harvard.edu Very useful. Note: $20 with companion Emanuel Outline for Civil Procedure
Legislation and Regulation Vermeule Examples & Explanations, Administrative Law 2nd A few unobtrusive lines in the margins Sell $15 Greg Brazeal gbrazeal@law.harvard.edu Good book if you are confused about something Vermeule said.
Con Law (Separation of Powers) Klarman Examples & Explanations, Constitutional Law: National Power and Federalism 4th Perfect except folded the corner of one page down Sell $15 Greg Brazeal gbrazeal@law.harvard.edu I didn't end up reading this book
Con Law (1st Amendment) Minow Examples & Explanations, Constitutional Law: Individual Rights ? Lines and light notes in the margin of about 1/4 of the book Sell $15 Greg Brazeal gbrazeal@law.harvard.edu I found it useful for a few the concepts we glossed over in class.
Torts Zeiler Crunchtime, Torts ? Folded down the edges of about ten pages Sell $15 Greg Brazeal gbrazeal@law.harvard.edu I didn't end up using it much
Torts Zeiler Examples & Explanations, The Law of Torts 3rd Perfect Sell $15 Greg Brazeal gbrazeal@law.harvard.edu I didn't end up using it.
Criminal Law Lanni Examples & Explanations, Criminal Law 4th One page with lines in the margin, one corner of one page folded down Sell $15 Greg Brazeal gbrazeal@law.harvard.edu Useful summary.
Civil Procedure Rubenstein Examples & Explanations, Civil Procedure 5th A few notes in pencil in the margins Sell $15 Greg Brazeal gbrazeal@law.harvard.edu Useful summary.
Criminal Law Lanni Emanuel Law Outline, Criminal Law ? Perfect Sell $15 Greg Brazeal gbrazeal@law.harvard.edu I didn't use it
Torts Zeiler Emanuel Law Outline, Torts ? Perfect Sell $15 Greg Brazeal gbrazeal@law.harvard.edu I didn't use it
Tax Zeiler Examples & Explanations: Federal Income Tax 4th Good. Some writing, especially around the practice questions. Rent/Trade/Sell/Swap $10 Caroline Bredeson cbredeson@jd10.law.harvard.edu Although this edition is not the newest, I found it helpful and one of his exam questions was on point with one of the examples in the book.
Evidence Whiting Examples & Explanations: Evidence 5th Good. Some writing, especially around the practice questions. Rent/Trade/Sell/Swap $10 Caroline Bredeson cbredeson@jd10.law.harvard.edu Very helpful, lots of good examples, I would recommend this.
Property Singer Examples & Explanations: Property 2nd Good. Some writing, especially around the practice questions. Rent/Trade/Sell/Swap $10 Caroline Bredeson cbredeson@jd10.law.harvard.edu Can't remember how helpful it was, just that property was boring.
Criminal Law Lanni Examples & Explanations: Criminal Law 3rd Good. Some writing, especially around the practice questions. Rent/Trade/Sell/Swap $10 Caroline Bredeson cbredeson@jd10.law.harvard.edu I thought this was pretty helpful.
Evidence Schaur Examples & Explanations: Evidence ? good condition Sell $10 Ryan Park rpark@jd10.law.harvard.edu very helpful
Contracts Rakoff Emanuel, Contracts ? good condition Sell $10 Ryan Park rpark@jd10.law.harvard.edu somewhat helpful
International Law Blum Casenote briefs for Damrosch textbook, International Law ? like new condition Sell $10 Ryan Park rpark@jd10.law.harvard.edu somewhat helpful
Criminal Law Washburn (visiting) Casenote briefs for Kadish casebook ? good condition Sell $10 Ryan Park rpark@jd10.law.harvard.edu somewhat helpful
Civil Procedure Clark (visiting) Glannon's, Civil Procedure ? decent condition (underlined) Sell $10 Ryan Park rpark@jd10.law.harvard.edu very helpful
Civil Procedure Clark (visiting) Crunchtime, Civil Procedure ? like new condition (underlined) Sell $10 Ryan Park rpark@jd10.law.harvard.edu very helpful
Contracts Rakoff Examples & Explanations, Contracts ? good condition (underlined) Sell $10 Ryan Park rpark@jd10.law.harvard.edu somewhat helpful

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