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going to law school in the fall.....

Kerouactivist

Kerouactivist

Diamond Member
I am going to need a laptop

I am not sure if I need a apple or a pc laptop, does anyone know which is the standard at most law schools?

Also anyone have a suggestion for a cheap but, powerful lappy?

Thanks
 
Assuming that you already have a desktop, buy the cheapest thing that you can find, this is only for taking notes, right? Try searching for stuff on close out.

Check with the law school first to see if Apple or PC is rec.

I prefer the pencil and paper approach.

<---- went through law school without a laptop.

However, law school is a large money investment, if you think that you need a computer, buy one.

jeremy806
 
The only thing apples are good for is visual design, so get a PC. I like toshibas (I have one), but many other peole here like dells. It seemed to me like you get more for the money with the toshiba though.

m00se
 
Great, another lawyer in the world...
rolleye.gif
 
Better you than me :~).

When I was in law school I used my laptop for everything from taking notes to taking exams (not all schools have provision for this, but we used a proprietary anti-cheating software called "Examinator" to prevent you from accessing your HD during tests). I found it invaluable in that I could start creating outlines right there in the classroom.

I recommend a PC, because Lexis and Westlaw have, in my experience, tended to be better about creating PC software updates than Mac ones. This is not a BIG deal since both largely rely on the Internet for transmitting info nowadays, but still . . . Also, most computer labs use PCs as well, facilitating printing and accessing documents created on a PC.
 
Ever seen Legally Blonde? You could just use a pink pen and heart notebook! ...ok, if you haven't seen the movie you wouldn't have gotten that. 😱

--Sarah

BTW--Congrats on getting in, that's a HUGE accomplishment!
 
I have a IBM Thinkpad 560. It is old and slow but it is only 1" thick and I got it for free. I have taken notes for all my classes in law school on the laptop. I also took all my finals on the computers in the computer lab. I'm going to take the BAR this July, and I have not handwritten a final since college. Next year they are going to let us take the PA BAR on our laptops - great, 1 year too late for me.
 
I'm thinking intellectual property or environmental law but, I am leaving my options open (I'll decide once I'm there)..

A couple of the schools I got accepted to have 802.11b industry standard wireless LAN.

I am thinking about a sony PCG-GR300 here are the specs:

Mobile Intel® Pentium® III Processor 1.0 GHz-M
256 ram
20 GB hard Drive
15.0" XGA (1024x768)
DVD
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
Microsoft® Word 2002
Center Jog Dial? control: with back button for fast navigation, plus MagicGate? Memory Stick® media
slot for fast, easy transfer of digital images and other important data
integrated 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX Ethernet and V.90 modem

ATI MOBILITY? RADEON? -D with 16 MB SDRAM

@1350.99
Plus a wireless card

Seems like a good deal to me, it also comes with all of that sony software which one of my firends tells me is kinda neat, much better than the crap you get with an HP etc....

Is this a good deal?


 
I'm thinking about environmental law too, but I have a couple of years before that decision is to be made. Definitely a PC laptop. WestLaw's PC software is pretty nice. Go IBM or Dell, even though I despise Dell. I've been using a G3 laptop the past few weeks, and I prefer my dad's 4 year-old IBM Thinkpad.
 


<< I prefer my dad's 4 year-old IBM Thinkpad. >>



See, the old Thinkpads are nice 🙂 I forgot to mention before that if you plan to take notes in class get a laptop with quiet keys. I just hate to be sitting in class and hearing the keys clicking like crazy on someone else's laptop. Also, get a battery that runs for awhile because, for example, I have classes stacked up from 11:00am to 8:00pm on Thursdays. For pulling up cases, westlaw is ok, but I prefer lawschool.lexis.com

If you are going to take environmental law. I hope you like long boring statutes. You will have the joy of learning about the CAA, CWA, NEPA, CERCLA, and NAAQS, NSPS, PSD, and when to do an EA or an EIS. That said, I did not mind environmental law too much, and I am even taking an environmental compliance seminar. Torts, contracts, real property, probate practice and land use are my favorites. Tax law is the worst IMHO.
 


<< I have a IBM Thinkpad 560. It is old and slow but it is only 1" thick and I got it for free. I have taken notes for all my classes in law school on the laptop. I also took all my finals on the computers in the computer lab. I'm going to take the BAR this July, and I have not handwritten a final since college. Next year they are going to let us take the PA BAR on our laptops - great, 1 year too late for me. >>



I was also a bit nonplussed by taking the bar exam without my trusty (NEC 486/66!) laptop, especially in California, which is a three-day test. Ironically I am too poor a typist to consider taking it with a typewriter, so I handwrote it, which hurt but went fine. Overall I think the difficulty of the bar is overstated; God knows it was much easier than any law-school test I can recall.
 
I have a laptop and I still prefer to take notes on paper.

My law school has an 802.11b setup, too.

Beware - the temptation to search the internet is tremendous in boring a$$ classes like "Secured Financing."

Where are your choices for law school?
 
University of Missouri-Columbia (Mizzou), University of Missouri-Kansas City, Tulane, University of Oregon (Have not recieved word from them yet), Frankiln Pierce, Vermont School of Law.

I probably will end up going to Mizzou because (from what I am told it is the best in-state school).

I am still not sure though....

What schools are all you law students out there attending???
 
I am at the University of Houston Law Center. Third year. I graduate (God willing) in 73 days! 😀

Are you sure that you really want to do this? Seriously? Being a lawyer changes your life - you'll never see things the same way again. It sort of opens your eyes to the world in ways that you may never wanted to see it.

Law school, in that way is kind of like the red pill / blue pill choice in The Matrix. Choose wisely.

Assuming I can't talk you out of it 😉 - here's a little advice...

Whatever you do - choose a law chool in the jurisdiction (state) that you want to practice in. It will make bar prep oh so much easier. With that little nugget of advice, I wish you luck.

Above all - don't read Scott Turow's 1L[/i]. They will recommend you read that along with some book with "Bramblebush" in the title. Don't. 1L will scare the ever-living crap out of you, and not every law school is the pressure cooker that Harvard is. The Bramblebush book is just pointless.
 
The only courses I have had that really taught PA law were PA Practice, PA criminal procedure, and PA probate practice. Most the rest covered just majority and minority rules, model rules, restatements etc. many of which only apply in part to PA or are completely different. If I was lucky some of the professors would point out the PA law, but in some classes the profs never practiced in PA and have no idea of the law applies in PA. I still recommend you stick to the same state you want to practice in though.

Law school really is not too hard if you enjoy it. I have found it to be much easier than college. Beware of westlaw.com and lawschool.lexis.com. You get free access and become addicted to them. Once you are out of school, you pay through the nose to use the services.
 


<< Being a lawyer changes your life - you'll never see things the same way again. It sort of opens your eyes to the world in ways that you may never wanted to see it. >>



I have a friend that I grew up with, now praticing law, that told me basically the same thing. Can you please explain this further???
 
It is a little hard to explain... it heightens your perceptions in some ways to what is going on in the world around you. That can be a good thing and a bad thing. You see things you would never have noticed before. Law school teaches you a different way to think and analyze which is pretty alien to others. In some law classes I've had, non-lawyers are described jokingly as "ordinary mortals."

Why do you want to go to law school? That is a pretty important question... What was your undergrad major?
 
Keep in mind - student loans are a real bitch. I'd go in state if you can to avoid saddling yourself with years of debt.

It really opens up all of your options later. You can be free to do different things - even decide to change careers. There is definitely something to be said for having the ability to choose your career later if the law is not for you.

 
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