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I'm considering going to law school, specifically for criminal defense. Currently, I'm not able to take any preliminary classes, but I'd like to sort of test the waters, so to speak, of what I'd be learning by reading some textbooks and listening to online lectures. Can anyone offer some insight as to what textbooks/lectures might be the most useful for someone rather new to law, or any other resources that might be helpful?

AlexRW wrote:I'm considering going to law school, specifically for criminal defense. Currently, I'm not able to take any preliminary classes, but I'd like to sort of test the waters, so to speak, of what I'd be learning by reading some textbooks and listening to online lectures. Can anyone offer some insight as to what textbooks/lectures might be the most useful for someone rather new to law, or any other resources that might be helpful?

Everything you need to know will be taught to you at law school. You can start on day 1 with zero knowledge about "the law." If you are serious about law school you will need to start studying for the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). You'll need a high score because there are many law schools and it's important to only attend one of a handful of them if you want a good chance at securing employment. This site has a section dedicated to LSAT studying, I'd check it out and ask some questions there.

You probably don't need to learn anything about law school — that's sort of its own thing. But it would be a good idea to see if you can figure out what criminal defense lawyers actually do, so that you can determine whether you really want to do the same thing. Someone else here probably knows better than I do how that might be done.

What you're learning in law school isn't a useful indicator of whether you'll like being a lawyer. Ask real lawyers. You can ask us on this website about our work and our routines, or you can email local lawyers and use your network to find people who can mentor you and explain their jobs to you. There is a wide range of practice in the law, so reach far and wide in who you ask questions of.

There are threads on these forums where lawyers discuss their work life and practice. Read those for starters. Leave the substantive law stuff aside for now.