Five Essential Law School Supplies (Other than the Basics)

If you’re heading to law school in the fall, you might be wondering how best to prepare. While you certainly do need to prepare mentally for the academic rigors, you also need to make sure you are going in with the right supplies! There are many essential law school supplies that will make your experience much easier and your studying more efficient. Now it goes without saying that you’ll need the basics like pens, pencils, and notebooks. This list covers things that have more specialized purposes but should still be considered essential law school supplies.

Make sure you’re ready to go on day 1 with these essential law school supplies!

Five Essential Law School Supplies (Other than the Basics)

Laptop

Whether you choose to take notes during class on a laptop or handwrite them is certainly a personal preference. However, regardless of your choice, a laptop still tops the list of most essential law school supplies. These days most classes will have some sort of course website, either through the school or independently hosted. Your assignments might be posted there, and many readings might be online articles. You will use a computer to complete any writing assignments (you’re not going to handwrite a brief). You are also probably going to create your outline on the computer. This makes a laptop (or at least some sort of electronic device like this) an essential law school supply, even if you decide to write your notes. (If you do, you might choose to re-type them later as this makes you review the information and reinforces it!)

Sturdy backpack

Law school involves books. A lot of very large, heavy books. And somehow you have to transport them from class to class. Depending on your schedule and where you live/whether you have a car, you might be able to bring only one or two with you at a time. Some aren’t so lucky. Combine your books with your laptop (if you have one) plus other necessary supplies, you have a lot of weight to carry around. This absolutely warrants the inclusion of a sturdy backpack on a list of essential law school supplies. Many students even get ones with wheels so that they don’t have to carry that weight on their backs. The main goal is to get something that will withstand all the wear and tear of dealing with the necessary materials for three years.

Note: Some law schools offer lockers to their students. This is very useful if you have long days at school and don’t want to carry your books around all day. It is worth asking your law school if they offer lockers.

Highlighters

A list of essential law school supplies would not be complete without highlighters. I cannot even begin to count how many highlighters I went through in law school. Highlighters in many colors can be the perfect tools for useful tasks like color-coding notes and book briefing. Instead of typing out briefs for individual cases (see this post for why briefing cases is a waste of time), try highlighting the key points from each case directly in your book. Each highlighter color could represent the procedural posture, facts, rule, analysis, and conclusion. Then you can still quickly identify the relevant passages when called on in class without taking extra time to write a brief. You can also color-code your outlines. Highlight statutes in one color, case law in another, key terms, etc. Introducing color into your notes, outlines, and books can help you actively learn the material and review efficiently.

Binders

Another one of my favorite essential law school supplies is the binder. By the end of the semester, you will have accumulated a lot of materials for each class, all of which you’ll use to study. You’ll have notes, your outline, any handouts or readings, etc. Creating a binder for each class is the perfect way to organize all of these study tools. Organizing your documents like this also comes in handy for open book exams. Many professors allow you to use your outlines and notes on the final. When you create a well-organized binder, you can much more efficiently flip through all of your materials to find what you need to answer a question. You don’t want to be dealing with loose papers that could easily fall or get out of order. Utilizing binders is an excellent strategy, easily making it one of the most essential law school supplies.

Bookstand

Honestly, this is something I discovered after graduated law school and I’m kicking myself for not thinking of it while I was still there. During class, I always felt like my desk/table space was getting crowded. My laptop was guaranteed to take up space directly in front of me. If there was room next to me, that’s where my textbook would go. When the book is open, that also takes up a lot of space. And it requires you to glance down a lot. If I didn’t have room next to me, my textbook would end up on my lap. This was even worse as it was partially under the desk, making it very hard to read and turn pages.

A book stand would allow you to prop up your book just to the side of your laptop. Since it would then stand vertical, it doesn’t take up as much of your valuable flat space. It also allows you to glance to the side and avoid the constant looking up and down. This is certainly one of the most essential law school supplies.

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Five Essential Law School Supplies (Other than the Basics)