Legal Textbook Review

A friend asked me for advice on legal writing textbooks so I figured that I would write about a variety of law textbooks. I've had my fair share, so my thoughts are below.



First-Year Courses:

Contracts
My first time in law school, I used Fuller and Eisenberg's casebook. I found it to be a clear and logical textbook. It was easy to follow.
My second time around, I used Summers and Hillman. I wasn't too impressed with this casebook. It seemed to jump around and muddy the waters needlessly.

Torts
Both times, I used Prosser, Wade, and Schwartz. This is the textbook for torts, and it's excellent.

Legal Writing and Research
No discussion of legal writing and research can be complete without mentioning The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. This is the bread and butter of the legal writing curriculum, and it's essential, even if it's annoying. I used it both times around.
My first time around, the text was Plain English for Lawyers by Richard Wydick. It's a decent style guide, but it's really thin on the important stuff, like the actual process or elements involved in writing a legal memorandum or brief.
My second time around, the text was Legal Research and Writing by Murray and DeSanctis. It's one of the most useful textbooks I've had in law school. It's light on the theory and heavy on the practice. There are detailed examples of every type of writing a lawyer needs to know how to do. I highly recommend this book.

Property
The first time around, I used Singer's casebook, along with a workbook entitled A Student’s Guide to Estates in Land and Future Interests by Laurence and Minzner. The casebook was terrible. It was filled with a lot of social policy and not a lot of actual law. The workbook was excellent, though. It made estates in land actually comprehensible.
The second time around, I used Kurtz and Hovenkamp's casebook. It was pretty good. It was clear and well-edited.

Criminal Law
Both times around, I used Dressler's casebook. It's excellent.

Civil Procedure
Both times around, I used Friedenthal, Miller, Sexton, and Hershkoff. It's a good, clear casebook.

Upper Division Courses:

Constitutional Law
The first time around and the first semester of the second time around, I used Chemerinsky's casebook. It's a great casebook. The cases are clear and well-edited, and everything is presented in a logical format.
The second semester of the second time around, I used Sullivan and Gunther. It was an ok book, but it wasn't as clear as Chemerinsky, and it wasn't as well-edited.

Criminal Procedure
The first time around, I used Allen, Hoffman, Livingston, and Stuntz. It's a good casebook, but nothing to write home about.
The second time around (which is this semester), I'm using Chemerinsky and Levinson. The casebook is clear and logical, but the cases are sometimes over-edited. This can make some cases confusing because background facts are omitted.
I've also heard good things about Kamisar, LaFave, Israel, King, and Kerr, though I've never used the casebook. (I used the hornbook back when it was just LaFave, Israel, and King, and I was pleased.)

Appellate Advocacy
The first time around, the textbook was A Practical Guide to Appellate Advocacy by Mary Beth Beazley. The title delivers. It's a great book with some great examples and advice.
The second time around, there was no textbook. This wasn't too problematic for me because the class was a re-run and the professor was excellent, but on the whole, I think that a course as important as appellate advocacy could really use a textbook.

Business Organizations
I didn't take business organizations the first time around. I'm currently taking it this semester, and the textbook is Klein, Ramseyer and Bainbridge. No complaints so far.

Copyrights
This one is an elective, and I didn't take it the first time around. The second time around, I used Joyce, Leaffer, Jaszi, and Ochoa. It was a good casebook, clearly and logically organized, with good editing. I was a bit nervous using a textbook written by the professor teaching the course, since I had had problems with that as an undergrad, but it worked out fine. If I teach copyrights, this is probably the textbook I'll use.

Advanced Torts
I took this one as an elective the first time around. I used Kutner's casebook. It was clear, logical, and well-edited. I have no plans to take the class the second time around.

Other Useful Books:
The following books don't fit with any particular class, but they're useful nonetheless.

Black's Law Dictionary - If you've ever sat down and while reading a case wondered about the definition of "fraud in the factum", then this is the book for you. Learning the law is also an exercise in learning a new language, and this is the best "English to lawyer" translation guide out there.
Academic Legal Writing by Eugene Volokh - This book teaches you how to do the kind of legal writing they don't teach in a typical legal writing class. If you need to know how to write a seminar paper or a law review article, this book is invaluable. Professor Volokh will take you step by step from forming the idea all the way to publication. (I haven't quite published yet, but I followed the advice and have a paper that got me an A in my seminar. I'm going to try for publication in the next few months.)
I Can Has Cheezburger? by Professor Happycat - This book has absolutely nothing to do with the law, but it's funny. Sometimes it's useful to just take a break and laugh for a few minutes. If grammatically incorrect cat photos don't make you smile, then substitute your favorite funny book.