One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School
Scott Turow

I recently realized that I want to go to law school at some point. The plan is to work to bring my GPA up to a respectable level so that I can at least apply to the schools that I’d like. I want to at least apply to one of the top 100 law schools since I honestly don’t see the point in going to anything less. The contacts that you make at the better schools are some of the best you’ll ever have. These contacts are similar to those someone who went to a top business school would recieve.

So, while browsing around in my local Barnes and Noble, I happened across One L. I picked it up and read the back cover. It was enough to draw me in. I bought it immediately and started reading it.

This is the author’s autobiographical account of his first year at Harvard Law School (herein know as HLS), the #2 law school in the country (second only to Yale), in 1975. The author recounts his emotions and the emotions of those he is closest with during the first two semesters. The range of emotions felt during this time, from elation, to down-right terror are exhibited. At the beginning everyone is excited about learning the law. When the semesters finally come to a close and exams are looming the mood quickly becomes quite worrisome.

Overall, I thought the book was an excellent telling of the author’s journey ( he was a writer before becoming a lawyer ) which kept me engaged throughout. I would recommend it to anyone who thinks they would want to go to law school. While some of the tendencies of the professors described in the book are no practiced with such intensity, such as the Socratic method, the book is still an enlightening guide into the world that is Law School.

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