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

Scott Turow

Aug 2010 · Sold by Farrar, Straus and Giroux

About this ebook

One L, Scott Turow's journal of his first year at law school and a best-seller when it was first published in 1977, has gone on to become a virtual bible for prospective law students.

Not only does it introduce with remarkable clarity the ideas and issues that are the stuff of legal education; it brings alive the anxiety and competiveness--with others and, even more, with oneself--that set the tone in this crucible of character building.

Each September, a new crop of students enter Harvard Law School to begin an intense, often grueling, sometimes harrowing year of introduction to the law. Turow's group of One Ls are fresh, bright, ambitious, and more than a little daunting. Even more impressive are the faculty. Will the One Ls survive? Will they excel? Will they make the Law Review, the outward and visible sign of success in this ultra-conservative microcosm? With remarkable insight into both his fellows and himself, Turow leads us through the ups and downs, the small triumphs and tragedies of the year, in an absorbing and thought-provoking narrative that teaches the reader not only about law school and the law but about the human beings who make them what they are.

In the new afterword for this edition of One L, the author looks back on law school from the perspective of ten years' work as a lawyer and offers some suggestions for reforming legal education.

Ratings and reviews

If you are thinking about going to law school, I highly suggest reading this book. I ordered this book from Chapters, and have the most recently published version. Paid over double the price here. And I don't regret it. It was a great insight into how law school works, and the way he flows old journal entries together with post law school comments, is really well done and unnoticeable, I can't tell a difference, and don't feel any rift.

I bought this book at Barnes and Noble's for like 15 bucks (paperback). It is a really informative and in depth. It should be understood that the author went to law school in 70s, so somethings are different, but the genealogy rigor of 1L is the same. I often found myself stupid by the fact some 1Ls didn't know certain legal jargon or topics that are common parlance today. If your like me, and are wondering what it takes to go to a prestigious law school (like Harvard, Stanford. Or Yale), then this is it.

It explained a lot about what his sincere experience was. I wish there wasn't as much vulgar language.

About the author

Scott Turow is the author of worldwide bestselling novels including Presumed Innocent, Ordinary Heroes, The Burden of Proof, Reversible Errors and Limitations. His works of nonfiction include One L, his journal from his first year at law school, and Ultimate Punishment, which he wrote after serving on the Illinois commission that investigated the administration of the death penalty and influenced Governor George Ryan’s unprecedented commutation of the sentences of 164 death row inmates on his last day in office. Ultimate Punishment won the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award. He lives outside Chicago, where he is partner in the firm of SNR Denton (formerly Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal).