Orientation

Orientation Information for the entering class of 2010 will not be available until sometime in the summer of 2010. Check back then!

All incoming students will receive a schedule for the Introduction to the Study of Law Week along with individual class schedules, photo ID schedule, bookstore hours, and information regarding purchasing books and Legal Research and Writing shortly before orientation week.

A Quick Preview

During orientation week, incoming students will receive the following:

Class schedule with Legal Research and Writing assignments
Mailbox number and a New England Law | Boston email account
Student handbook
Student ID number
Photo ID schedule
Bar requirements

The following are some of the activities that have taken place at past orientations:

Dean’s welcome
Career Services welcome
Student Bar Association welcome
The Law School Experience from the Faculty’s Perspective
The First-Year Experience from the Student’s Perspective: Studying and Life
Lecture on introduction to law
Lecture on briefing a case
Introduction to computing by the chief information officer
Meeting with library reference staff and library tour
Photo IDs taken (back to top)

Orientation Assignment

A case brief is a written summary of a case. Briefing cases requires you to read a case carefully and then summarize its important parts in your own words. As you prepare for class each day, you should brief the cases assigned for that particular class. Additionally, case briefs are useful for reviewing course materials and for preparing an outline of the course.

During the summer, you will be mailed the "Briefing a Case" booklet, which provides more information on how to brief a case. The booklet also contains an assignment to brief and prepare two cases. This assignment will be discussed in the class on case briefing during orientation week.

Summer Reading List (2009)

Feeling a little anxious? Want to get a head start on the school year, but don’t know which books to pick up over the summer? New England Law | Boston wants you to be prepared, so we’ve put together a recommended summer reading list.

The books listed below provide a mix of information you might find useful. One book focuses on how to succeed in law school, while the others focus on specific legal cases. These books are available at many local and national bookstores, as well as at www.amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

Law School Preparation

The following books are intended to help prepare students for the law school experience. They discuss the study skills necessary for law school and contain practical advice for beginning law students.

Andrew J. McClurg, 1L of a Ride: A Well-Traveled Professor's Roadmap to Success in the First Year of Law School (Thomson West, 2009)
Herbert N. Ramy, Succeeding in Law School (Carolina Academic Press, 2006)
Ruth Ann McKinney, Reading Like a Lawyer: Time-Saving Strategies for Reading Law Like an Expert (Carolina Academic Press, 2005)

First-Semester Preview

This book provides a very brief introduction to the subjects studied in the first semester of law school.

Various Authors, Law In a Nutshell Series (West Publishing Paperback Series); includes individual titles in all first-year courses

Real-World Legal Cases

The following books are about actual legal cases, but they read like novels. They provide a good overview of the legal system and its operation. In addition, they may be required or recommended in some first-year courses.

Jonathan Harr, A Civil Action (Random House, 1995)
Richard Kluger, Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America's Struggle for Equality (various publishers; originally published in 1976)
Anthony Lewis, Gideon’s Trumpet (Vintage Reissue Edition, 1989)
Gerald Stern, The Buffalo Creek Disaster (originally published 1976) (available in many editions from several publishers) (back to top)