Much of what goes on in law school is irrelevant to “winning” or “losing.” It is thus easy to fall into a trap of assuming that one either strives and succeeds or slacks and fails. Those are false dichotomies, and this book speaks to this important point. Enjoying three years of law school is not (or should not be) the opposite of learning the law. It is possible to do both, and much of the advice here will help in setting the right balance. Also, there’s a tendency to follow a herd mentality: the assumption that there’s just one right way to do something, or just one way to study the law. Too often, this involves too much make-work and too much stress.

Most readers will pick this book up to learn just what on Earth would be in a book with a title such as this one. Slacker certainly doesn’t ordinarily go with law school. For those who might be offended, it’s a good-natured, tongue-firmly-in-cheek poke at all of us. We attorneys can take ourselves a little too seriously, and it’s important to know when (and how) to laugh. Law school can take even this sense of gravity to an extreme—as so much is riding on the outcome—that “too serious” can border on mental instability. In that sense, the title is just right. It’s an antidote to this as well: to what can set in among law school and its inhabitants.

The Slacker’s Guide to Law School: Success Without Stress takes a different…a refreshingly different…look at law school.