16 Gifts For Law Students in 2020

Law school belongs to the organized and the AmazonBasics Laptop Backpack helps the law student in your life hit the ground running. There’s plenty of space inside for their books, notepads, handouts, papers and more as well as two exterior pockets for important peripherals such as pens, recording devices, snacks to maintain energy, extra batteries, chargers, power banks and the like.

Double stitching in all the key places ensures this college backpack will stand up to the rigors of academic life and the water-resistant shell means that important papers aren’t toasted if the student gets caught in the rain. The padded, insulated laptop sleeve can accommodate up to a 17-inch screen and the shoulder straps are also well-padded for those long slogs from class to class. If you’re wondering what type of gift to get your son, daughter, wife, husband, brother, sister or friend headed to law school this is a great one to start with and earns our Best Choice designation.

If the law school experience could be boiled down to one word it would likely be “reading”. There are legal history and foundational principles to study, mountains of legal precedents to sift through and of course, case law. So much case law. Since much of the nation’s legal documentation is still only available in bound form (Harvard Law School alone has nearly 40,000,000 pages of case law on hand) your student is going to need a hand dealing with the avalanche of reading that’s going to descend on them and the Bookworm Book Accessory is the perfect solution.

It’s likely once your law student experiences the Bookworm they’ll never go back to reading any other way. The Bookworm lets a person get in the reading they need while freeing up their other hand for things like cooking, holding on in the subway, eating and drinking one of the several million cups of coffee they’ll likely consume while in law school. And since the reading doesn’t stop once a person graduates it’s also one of the great graduation or Christmas gifts for lawyers.

Studying law leaves very little time for other things, including important things like sleeping and eating. Many law students revert to eating foods that don’t require lots of preparation. That typically means fast food. But there’s fast food and then there’s fast food. The first kind will wind up packing on pounds that will be difficult to lose once school is over. The second is the kind that’s actually healthy.

The Cooking Light 5 Ingredient 15 Minute Cookbook is proof positive that with minimal effort even the law student can eat well. The cookbook was the brainchild of the editors at Cooking Light Magazine who were driven by a simple challenge: how many delicious, nutritious meals can be created using just 5 ingredients while spending no more than 15 minutes in preparation? A lot, apparently.

Most law students who don’t succeed fall victims to poor organization. There are a million things to be cognizant of while in law school including your next class, reading lists, papers due, pending oral arguments and more. And at the same time, the law student needs to maintain something akin to a personal life. It’s a lot to keep track of and the best way to do so is to use this beautiful Planner 2019 with Pen Loop.

This academic diary planner ensures your student won’t lose track of important dates and assignments and that they won’t fall victim to procrastination. Getting in the habit of using a first-rate planner like this while in school will pay enormous dividends as your friend or loved one embarks on their legal career. There’s an elastic closure, 2 full-length bookmark ribbons, holiday list, slots for tech and business cards and an exterior pen loop so you always have a writing implement at your disposal.

All the reading and writing that comes with law school can lead to eye strain and worse. The LuminoLite LED Book Light produces clean LED light that is many times more effective than light emitted from old-fashioned incandescent bulbs or fluorescents. “Clean” in this case means it takes less light to produce the same number of lumens and that such light doesn’t typically produce glare.

The LuminoLite Rechargeable LED Book Light should be on your list of gifts for law students. The 3000K LED light emitted by the LuminoLite is ideal for reading and will eliminate eye strain and fatigue. The LuminoLite is also environmentally friendly since there aren’t any disposable batteries involved and the infinitely flexible neck of the LuminoLite means your student will always be able to deliver the light where it’s needed.

Sennheiser HD 4.40BT Wireless headphones provide extraordinary sound quality whether you’re listening to the radio or you’re synced to one of your other Bluetooth enabled devices. The aptX codex employed here allows your law student to listen to recorded lectures, take necessary music breaks or handle phone calls all without removing their headset.

The headphones themselves produce crystal clear highs with robust bass lines and fully-rounded audio effects. Near Field Communication with compatible smart devices drives stable Bluetooth connections that eliminate disruptions and save time and hassles. These comfortable all-around headphones also feature intuitive controls that make audio settings a snap and allow your student to switch effortlessly between a recorded lecture and a phone call from mom. Our handy guide to noise-canceling headphones features more great products like this.

While the dominant reality of law school will no doubt be reading, the law student in your life is going to need to be properly fueled in order to tackle an endless stream of legal tomes and the papers they generate. For that purpose, there is the Bodum Chambord French Press Coffee Maker. The Chambord design is known the world over and is synonymous with quality workmanship and quality coffee.

The borosilicate glass used to fashion the beaker of the Chambord coffee machine is extremely light yet also extremely tough. It’s highly heat-resistant and won’t cloud up after a few trips through the dishwasher either. What it will do is provide your favorite law student with the jump start they need in the morning and that extra gear they could use before launching into an important paper.

The adage “You never get a second chance to make a first impression” is still true and nowhere more so than in the legal profession where people need to completely trust you, your motives and your expertise. Showing up with a dirty, dog-eared notepad and an old mechanical pencil isn’t going to endear you to people who need high-quality legal assistance. But pulling the Saddleback Leather Co. Full Grain Leather Folio from your briefcase will.

The Saddleback Leather portfolio is crafted from full grain leather and designed in such a way as to minimize seams. There’s a durable pigskin lining, padded inserts, plenty of slots for pens, business cards and assorted tech as well as sleeves to accommodate a laptop or laptop and tablet. Perfect for A4 sized-notepads and standard size prints with additional slots for 5×8 inch notebooks and more. This is a great leather gift that keeps on giving.

While it’s important to make sure the folio a lawyer pulls out of their bag is befitting of their station it’s just as important that the bag they remove that folio from is a high-quality affair that reflects equally well on them. In the realm of law school graduation gift ideas, the Bostanten Leather Briefcase is a cut above the rest. It’s durable, secure and eminently tasteful while also being practical and more affordable than it looks.

Inside there’s a large central compartment along with a pocket for a laptop, a cell phone pocket and a zippered pocket for those things that shouldn’t be exposed with the bag open. There is also a pair of exterior pockets that provide quick access to things like gloves, umbrellas, sunglasses and more. The Bostanten Leather Briefcase features a supple genuine leather finish with robust double stitching throughout and silver hardware items. It’s the bag your law student deserves and our Premium Pick.

If there is one thing most law students find themselves in dire need of at some point it’s a good laugh. And some first-rate haikus as well. For example:

Three straight days of study
No sleep in my lonely dorm
Or billable hours

Okay, we just made that one up but you get the picture. If the law student in your life is taking on a chalky appearance and starting to mutter things like “Miranda was convicted anyway” during dinner he or she definitely needs to put down the law books and pick up Haikus for Lawyers. Law students of all ages will appreciate the ability of the author to reduce complex issues to short, easily understood statements. This sort of distillation is a skill every law student needs to cultivate. That’s why this book makes a perfect fun stocking stuffer gift. 

Besides reading and drinking coffee law students tend to do something else quite a bit: write. There are countless notes to be taken during lectures while reading up on case law and while trying to make sense of complex legal issues. And while pens get all the press there is something to be said for the ability to take the eraser to paper. The GraphGear 500 is a beautifully balanced writing pen that will make note-taking a pleasure instead of the academic equivalent of waterboarding.

The GraphGear 500 provides a nice long tip that isn’t going to be bullied by rulers. It’s also weighted toward the business end to take the stress off your wrist and fingers, which is important during a long day of note-taking. The GraphGear comes pre-loaded with Pentel Hi-Polymer lead that produces a bold, clear line. Best of all your law student won’t ever have to sharpen it.

The Supreme Court is where the future direction of the country is really decided. The landmark decisions here have each had a profound effect on the lives of the citizenry. Since studying Supreme Court decisions is an important part of any law student’s education the Supreme Court Heat Changing Mug will ensure the law student in your family never loses sight of the court’s most important rulings.

One of the more offbeat gift ideas for law students the bold Supreme Court Heat Changing Mug is more than a conversation piece. Each mug is printed with 30 famous (and infamous) Supreme Court cases that changed the direction of the nation. Just remember not to put it in the dishwasher or 200+ years of legal rulings will be washed away.

As we mentioned earlier in this review of the best gifts for law students it’s important that they have ways to relieve the stress and lighten things up a bit. The Bey-Berk Legal Decision Maker Paperweight will help them do just that. This novelty paperweight features silky smooth action and produces any one of 8 potential courses of action: plea bargain, settle, guilty, insanity plea, ask mom, not guilty and our personal favorite; beg.

All the hours of research and carefully crafting a defense or prosecution can now be sidestepped with just a flip of the wrist. Just kidding of course, but being able to produce a chuckle after a marathon study session will go a long way toward keeping your loved one grounded and their spirits up.

The Aibag Vintage Small Canvas Messenger Bag is one of those law school gift ideas that’s as fashionable as it is practical. It’s light but incredibly durable, fashioned as it is out of high-quality sail-grade canvas. The stitching and detailing throughout the bag is remarkable and the genuine leather trim feature on the flap adds to the overall sense of quality and durability.

Inside the Aibag messenger bag is brilliantly arranged so as to bring order to the chaos that law school can sometimes create. The bag itself is just short of 12 inches tall by 10 inches wide and 2.5 inches deep. It’s lightweight and compact but still large enough to hold scads of legal documents along with a laptop, notepads, writing instruments, cell phone, printouts and more. The icing on the cake is that it costs about the same as a large pizza. Hmmm… pizzaaa….

Most law students spend the better part of their time studying and writing. Problem is they don’t always have a desk handy. With the Honey-Can-Do Portable Laptop Lap Desk that’s never a problem. Whether they’re in the park, on the train, on their bed or on a plane they’ll always have the stable surface they need to bang out their paper so they can get on to the next assignment.

This portable tabletop is fashioned from durable medium density fiberboard (MDF) that will stand up to years of use without complaint. The desk measures 23 x 16 x 2.5 inches and won’t warp or crack. It’s the perfect size for laptops and can be carried along with the laptop in a decent-sized laptop bag.

So, your law student has the coffee press, now all they need is a way to keep their java hot while they study. As such, the last item on our list of gifts for law students is this 20 oz insulated mug from Yeti. Fabricated from durable 18/8 stainless steel this double-walled mug has a nice heft to it, never gets unbearably hot to hold and has a one-of-a-kind magnetic lid that effortlessly stays where you put it.

YETI Rambler is the perfect insulated mug for those long winter days shuttling between the law library, the dorm, and the classroom. It holds enough coffee, tea, hot soup, hot chocolate or just plain spring water to keep you going for hours and the no sweat design keeps hands and nearby papers nice and dry. The DuraCoat finish won’t fade with time and the whole thing is dishwasher safe.