As you know, law school requires plenty of reading. Typically, professors assign ~30-50 pages per class twice a week. At most law schools, you will not actually be tested on the course material until the end of the semester. Your final exam compromises 80-100% of your grade. Having one exam months away does not mean you should sit back and then cram for the weeks leading up to finals. A few all-nighters will not do the trick because of the vast quantity of information. It is also not sufficient to memorize the information, you need to understand the case law well enough to apply it to fictional hypothetical situations. For most people, excelling in law school means planning ahead and putting in consistent effort throughout the semester. Here are three things you should incorporate into your study routine to ace exams:
1. Brief the cases from your assigned readings. Most students annotate their course readings by briefing cases. I covered using IRAC to structure exam responses in an earlier post, check it out! Briefing employs the same method to extract the most important aspects of a case. I will provide more detail on the mechanics of briefing in a later post. For now, I recommend doing a quick read/skim of the case to get a sense of what the major issues are and then take a deeper dive. For the second read, you can either brief as you go or wait until you have digested the case to articulate the issue(s) presented, the rule(s), the court’s application of the rule(s) to the facts of the case and the court’s conclusion. In addition to briefing, note any policy issues underlying the court’s decision. For example, as discussed in an earlier post, in the Lefkowitz case (the fur coat contracts case), the court seemed to reach its decision with the goal of preventing deceptive advertising practices in mind.
2. Take notes in class. After you have read and briefed your readings, you will attend class for the professor’s lecture. Do your best to take copious notes during each session. I know it is old-school, but I took notes by hand. I would have been too easily distracted by working from a laptop. If your professor spends time on a particular case or especially in constitutional law courses, a dissent to the majority opinion, make a note because these issues will probably be tested.
3. Outline. Generally, outlining involves synthesizing your case briefs and class notes into one (relatively) concise study guide. I recommend starting on your outline for each course about a month into the semester (at the latest). It could also be helpful to get outlines from students who have already taken the course as a starting point, especially if outlining is new to you. For each case, you should list only the facts that impacted the court’s decision. Outlines should be leaner than your course notes and case briefs. I found it useful to organize my outlines according to the course syllabus. The structure of the syllabus often reflects the professor's view on how the course material interrelates. Like in your course notes and briefs, incorporate policy points and aspects of a case that the professor seemed particularly keen on (i.e. a notable dissent, whether the professor agreed or disagreed with the ruling, etc.)
I know these processes seem overwhelming and like a ton of work. Not to worry, over time you will settle into a rhythm. That being said, these methods are by no means mandatory. I only share them because this is how most of my classmates (myself included) prepared for law school final exams. Good luck and you've got this!
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