Five Tips for Law School I learned from my Exams

Throughout the exam process, I kept on thinking about certain things I needed to do better, things I had done well, and ideas that might help be become a better law student. I thought to ensure that such principles were taken to heart, I should write them down. Here are the five things I learned about from my exams.

1. Go Electronic: All of my notes up until this point have been in the  traditional paper-pen style, the preferred method of schoolwork in my undergraduate studies. I love the simplicity of bringing a scribbler and pen to class, which weigh only a few grams and cost no more than a dollar, as opposed a kilo or more of computer, load-up time, power cords, etc, with the cost of only a few hundred dollars. I like having open space in front of me, no hiding behind a screen. If I’m being totally honest, I didn’t think I would be disciplined enough to stay on task with a computer right in front of me as well. But while my hand written notes were good, they were scattered and hard to keep track of at times, but more particularly, they were not very conducive to writing out an outline. Instead of copy-paste and simplification, I had to retype out my notes a lot of the time. It is a minor note, but I’m going to have to go electronic in the New Year. Hopefully, I will only have Word open when I have my notebook on in class.

2. Outline throughout the year: I left my outline till the last moment, and the concept of an outline was a foreign one to me. I kept up with my readings and wrote notes, went to most of my classes, but the demand of this kind of study required something different. The great deal of materials, the great amount of cases I had to be familiar with, all the principles, the eight classes I have to keep separate within my mind, and ALL of it evaluated by only one exam put a lot of pressure on my ability to know all the material well. A summarization sheet or outline was something of great value, as an exam would test you on ALL that you learned, and would be your only source of evaluation. The writing of an outline, at the end of the term is a lot of work, particularly when all your notes are handwritten, and have to be summarized and retyped into the computer. As such, not only do I need to go electronic, but I have to work on my outlines bit by bit and slowly throughout the year. I can see myself breaking it down into two outlines…
   • Grand Outline: A master outline stating all the principles and all the cases. Slightly detailed notes on all the cases (more on that point below). This Grand or Master outline would be written throughout the year, corrected in class, and updated after readings. It potentially could be dozens of pages long. But key is that it would be worked on throughout my studies. I could potentially only use this for my closed book exams.
   • Petit Outline: This is the outline I would bring into the exam room for open book, and would be a thin version of the Grand Outline above. (However it could be useful to make one for closed book exams, simply as method of study). At the end of the year, I would tackle the Grand Outline, and try to cut and summarize into the smallest amount of paper possible. The cases would also be thinned out to one line in each aspect (FIHR), with a useful note or quote if desired.
3. Much shorter Case Briefs: Knowing now what I need to know having done exams and memos, the case briefs I had done before were far too detailed. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it slowed me down in my readings, and was far more time consuming than necessary. In fact, often enough, when time was too limited, I did not write anything, and simply read the cases. This meant that I had cases without any briefs, and the rest too detailed. There is just too much material to note in a detailed way, and when the notes are so detailed, it was very difficult to go through it all at the end of the year. As such I have to keep to the simple case brief system, preferably on the computer to make it that much easier for my outline at the end of the year. Keep to the system of FIHR, maybe even FIHRR (Facts, Issues, Held, Reasons, Ratios). I could and should get into detail for those (although much less than the paragraph by paragraph outlines previously done), particularly in my Grand Outline, but would be able to cut them down later (especially if electronic) for the outline I bring into the exam, the Petit Outline.
4. Keep up with readings: This I did do, and was my saving grace for the writing of these exams. I read almost all the material, and a familiarity with all of it kept me in a good place when it came time to write the exams. If anything, if my outlines are written up correctly, it should help me keep very familiar with all the cases. This was lacking in some of my exams, and particularly when the exam was closed book, I need a VERY good familiarity with all the cases, and I need to keep the reading habits I’ve been doing so far.
5. Remember the Sources: This I also did a fairly good job of, but one I saw as very important to keep up with in the future. It means nothing to say that I know a principle, but means everything if I can say what law or case I can point to as the source of that principle. Beside every principle, I should have a source cited. Some cases have really good quotes, and that proved useful as well. Beside every point, I should have the paragraph noted where I can find that principle. (This point will be much more useful to research papers) Sources have always been important, and a point I had drilled in me in writing out papers at undergrad. But in exams, knowing all the principles and sources of them in an outline will allow me to use them more efficiently.

The interesting thing is that I learned all of this in my undergraduate, and all the points above (particularly the last two) are things I did do in my undergraduate work, all be it in a much different setting. I think what I learn most is that Law School is something I know I can do, something I have done in a different form before, and something I could possibly do well in if I apply myself and develop good habits. It is nothing I haven’t done before, but it is a different mode of thinking than my philosophical education was up until this point. I have to become more disciplined in my arguments, more precise in my words. Really all those points can be summarized in one line.

Become the disciplined and diligent student your philosophical education taught you to be, clean in your arguments, and precise in your language.

Let us hope I follow my own advice in the New Year.