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Hey all,

I'm just curious. How many of you 1Ls are still briefing at this point in the semester?


If any of you still are, how exactly are you briefing? I assume that by now most people have learned better than to continue doing full briefs that include stuff like procedural history and essay-long facts sections. What do you put in besides the basic facts, the rules that you extract on your own, and any extra nuances or deductions that the profs give you?

I continued briefing throughout my entire first year.

zeth006 wrote:Hey all,

Just wanted to know how many of you 1Ls are still briefing at this point in the semester.. I think by now most people have learned better than to continue doing full briefs that include stuff like procedural history and essay-long facts sections.

... wording of post that encourages people to post responses on why they are still briefing.

Yep. But I mostly snipe the facts and proc. posture from Lexis.

I still brief. I make them mostly for protection against cold-calls--my profs usually have pretty thorough inquisitions and want us to know the facts and PH. Briefing also helps commit the issues/rules to memory.

It takes about 1-2 minutes to brief a case after reading.

rynabrius wrote:I continued briefing throughout my entire first year.

... and then?

I know all of 1 person who briefed through law school. Most people quit around week 3- it's just not a profitable use of most people's time.

IAFG wrote:

rynabrius wrote:I continued briefing throughout my entire first year.

... and then?

I'm not taking case-based courses this year. If I were, I think I would still be briefing. It doesn't take that long and it forces me to pay attention to the material--while annoying, this assists recall.

rynabrius wrote:

IAFG wrote:

rynabrius wrote:I continued briefing throughout my entire first year.

... and then?

I'm not taking case-based courses this year. If I were, I think I would still be briefing. It doesn't take that long and it forces me to pay attention to the material--while annoying, this assists recall.

i meant, how did you do rank-wise, do you think it was worth your time, etc.

IAFG wrote:

rynabrius wrote:

IAFG wrote:

rynabrius wrote:I continued briefing throughout my entire first year.

... and then?

I'm not taking case-based courses this year. If I were, I think I would still be briefing. It doesn't take that long and it forces me to pay attention to the material--while annoying, this assists recall.

i meant, how did you do rank-wise, do you think it was worth your time, etc.

I ranked first at a t25 and transferred to U.Chicago.

Correlation doesn't imply causation, though, so I cannot say if it was worth my time.

rynabrius wrote: I ranked first at a t25 and transferred to U.Chicago.

Correlation doesn't imply causation, though, so I cannot say if it was worth my time.

of course, i just thought it was relevant. i suppose someone who outlines everything stays pretty engaged with the material throughout.

cahesu wrote:

zeth006 wrote:Hey all,

Just wanted to know how many of you 1Ls are still briefing at this point in the semester.. I think by now most people have learned better than to continue doing full briefs that include stuff like procedural history and essay-long facts sections.

... wording of post that encourages people to post responses on why they are still briefing.

Apologies. Hammered in the post without 2nd thought. Edited for coherence.

rynabrius wrote:

IAFG wrote:

rynabrius wrote:

IAFG wrote: ... and then?

I'm not taking case-based courses this year. If I were, I think I would still be briefing. It doesn't take that long and it forces me to pay attention to the material--while annoying, this assists recall.

i meant, how did you do rank-wise, do you think it was worth your time, etc.

I ranked first at a t25 and transferred to U.Chicago.

Correlation doesn't imply causation, though, so I cannot say if it was worth my time.

Thanks for the response. The reason I ask is my damn LWR class is starting to really take time away frmo other classes. For the first time in a while, I walked into my K class almost clueless for the whole hour. Then again, I had to half-ass the readings in the morning.

Even though I didn't get called on, it sucked feeling kind of lost. I'm never doing that again. I'm open to the possibility that I may be able to concentrate and pay attention without briefing, but I've figured that mini-briefing (get/facts then tack on prof's analysis, policy considerations, etc) might help me outline better.

I never started briefing the classical sense. 2 of my 3 classes have laptop bans, for property, one of my banned classes, i may occasionally print out the lexis brief if the case is some uber dense british nonsense, but for the other classes i just read the cases the day before and have a good memory. Briefing for me is a waste of time. I've survived multiple cold calls fine so far, not that even factors into my final grade per se.

My briefs have gotten very...well, brief. But I do try and always brief my cases. If time is a huge issue that day I will use a lexis brief just to get me by in class but I try to stay away from this as briefing seems beneficial.

I book brief. I don't bother typing something up, but I always read the cases and mark the important stuff. I don't ever just use a canned or Google brief in place of reading the case.

I book brief though I type a very very basic brief into my notes to simplify outlining later (I hope).

I get the relevant rule(s). And the page number....just in case.

I compile the rules in a file so i don't have to search for it when doing outlines.

rynabrius wrote:
I ranked first at a t25 and transferred to U.Chicago.

Correlation doesn't imply causation, though, so I cannot say if it was worth my time.

Nicely done. Congratulations!

I'm not briefing any more, I also don't think I'll finish in the top 1/3. Take it as you will.

.

I switched over to book briefing a couple of weeks ago (I still id the traditional brief sections in the margins). It does make getting cold called slightly more inconvenient/nerve wracking, but it's probably saved me apx. 5 minutes of typing after reading each case, which over the course of reading for 4 classes each night, adds up. If anything, the switch has forced me to internalize the cases more, since I know I won't have the crutch of the brief to rely on in class.

kalvano wrote:I book brief. I don't bother typing something up, but I always read the cases and mark the important stuff. I don't ever just use a canned or Google brief in place of reading the case.

+1

I'm still briefing I am going to stop next week?

If you don't mind doing it, and it helps you, don't stop.

I find it easier to just highlight some key facts in case I get called upon and to note the rule in the margins.