Time Spent Reading Forum

[highviolet]

What's normal for the amount of time spent reading the actual assignments in 1L? I know this differs for everyone but what's a good range for an average 15-20 page assignment? I feel like I'm spending too much time reading the notes, thinking about the concepts...but maybe I'm not?

[Jordan77]

Like you said, it depends on the complexity of those 15-20 pages. Sometimes I can bang out 15-20 in 20 minutes... other times I can spend 2 hours (maybe more or less) to fully digest the material. I know that I wasn't the only one spending hours on those small assignments too. Sometimes that would include going back and forth with an outline too to understand better what I am reading.

[NYC Law]

I brief and tend to read slowly to make sure I really digest everything, so it usually takes me about 2 hours for a 20 page assignment. If I hurry through it can probably be done in 30-45 minutes, but I'll forget all the nuances by the next day.

[target]

Why should you care how many hours people spend on reading? As long as you are not burned out doing what you do, keep doing them.

[Diet_Coke]

If I feel a case is really important I can spend up to an hour per 10 pages carefully reading and briefing, but otherwise I usually breeze through the casebooks. I'll take a really long time on the supplements though since I seem to get more from reading them. I'd say if you find yourself really understanding things from just briefing the cases, don't worry about spending long amounts of time on them. Whatever gets you there.

[queenlizzie13]

Depends. Torts and criminal law cases are short and read much faster, as in one assignment takes about an hour. I have a concise book for torts and many cases are literally half a page. Contracts is much slower (~2+ hours) and civ pro (depends on the case). I just finished Schaffer and my gosh, that was a brutal case (3 hours - 15 pages). I still need to look over it some more.

[micwrecka45]

Skim the notes. The only things in notes that will come up in exams are the items that will be discussed in class. Obviously you should read with some care, but your focus should be less on the reading and more on focusing 110% in class.

I find it more useful to skim readings before class, go to class, and then redo the reading right after class and you will be able to focus on those parts of the reading which you know will be important.

[Lasers]

if the casebook reading involves stuff that isn't a case, i will skim over it and spend no more than 15 minutes on it, only picking up the main idea of what they cover. if it's cases, it'll take me 1-2 hours more or less.

i've realized the background info they provide in the casebooks that aren't actually cases are useless; they aren't helpful in understanding anything and are often written poorly. if you have a substantive hornbook, hit that up instead. much quicker to read, much easier to understand, and you typically have a more comprehensive understanding.

[weee]

I found that roughly a 5 minutes per page average rate including taking notes is a good pace, if I am going much faster I'm either not getting it or not going to retain it very long.

[random5483]

It varies based on the class/professor.

In some classes, the professor spells out the law for you and you can take notes in class, which translates to quick reading prior to class. In other classes you have to basically learn from the book and get clarification (at best) in class, which translates to lots of time spent per page. To give you an idea, as a 1L, I could bust through 20 pages of crim law in 45 minutes, but I took about an hour for every 10 pages of propperty. My crim law professor spelt out the BLL, while my property professor used the Singer book which provides multiple variants/rules and never went over the rules in class.

[Gefuehlsecht]

What's normal for the amount of time spent reading the actual assignments in 1L? I know this differs for everyone but what's a good range for an average 15-20 page assignment? I feel like I'm spending too much time reading the notes, thinking about the concepts...but maybe I'm not?

There is no 'normal' amount of time spent on reading. Nobody can answer this question for you. Try to judge progress by keeping track whether you eventually get through your assigned reading faster as your semester progresses. Read until you understand the concepts presented. Not more, not less.

[bhan87]

I'm finding that if I stick only to casebook reading, I rarely spend more than 2 hours a day. But of course, reading supplements and hornbooks can double or even triple the time you need to spend on reading, so it really depends.

[agathos]

I'm finding that if I stick only to casebook reading, I rarely spend more than 2 hours a day. But of course, reading supplements and hornbooks can double or even triple the time you need to spend on reading, so it really depends.

+1
However ,usually I read hornbook for fun...too deep than what I need to know..