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Is it smart to buy the case-brief book keyed to your casebook, instead of actually taking the time to brief cases? I've come to realize that every time that I am doing a reading, I just get extremely stressed out whenever a case pops up, because so many of the words are foreign to me and I am not exactly sure as to what they are talking about all the time, until I go online and try and look up the facts. Will relying on a case-brief book keyed to my casebook come back to bite me in the ass? Is it a waste of time to brief cases?

(Yes I am a 1L, and I feel completely lost in my classes, somebody please tell me that this is normal?)

Why don't you just google the cases or use westlaw's "brief it" function? I'm a 1L as well so others probably could offer better insight, but purchasing a brief book seems unnecessary and expensive. And I've found reading the online briefs prior to the actual opinions lends more clarity to my understanding of it. The brief provides a context and "tells" your brain what to look for.

IHeartPhilly wrote:Why don't you just google the cases or use westlaw's "brief it" function? I'm a 1L as well so others probably could offer better insight, but purchasing a brief book seems unnecessary and expensive. And I've found reading the online briefs prior to the actual opinions lends more clarity to my understanding of it. The brief provides a context and "tells" your brain what to look for.

Thanks for responding. So even if I depend on online sources to brief my cases, is it going to come back and haunt me in the future?

The "Casenote" series are not only worthless, but they grossly misstate the law in many cases. Save your money and find them online.

AVBucks4239 wrote:The "Casenote" series are not only worthless, but they grossly misstate the law in many cases. Save your money and find them online.

Thanks for the heads up.

I recommend THIS SITE (free) over buying commercial briefs. It's probably best to experiment with briefing, etc. to see what works best for you.

The end game of reading and briefing cases is to know the black letter law and understand how it applies to a set of facts. Some people think Cali and E&Es work best while others do well by reading and briefing cases.

I.P. Daly wrote:I recommend THIS SITE (free) over buying commercial briefs. It's probably best to experiment with briefing, etc. to see what works best for you.

The end game of reading and briefing cases is to know the black letter law and understand how it applies to a set of facts. Some people think Cali and E&Es work best while others do well by reading and briefing cases.

You're awesome! Thank you!