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For those of you who were successful during 1L.

When you do it doesn't matter. Just pick whatever works best for YOU. I didn't write out briefs for anything. I did the Law School Confidential book briefing and just worked on adding things to my large outline rather than briefing whole cases. That worked well for me, but may not work well for you. Develop your habits and see what happens.

txdude45 wrote:When you do it doesn't matter. Just pick whatever works best for YOU.

This. But I don't recommend trying to get the reading done day of. A huge part of 1L success is stress management. Don't set yourself up with a schedule that adds to your stress. If you wind up getting distracted for whatever reason, there is a case that just takes you longer to wrap your head around, whatever, you'll wind up stressed and rushed trying to get the reading finished before class.

What worked for me was taking a few hours over the weekend day to get Mon (and sometimes Tues) reading out of the way. Then on Monday I'd be reading for Tues or Wed, Tuesday I'd be reading for Weds/Thurs, and on Fri I could be hung over from bar review and take the day off entirely from reading for class.

Emma. wrote:

txdude45 wrote:When you do it doesn't matter. Just pick whatever works best for YOU.

This. But I don't recommend trying to get the reading done day of. A huge part of 1L success is stress management. Don't set yourself up with a schedule that adds to your stress. If you wind up getting distracted for whatever reason, there is a case that just takes you longer to wrap your head around, whatever, you'll wind up stressed and rushed trying to get the reading finished before class.

What worked for me was taking a few hours over the weekend day to get Mon (and sometimes Tues) reading out of the way. Then on Monday I'd be reading for Tues or Wed, Tuesday I'd be reading for Weds/Thurs, and on Fri I could be hung over from bar review and take the day off entirely from reading for class.

Thanks for the advice guys! I really appreciate it

I usually read the day/ night before. First semester I wrote up a brief each time. Second, I went away from it and did better grade wise. Do what you're comfortable with and what constitutes your best. Like other replies have said, do what works best for you, and remember its a MARATHON not a sprint.

Good Luck!

I read a week to weeks ahead. Problem is you forget the details when it class, but of course your not graded on your cold calling ability. Only negative might be if your memory isn't sufficiently jogged in time to write down something you would otherwise recognize as important. Good briefs solved that for me though (mine were usually 1/3 page to a page)

Emma. wrote:

txdude45 wrote:When you do it doesn't matter. Just pick whatever works best for YOU.

This. But I don't recommend trying to get the reading done day of. A huge part of 1L success is stress management. Don't set yourself up with a schedule that adds to your stress. If you wind up getting distracted for whatever reason, there is a case that just takes you longer to wrap your head around, whatever, you'll wind up stressed and rushed trying to get the reading finished before class.

What worked for me was taking a few hours over the weekend day to get Mon (and sometimes Tues) reading out of the way. Then on Monday I'd be reading for Tues or Wed, Tuesday I'd be reading for Weds/Thurs, and on Fri I could be hung over from bar review and take the day off entirely from reading for class.

Basically this. But I never briefed, for me it felt like a waste of time. Just read it, try to form a short summary of the rule or the main point of why the case is used in the class, and then take some notes in class to get the prof's take. You won't really understand the big picture until closer to the end of the semester anyway, so don't kill yourself in Sept or Oct.

Also, you get graded on the test, that is all. Prep the whole semester with the test in mind, i.e. you only need to learn the case to the extent that you can use it on a test and, on most tests, you just need a strong understanding of the main concepts in the class and the cases that exemplify them (and the ability to use these concepts to diagnose a set of facts systemically). So, don't get too hung up on facts/details unless you feel the prof is going to require them (then go back and learn them at the end of the semester). And begin looking at tests and learning how to answer a law school test as soon as you get enough law to try out on.

Emma. wrote:

txdude45 wrote:When you do it doesn't matter. Just pick whatever works best for YOU.

This. But I don't recommend trying to get the reading done day of. A huge part of 1L success is stress management. Don't set yourself up with a schedule that adds to your stress. If you wind up getting distracted for whatever reason, there is a case that just takes you longer to wrap your head around, whatever, you'll wind up stressed and rushed trying to get the reading finished before class.

What worked for me was taking a few hours over the weekend day to get Mon (and sometimes Tues) reading out of the way. Then on Monday I'd be reading for Tues or Wed, Tuesday I'd be reading for Weds/Thurs, and on Fri I could be hung over from bar review and take the day off entirely from reading for class.

I did this as well. Didn't have class Friday, so usually put in 1-3 hours each day Fri-Sun so that I wouldn't have too much to do during the week.

I would add a third category that describes myself and many of my friends: "I read/briefed the majority of my cases the night before which enabled me to remember them better as the professor discussed them in often meant I was still reading them during but did not really help me remember them in class.

I always thought the people who completed all reading for the week before were super on top of their shit though. I don't think it made much difference come exam time since we all relearned everything (or learned it for the first time) in the last 3-4 weeks anyway

Didn't really care about remembering the cases the day of that much, cared more about having notes on the cases, so I read ahead as much as I really could. This let me slack more during LRW assignment time or whenever I didn't feel up to it or when I started outlining more.

But TCR is do what you want to do.

i took care of readings way ahead of time

but i learn best through self teaching & never got much out of class

& then again, im also a median bro

so just do u

I read the night before because a week later you will have forgotten everything. I also fell behind in all my class as far as reading goes and gave up in most classes after the first month. I only read for the classes where the professor cold-called. I still did well as a 1L and transferred to a better school.

Generally, reading for class is a flame and its only use is to make you sound smart if you get cold called and for making you feel like you are being productive when you probably really aren't. My 1st semester I did ALL the reading and usually did it way ahead of time. 2nd semester I read for my first class the night before, and then before each of the rest of my classes I had at least a 1 hour break and I just skimmed the readings during those breaks (but I got DESTROYED on cold calls) and my grades actually went up slightly. (Disclaimer: For civ pro, which I had during my 2nd semester, I would re-read everything AFTER class because civ pro was by far the hardest law school class I took and no one, not even the USSC, really understands it. See, e.g., Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Allapattah Services. Civ pro also changes a lot and even the outlines from the year before were outdated in some areas.)

MoneyMay wrote:Civ pro also changes a lot and even the outlines from the year before were outdated in some areas.

Good to know!

dd235 wrote:

MoneyMay wrote:Civ pro also changes a lot and even the outlines from the year before were outdated in some areas.

Good to know!

Heh hopefully it calmed down (I honestly don't know, and I honestly don't know if I should know...) but for my year at least shit hit the fan the USSC session right before I started so that wasn't fun. I do think my year was a bit of an outlier though but compared to Ks, property, and really anything not con law it changes a lot.

Yeah there is no best way. I read night before / day of class but I'm generally a quick reader I guess. I found it most helpful because what I just read was fresh in my brain, but I wouldn't say it was better in general, but it was best for me.

NotMyRealName09 wrote:Yeah there is no best way. I read night before / day of class but I'm generally a quick reader I guess. I found it most helpful because what I just read was fresh in my brain, but I wouldn't say it was better in general, but it was best for me.

I'm the same way. Whenever I read more than a couple days ahead of time, I forgot stuff. It didn't make a big difference because class would refresh my memory, and honestly, skimming a few minutes before class is fine every once in awhile.

Always read before if I read at all so I could follow the class. I had a sense of what was important in the readings by using common sense. If I couldn't "self teach" reading before would have been waste of time so I'd have changed it around.

Where's the option of "scanned them briefly during class in case I got cold called, but otherwise didn't read for class".