What's a good use of time? Forum

d cooper · Post by **d cooper** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 7:52 pm

If people are hardly reading/briefing cases, what exactly are people doing in September/October before outlining is really possible?

I'm doing most of the week's reading on the weekend, but I end up rereading most cases a few times throughout the week as well in order to better connect with the lecture and hash out my understanding of the rule. A lot of the time this feels like a marginal increase in understanding for the amount of time I spend. I haven't been spending too much time on assigned casebook "questions" sections because I assume these are generally just for cold call purposes. I also haven't been spending a lot of time on supplemental materials except to clarify points explicitly raised in cases/class.

Assuming I would be spending that time on school-related activity anyway, I want to make sure I'm not missing anything I could be doing during this period to set myself up for success later in the semester.

ymmv · Post by **ymmv** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 7:59 pm

d cooper wrote:If people are hardly reading/briefing cases, what exactly are people doing in September/October before outlining is really possible?

Getting drunk. Enjoying the 3-year vacation before biglaw.

BigZuck · Post by **BigZuck** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 8:03 pm

Definitely don't keep rereading cases. That's valuable fun time being squandered.

Do the reading, go to class. That's it. Enjoy your copious amounts of free time right now.

shifty_eyed · Post by **shifty_eyed** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 9:56 pm

I reviewed my class notes after every week or two and typed up questions that I wanted to ask the professors. Then I tried to answer the questions myself, and only asked them what I was still confused about. This doesn't take very long, but it's better than rereading the cases. Basically less time preparing for class, more time synthesizing what was learned in class.

heavoldgotjuice · Post by **heavoldgotjuice** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 10:19 pm

Excessive masturbation

jbagelboy · Post by **jbagelboy** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 12:12 am

Seriously, go get to know your classmates and do something fun. If you're in a new city, explore its cultural life. Go to bar reviews and collect free food. Attend debates and lectures and panels offered by the university at large. If you're sexually frustrated, its tinder time (or whatever single people do these days). Or catch up on TV and play video games. Basically anything but worrying on TLS about how you aren't doing enough work the first two weeks of september for a couple hours of exams more than three months away.

Mal Reynolds · Post by **Mal Reynolds** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 12:27 am

The weird part is that you really can't do all that much right now. Welcome to law school.

Young Marino · Post by **Young Marino** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 2:13 am

Is it okay to miss a day of torts and crim law at this point in the semester?

FKASunny · Post by **FKASunny** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 2:36 am

Young Marino wrote:Is it okay to miss a day of torts and crim law at this point in the semester?

Just in case you're not joking, yes. Miss class, typhoid Mary

rinkrat19 · Post by **rinkrat19** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 3:17 am

Do the important things like drink, sleep, and exercise that you won't really have time for later.

Then maybe you won't want to kill yourself quite so badly when it's finals time and you realize all you've eaten for five days is vending machine popcorn and jimmy john's delivery.

YYZ · Post by **YYZ** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 5:45 am

shifty_eyed wrote:I reviewed my class notes after every week or two and typed up questions that I wanted to ask the professors. Then I tried to answer the questions myself, and only asked them what I was still confused about. This doesn't take very long, but it's better than rereading the cases. Basically less time preparing for class, more time synthesizing what was learned in class.

This is an awesome approach. It's a mistake to spend too much time reading, briefing cases before class. It's easy to figure out enough about the case to survive the socratic questions.

Let the prof tell you what's important in the case--don't spend much time figuring it out on your own. Spend lots of time re-reading and reviewing your class notes. That's the info you need to know really well by the end of the semester.

In law school, you have to take some risks--you can't do it all (brief cases, prep heavily for prof's socratic questions, supplements, etc.).

star fox · Post by **star fox** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 1:28 pm

Mal Reynolds wrote:The weird part is that you really can't do all that much right now. Welcome to law school.

Glad to know this conforms with my feelings at the moment of having that feeling of wanting to do "more" but not interested in re - reading cases. Don't care at all about cold calling. Not a whole lot to work with just yet in terms of E & E's.

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