Reading more efficiently Forum

[MrSam]

Apparently I have resorted to my old habit of reading every little detail in the assigned readings...this worked in UG, but is clearly not working in law school. Looking for some tips regarding efficiently and effectively reading for class.
What must I absolutely read?
What can be skipped?
Advice on skimming?

Thanks in advance!

[oshberg28]

Are you a 1L? IMO, reading cases efficiently is a skill that is learned through reading hundreds of cases. Sometimes, the case requires you to read the details - you won't know until you start reading it; and other times the details are not important, but you won't know that until you learn how to spot unimportant details. Many students don't learn to read cases efficiently until they are a 3L, and some don't learn at all. I don't think there's an easy way out here - it requires practice.

[SilvermanBarPrep]

Use a combination of your casebook and a supplement for the class. Reading cases is a skill that really is important and a pick part of a legal education. But that alone doesn't make it productive for preparing for a final exam. The supplements will tell you what is important from each case as well as how the cases connect (essential!).

Sean (Silverman Bar Exam Tutoring)

[unclej]

how to read more efficiently?
um....don't read anything assigned by your useless teacher. read emmanuel.

[Aergia]

Try to find a really good outline and use it as your roadmap for the course. Read it as you go along before reading any of the actual cases. Should help somewhat with knowing what to skim over.

Also, have some confidence in yourself....if you're reading and feel like x or y facts or arguments are pointless, allow yourself to trust that intuition. If your prof calls on you and asks about those things, own up to not remembering because most likely they actually are some bullshit facts that no normal person would remember unless they're a professor teaching the same dumb cases every semester for 20 years.