Top Law Schools

I know there have been discussions before but it was between long time mac users. I am switching to a 13 inch macbook for law school. I was planning on just using Word but people are swearing on programs like Yojimbo and Circus Ponies.

Is Circus Ponies the credited option? 25 bucks and great reviews.

You can download Circus Ponies and use the 30 day trial. It's pretty good so far, I like it.

wow, these threads are popping up all over the place. At first I didn't see what all the fuss was about wrt NoteBook, but once I saw what it could do I decided to give it a go this fall. It does have something of a learning curve; you have to dig a bit to find all the relevant features, but once you do it's apparent that it will serve a law student better than omnioutliner or word. Plus, the price for an academic license is pretty reasonable.

run a search, there is already a thread on this.

I just downloaded the 30-day trial and haven't really played around with it much yet, but here is some info that might be helpful:

A product review from maclawstudents.com, with some examples of how that particular student uses the program: http://maclawstudents.com/blog/product- ... -notebook/

Circus Ponies' Forum - I haven't checked them out, but it looks like a few people have posted their templates for law school for others to download: http://forums.circusponies.com/categories/7

itzjulz wrote:I just downloaded the 30-day trial and haven't really played around with it much yet, but here is some info that might be helpful:

A product review from maclawstudents.com, with some examples of how that particular student uses the program: http://maclawstudents.com/blog/product- ... -notebook/

Circus Ponies' Forum - I haven't checked them out, but it looks like a few people have posted their templates for law school for others to download: http://forums.circusponies.com/categories/7

Ooooh, nice find.

[strike]Helpful.[/strike] Not really.

macattaq wrote:You can download Circus Ponies and use the 30 day trial. It's pretty good so far, I like it.

+1


I love Circus Ponies

Pen and paper is a pretty good note taking program. It is free and open source, and has been used successfully by law students for roughly 200 years. Alternately, any word processing program AT ALL allows you write shit down, which is all you need to be doing to take notes. Finally, search function.

SoftBoiledLife wrote:Pen and paper is a pretty good note taking program. It is free and open source, and has been used successfully by law students for roughly 200 years.

It's the one I use.

Word for Mac has a layout called Notebook. Its the Mac equivalent of onenote. You don't need to buy anything other than word.

ihatelaw wrote:Word for Mac has a layout called Notebook. Its the Mac equivalent of onenote. You don't need to buy anything other than word.

Yes. But if you hate Word, and don't have it anyways, Circus Ponies does a really good job for note taking.

w.e. i'm nice today: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... =5&t=79869

yeah, or just use word.

word works fine unless you need to have the prettiest notes. but don't think that you NEED a note taking program to learn shit

i use word when i'm on my mac. i have a pc netbook too and then i use onenote. ain't no thang

The main advantage to Circus Ponies Notebook is the multidex feature. It's handy when you're putting together your outline or you somehow have the time to be searching for stuff on open note tests that permit electronic note usage (aka almost none because even if your school doesn't use exam software, professors won't let you use electronic notes because they're worried you'll upload hornbooks, pre-write some exam blurbs, and just ctrl-c, ctrl-v your way to the top of the class).

^ highly credited, I was just going to make a similar post.

You can also add pdf's of handouts which can be annotated in Notebook. Voice recording is also a great feature. You can choose paper styles as well. I use Cornell for class notes, the "note page" utilizes an outline format like Omni Outline, which I use for reading notes, and there is the writing page which allows you to write anywhere on the page, draw diagrams, etc. During class, I open my class notes in a seperate window, keeping my briefs or reading notes in the other. Another favorite is the "clipping service" that enables me to add email or web clippings to a specific notebook without even opening the Notebook application. in my case I highlight the text, then click Firefox>services>notebook>clip to__.
great for Legal Writing Projects

I don't understand why people get so complicated about taking notes. I agree with the posters who said pen and paper. I mean, I use a computer for a lot of things, but not to take notes. I see people with their fancy OneNote programs typing away in class, and I am thinking "are they even thinking about what they are typing?" At least when you use pen and paper you only write down what really needs to be written down. Also, do people who type their notes actually go print them all out and the end of the semester? That could get expensive.

You don't get a print allowance at your school?

Anyways, doing it on a computer allows you to make the weekly condense that much more efficient. You can condense everything into outline format, and as each week passes, take off what you already know. By the end of the semester, your outline is already done, and you can focus on practice tests. At least that is the theory.

MacJournal is actually pretty amazing. I used it throughout my undergrad and had no complaints

macattaq wrote:You don't get a print allowance at your school?

Anyways, doing it on a computer allows you to make the weekly condense that much more efficient. You can condense everything into outline format, and as each week passes, take off what you already know. By the end of the semester, your outline is already done, and you can focus on practice tests. At least that is the theory.

I'm trying to see if I can get the best of both worlds by using a Pulse pen this semester. Thus far, it's been amazing. Writes like a normal pen, and then after class, I just download it to my laptop, convert it to text and import it into my notes.

ihatelaw wrote:Word for Mac has a layout called Notebook. Its the Mac equivalent of onenote. You don't need to buy anything other than word.

I use this for outlining.

You can't Control F pen and paper.

VincentChase wrote:You can't Control F pen and paper.

You sound like you tried .

I agree on the control-F usage...

It is very handy for finding things. I have taken massive notes in classes (U.G) for years on many macs. I have had Circus Ponies but could not justify the learning curve.. All I needed was plain old typing for notes, bullet points, highlight feature and control F to find my way back...

Nothing has been easier and more customizable than "Pages" (Mac version of MS Word). It is soooo much easier and more simple than word, you have multiple options to create different bullet point styles (I use a standard dot for most, a red star for important..and so on... ) All of these can be assigned to a simple F-key on the fly, including highlights of different colors, numbers, fonts, on and on.... The way to do it is to set up a template with the F-key options you customize, and then you are off and running every time. Very handy. ( and there is a large friendly user group on the web of "template sharing" and options, and help)

When I made the switch to Pages from Word it took a day to get the hang of it... and I have never looked back. And for basic notes you can click/share then as MS Word anytime you need to.

I am curious if there is something that law school classes require that makes Circus Ponies better than MS Word, ...or for me-- Pages? I have not seen why I would need the pony now. And keeping things all mac on a mac is very smooth.

My .02 cents.