For Every Case I Read I Should Write Down.... Forum

[BNA]

I've read many times that briefing cases after the first few is a waste of time. Seems most highlight or throw notes in margins. Since we're supposed to have the exam in mind all semester, what are some important things to note when reading cases? How the current case interacts with cases you've already seen? Professor insights/comments/etc.? How about branching out to restatements and other texts for relevant information that could be used on the exam? How do you draw each case into exam ready material?

0L trying to get effective systems/routines down early. Read most of the guides and didn't seem to take away much regarding this. Thanks, all.

[hartfordhockaloogies]

Get the rule out of the case. If it helps, write down some of the rationale (or policy if prof is into that). Friends type out some facts too, but that doesn't really seem to help me except for Con Law/Fed Jur

[banjo]

During the semester I learn the BLL from E&Es and old outlines. Towards the end of the semester I skim the casebook readings, paying attention to cases that the professor or the E&E discussed in some detail. Since I rarely go to class (I attend around 10 sessions per semester), I often rely on old outlines and past exams to tell me what the professor focused on in class. If I think a case is important, I'll focus on the facts, the court's reasoning, any dissents, and jot down my own thoughts about the case (what I think it left open, where it went wrong, etc.). That's about it--that's exactly what I'm going to do again in Evidence next semester.

[03152016]

there's no one right answer
it completely depends on how you learn best and how your prof tests

generally i take notes when i read, then combine with class notes to make an outline
later in the semester i review with an e&e and make tweaks

[runinthefront]

i brief every single case, which is admittedly tedious, but it works for me in terms of memorization/doing well with coldcalls/generally internalizing the information since I have to actually divide the case into categories (facts/prior procedure/issue/rule(holding)/rationale). I then take class notes in the spot immediately below "rationale."

When it's time to outline, I literally never open the casebook for anything. I re-read my briefs + classnotes and delete/condense like 50% of the information the first go around. This process turns my classnotes from like 100 pages to 45. I then do the entire thing over again...which takes my notes down from 45 pages to like 25 pages. Then I read hornbooks/old outlines from kids who've A+'d the class and add any information missing from my ...well, what was once my class notes but is now my outline. And it usually comes out to around 20-30 pages depending on the class.

That's just what worked (and works) for me. I would recommend that every 1L brief cases for at least the first semester, but I know there are many ways to approach studying

[chuckbass]

During the semester I learn the BLL from E&Es and old outlines. Towards the end of the semester I skim the casebook readings, paying attention to cases that the professor or the E&E discussed in some detail. Since I rarely go to class (I attend around 10 sessions per semester), I often rely on old outlines and past exams to tell me what the professor focused on in class. If I think a case is important, I'll focus on the facts, the court's reasoning, any dissents, and jot down my own thoughts about the case (what I think it left open, where it went wrong, etc.). That's about it--that's exactly what I'm going to do again in Evidence next semester.

This is similar to how I approach doctrinals as well. Moral of the story OP is that there really is no one way to go about all of this, and you should try a few different things and see what works for you. Also don't be intimidated by others and try to adjust your study style because of them. Just because someone has immaculate case briefs and aces cold calls doesn't mean they do well on the exam.

[lacrossebrother]

Dont do your own briefs. Copy the BNA headnotes. No lie.

[lavarman84]

During the semester I learn the BLL from E&Es and old outlines. Towards the end of the semester I skim the casebook readings, paying attention to cases that the professor or the E&E discussed in some detail. Since I rarely go to class (I attend around 10 sessions per semester), I often rely on old outlines and past exams to tell me what the professor focused on in class. If I think a case is important, I'll focus on the facts, the court's reasoning, any dissents, and jot down my own thoughts about the case (what I think it left open, where it went wrong, etc.). That's about it--that's exactly what I'm going to do again in Evidence next semester.

What do you do when you're supposed to be in class? Is there a reason you don't go or do you just do it because you don't have to in order to do well?

[banjo]

During the semester I learn the BLL from E&Es and old outlines. Towards the end of the semester I skim the casebook readings, paying attention to cases that the professor or the E&E discussed in some detail. Since I rarely go to class (I attend around 10 sessions per semester), I often rely on old outlines and past exams to tell me what the professor focused on in class. If I think a case is important, I'll focus on the facts, the court's reasoning, any dissents, and jot down my own thoughts about the case (what I think it left open, where it went wrong, etc.). That's about it--that's exactly what I'm going to do again in Evidence next semester.

What do you do when you're supposed to be in class? Is there a reason you don't go or do you just do it because you don't have to in order to do well?

Everyone is different, but I find class to be a really inefficient way to learn anything, especially when you have old outlines that distill most of the information for you. I use class time to read supplements, skim the casebook, or do non-law stuff. I'm not clerking for SCOTUS or anything, but you can definitely do fine without class.

[itascot1992]

Dont do your own briefs. Copy the BNA headnotes. No lie.

BNA headnotes?

[star fox]

My method:

read casebriefs.com (if not there look elsewhere, worst case is Lexis Overview but that's usually bad). Copy and paste into a file with all cases from that class.

read the case - don't take notes

read casebriefs.com again

[dwyf]

Nothing. Writing stuff down is for losers. Read the assigned reading. Find old outlines. Read them a couple of times. Take some practice tests. Take the exam.

[star fox]

During the semester I learn the BLL from E&Es and old outlines. Towards the end of the semester I skim the casebook readings, paying attention to cases that the professor or the E&E discussed in some detail. Since I rarely go to class (I attend around 10 sessions per semester), I often rely on old outlines and past exams to tell me what the professor focused on in class. If I think a case is important, I'll focus on the facts, the court's reasoning, any dissents, and jot down my own thoughts about the case (what I think it left open, where it went wrong, etc.). That's about it--that's exactly what I'm going to do again in Evidence next semester.

What do you do when you're supposed to be in class? Is there a reason you don't go or do you just do it because you don't have to in order to do well?

I would recommend going to class, but it depends on the Professor. It's the one chance to hear the Professor's words/thoughts and since that's who is grading your exam it's good to think about the issues the they would (especially if there's going to be Policy questions or you have a Professor who structures the course in a very "__ Law according to me".. which you'll realize early on). Even if it's just them going over stuff you already know, it's still nice to have another angle to get the material from. If you think you don't have time to go to class because you're too swamped with other class stuff, you have poor time management. But hey, do what works for you.

[BNA]

My method:

read casebriefs.com (if not there look elsewhere, worst case is Lexis Overview but that's usually bad). Copy and paste into a file with all cases from that class.

read the case - don't take notes

read casebriefs.com again

Thanks a lot. Good resource.

[pancakes3]

Get the facts.
Get the procedure.
Understand the arguments that are being made.
Understand why the decision went down the way it did.
Optional: Be able to articulate what needs to be changed to have the decision go down the other way.

If you need to write this down, then write it down. If you need to attend all the classes to get this down, then go to class. If you can get all of this from casebriefs, then just read casebriefs. If your prof likes things framed within the context of policy, frame it within the context of policy.

Again, the BLL is not hard, teaching through cases is a very specific, very tedious way of teaching that BLL, and ultimately your grade hinges on writing the exam anyway.

[lavarman84]

During the semester I learn the BLL from E&Es and old outlines. Towards the end of the semester I skim the casebook readings, paying attention to cases that the professor or the E&E discussed in some detail. Since I rarely go to class (I attend around 10 sessions per semester), I often rely on old outlines and past exams to tell me what the professor focused on in class. If I think a case is important, I'll focus on the facts, the court's reasoning, any dissents, and jot down my own thoughts about the case (what I think it left open, where it went wrong, etc.). That's about it--that's exactly what I'm going to do again in Evidence next semester.

What do you do when you're supposed to be in class? Is there a reason you don't go or do you just do it because you don't have to in order to do well?

Everyone is different, but I find class to be a really inefficient way to learn anything, especially when you have old outlines that distill most of the information for you. I use class time to read supplements, skim the casebook, or do non-law stuff. I'm not clerking for SCOTUS or anything, but you can definitely do fine without class.

No, I'm not judging you. Just was curious if you had a reason for not going or just preferred to learn a different way. I wouldn't do that at my school even if I could get away with it because there's definitely a stigma with being the guy who doesn't attend classes. People judge you. But that's a T1 school. Things are probably different at a T14 school.

[Slytherpuff]

Nothing. Writing stuff down is for losers. Read the assigned reading. Find old outlines. Read them a couple of times. Take some practice tests. Take the exam.

This actually sums up my 1L year perfectly... except that I took really good class notes to make up for my lack of reading notes, and then incorporated important stuff from my class notes into those old outlines and made my own attack outlines occasionally.

If you write down the important information from each case as you go over it in class, you may not need to brief cases before class. Unless you're worried about not remembering the facts/holding/etc. during a cold call, in which case I still recommend not briefing a case and just referring to your highlights in your casebook. As far as what you need to know for the exam, you can get that from what you learn in class and from noting what the professor thinks is important.

But everyone has their own system, do what works for you, [insert other non-helpful thing that all the 2Ls will tell you next year that won't make sense until you're done with 1L finals].