Amount of Reading in Law School Forum

[blurbz]

lol. You will not get even closed to 40 pages an hour in law school.... and 100 pages of anything in an hour? I guess if it has 28 point font and one 10 words per page... I really don't believe you can read 100 pages of shakespeare in an hour.

I don't really give a shit if you believe me. I can read about that and remember it.

I'm not expecting to read at that pace for class, but if I can do a quarter of that, I'll be happy.

I'm with you on this. I can read really quickly and I'm hoping to keep a similar pace, with high comprehension, next year. If I try and ultimately find that I can't do it, then I'll slow down.

[d34d9823]

lol. You will not get even closed to 40 pages an hour in law school.... and 100 pages of anything in an hour? I guess if it has 28 point font and one 10 words per page... I really don't believe you can read 100 pages of shakespeare in an hour.

I don't really give a shit if you believe me. I can read about that and remember it.

I'm not expecting to read at that pace for class, but if I can do a quarter of that, I'll be happy.

I'm with you on this. I can read really quickly and I'm hoping to keep a similar pace, with high comprehension, next year. If I try and ultimately find that I can't do it, then I'll slow down.

Yeah, I'll third this. 100 pages per hour is not bad on generic stuff. I'm sure casebooks are a whole different story.

[LoyolaLaw2012]

lol. You will not get even closed to 40 pages an hour in law school.... and 100 pages of anything in an hour? I guess if it has 28 point font and one 10 words per page... I really don't believe you can read 100 pages of shakespeare in an hour.

I don't really give a shit if you believe me. I can read about that and remember it.

I'm not expecting to read at that pace for class, but if I can do a quarter of that, I'll be happy.

I'm with you on this. I can read really quickly and I'm hoping to keep a similar pace, with high comprehension, next year. If I try and ultimately find that I can't do it, then I'll slow down.

Yeah, I'll third this. 100 pages per hour is not bad on generic stuff. I'm sure casebooks are a whole different story.

You will not succeed if you just read the material as fast as possible. You really need to stop and think about what you're reading.

[d34d9823]

Yeah, I'll third this. 100 pages per hour is not bad on generic stuff. I'm sure casebooks are a whole different story.

You will not succeed if you just read the material as fast as possible. You really need to stop and think about what you're reading.

Irony FTW

[LoyolaLaw2012]

Yeah, I'll third this. 100 pages per hour is not bad on generic stuff. I'm sure casebooks are a whole different story.

You will not succeed if you just read the material as fast as possible. You really need to stop and think about what you're reading.

Irony FTW

I lose.

[thecilent]

Yeah, I'll third this. 100 pages per hour is not bad on generic stuff. I'm sure casebooks are a whole different story.

You will not succeed if you just read the material as fast as possible. You really need to stop and think about what you're reading.

Irony FTW

QFawesomeness

[kalvano]

You will not succeed if you just read the material as fast as possible. You really need to stop and think about what you're reading.

My total and utter lack of math skills is offset by very good reading skills. I have excellent comprehension and retention rates.

[westinghouse60]

Right now I'm reading General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money. I really hope casebooks aren't as dense as that, but they probably will be. Going to an easy undergrad ftl.

[rbgrocio]

lol. You will not get even closed to 40 pages an hour in law school.... and 100 pages of anything in an hour? I guess if it has 28 point font and one 10 words per page... I really don't believe you can read 100 pages of shakespeare in an hour.

I don't really give a shit if you believe me. I can read about that and remember it.

I'm not expecting to read at that pace for class, but if I can do a quarter of that, I'll be happy.

lol... relax....

[thecilent]

lol. You will not get even closed to 40 pages an hour in law school.... and 100 pages of anything in an hour? I guess if it has 28 point font and one 10 words per page... I really don't believe you can read 100 pages of shakespeare in an hour.

I don't really give a shit if you believe me. I can read about that and remember it.

I'm not expecting to read at that pace for class, but if I can do a quarter of that, I'll be happy.

lol... relax....

lol @ kalvano flipping out

[dakatz]

lol. You will not get even closed to 40 pages an hour in law school.... and 100 pages of anything in an hour? I guess if it has 28 point font and one 10 words per page... I really don't believe you can read 100 pages of shakespeare in an hour.

I don't really give a shit if you believe me. I can read about that and remember it.

I'm not expecting to read at that pace for class, but if I can do a quarter of that, I'll be happy.

lol... relax....

lol @ kalvano flipping out

+1 yeah I find it cute when the kids flip out when people doubt their mad reading skillz

[rbgrocio]

I dunno if cute is the word, but it certainly is funny.

[quakeroats]

You will not succeed if you just read the material as fast as possible. You really need to stop and think about what you're reading.

My total and utter lack of math skills is offset by very good reading skills. I have excellent comprehension and retention rates.

This may give you a good idea of what you're in for: http://duncankennedy.net/documents/Free ... nology.pdf

[thecilent]

I dunno if cute is the word, but it certainly is funny.

[dakatz]

I dunno if cute is the word, but it certainly is funny.

Lol, I felt "cute" would make it sound more demeaning

[StrictlyLiable]

Broadly speaking, my first semester assignments broke down like this:

Contracts: 20-30 pgs/night
Civ pro: 15-20 pgs/night
Crim: 10-15 pgs/night
LRW:

So, worst-case scenario, you're looking at 50-75 pages of pretty dense reading per night, plus whatever supplements you end up finding helpful. Rather than spend 2-3 hours a night (about what most people probably put in), I found it convenient to use the weekends to put in 5-6 hour days and get the week's reading done, so I could spend the weeks just taking a quick glance at a canned brief book and calling it a day.

That's definitely not as bad as the horror stories I've heard from a couple of dropouts that I've met. One has even gone to say that all of the 1L reading he endured cause permanent eye damage. I laughed because he was dead serious.

[rbgrocio]

You will not succeed if you just read the material as fast as possible. You really need to stop and think about what you're reading.

My total and utter lack of math skills is offset by very good reading skills. I have excellent comprehension and retention rates.

This may give you a good idea of what you're in for: http://duncankennedy.net/documents/Free ... nology.pdf

I'm afraid to click that thing! I just had a final... I can't read anything that requires putting any effort.

[rbgrocio]

Broadly speaking, my first semester assignments broke down like this:

Contracts: 20-30 pgs/night
Civ pro: 15-20 pgs/night
Crim: 10-15 pgs/night
LRW:

So, worst-case scenario, you're looking at 50-75 pages of pretty dense reading per night, plus whatever supplements you end up finding helpful. Rather than spend 2-3 hours a night (about what most people probably put in), I found it convenient to use the weekends to put in 5-6 hour days and get the week's reading done, so I could spend the weeks just taking a quick glance at a canned brief book and calling it a day.

That's definitely not as bad as the horror stories I've heard from a couple of dropouts that I've met. One has even gone to say that all of the 1L reading he endured cause permanent eye damage. I laughed because he was dead serious.

dropouts are not a reliable source. The tend to exaggerate things to justify their dropping out

[StrictlyLiable]

Broadly speaking, my first semester assignments broke down like this:

Contracts: 20-30 pgs/night
Civ pro: 15-20 pgs/night
Crim: 10-15 pgs/night
LRW:

So, worst-case scenario, you're looking at 50-75 pages of pretty dense reading per night, plus whatever supplements you end up finding helpful. Rather than spend 2-3 hours a night (about what most people probably put in), I found it convenient to use the weekends to put in 5-6 hour days and get the week's reading done, so I could spend the weeks just taking a quick glance at a canned brief book and calling it a day.

That's definitely not as bad as the horror stories I've heard from a couple of dropouts that I've met. One has even gone to say that all of the 1L reading he endured cause permanent eye damage. I laughed because he was dead serious.

dropouts are not a reliable source. The tend to exaggerate things to justify their dropping out

Oh I know. I took it with a grain of salt haha

[rbgrocio]

Law school is tough though. I think it is the psychological aspect of it that gets to me the most. The not knowing how you did, the hoping everyone else did not do better than you...the obsessing over not double checking your answers.... It is a tough world! lol. Of course, my school's miserable curve does not help.

[d34d9823]

This may give you a good idea of what you're in for: http://duncankennedy.net/documents/Free ... nology.pdf

I read the first two paragraphs, stopped, and thought "wow, this is one of the most pretentious things I've ever read." Scroll down...D.K. is a professor at Harvard Law...what am I getting myself into?

[d34d9823]

This may give you a good idea of what you're in for: http://duncankennedy.net/documents/Free ... nology.pdf

I read the first two paragraphs, stopped, and thought "wow, this is one of the most pretentious things I've ever read." Scroll down...D.K. is a professor at Harvard Law...what am I getting myself into?

Now reading further, and he cites as his inspiration:
- Kohler
- Marx
- Sartre

LOL! I'd like to take this moment to say that my decision to go to law school hinged on the influence of Rawls, Nietzsche, and Winston Churchill in the intimate details of my personal life. Without the nimble thoughts of these giants flitting through my mind (and to which my own thoughts are closely akin *nudge nudge wink wink*), I would have been unable to comprehend the gravity of this opportunity and produce the incisive commentary that follows this aside (which is, of course, purely for academic purposes).

[Mroberts3]

I've been reading a bit further in the article and I really like it so far (even though I would agree that I don't count Marx and Sartre as influences).

Edit: it has a strange style, but I kinda like it. Also, I just realized he is one of the guys quoted on the back cover of GTM.

[spanktheduck]

Reading cases is not difficult once you learn how to do it and what is important. The problem for the first month of so of law school is that:

1) No one ever tells you how to actually a case or how they are structured for some reason.
2) You will be reading old cases that form the basis of laws that are non-widespread. Old cases are generally; wordy, poorly written, oddly phrased, use outdated terms, and it is not always clear what the reasoning is. This is one good thing about law school, every modern judge follows the same basic structure when writing an opinion.
3) Cases (even modern cases) do not always have clear logical reasoning. Judges may simply have used poor reasoning, or more likely, simply have intentionally made an opinion unclear b/c they are applying a law in a new or "inappropriate" manner.
4) You do not know what is important. You are not simply reading cases for the sake of reading cases. You need to know how to properly apply the cases and the law contained in them. If you are doing law school properly you when spend the least amount of studying actually reading the cases and the majority of your time trying to applying the law and figuring out how it intersects with other laws or how it would be applied in a different situation.

[kalvano]

lol. You will not get even closed to 40 pages an hour in law school.... and 100 pages of anything in an hour? I guess if it has 28 point font and one 10 words per page... I really don't believe you can read 100 pages of shakespeare in an hour.

I don't really give a shit if you believe me. I can read about that and remember it.

I'm not expecting to read at that pace for class, but if I can do a quarter of that, I'll be happy.

lol... relax....

lol @ kalvano flipping out

I love it when stupid motherfuckers tell people to "relax" over the internet.