1. Reading with a closed mind.
2. Panicking over confusion.
3. Reading for too long in one sitting without a break or consciously (or unconsciously) rewarding yourself for studying for long hours rather than rewarding yourself for studying efficiently and effectively.
4. Not scheduling enough reading time to understand the material, or failing to skim less important information and slow down when hitting key language.
5. Not scheduling at all – “reading until I get it.” Students who adopt a “reading until I get it” mantra sometimes also reward themselves (consciously or unconsciously) for working long hours rather than for working efficiently and effectively (a better goal).
6. Reading cases in isolation from one another and from surrounding material in the casebook (most especially, from Notes and Problems).
7. Reading as if you are still in your prior discipline. Different disciplines benefit from different reading strategies and have different purposes. Look, for example, how lawyers use policy v. how political scientists might view policy.
8. Looking for the rules in exact words – often rules have to be inferred from the action the court took.
9. Perfectionism: (a) Writing perfect briefs. (b) Striving to have the perfect answer in class. (c) Writing down everything during class (d) Reading sequentially without being willing to take some guesses as to meaning and test them as you read on later.
10. Lack of attention to either (a) detail (what’s the “exact” legal question in front of the court – what did the court expect the parties to show to establish a claim or defense in this court?); or (b) the big picture (how does this case help me better understand this area of law? What are the broad-sweeping issues that courts are influenced by in this area of law?)
This posting was submitted by Ruth Ann McKinney, Clinical Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law. Professor McKinney has served as Director of UNC Law's first-year legal writing program and its academic success program for over twenty years, including three as Assistant Dean for Legal Writing & Academic Success. She is the author of Reading Like a Lawyer (Carolina Academic Press 2004), Core Grammar for Lawyers (an online, self-instructional tool available at www.coregrammarforlawyers.com), and Legal Research: A Practical Guide and Self-Instructional Workbook (5th ed. with Scott Childs 2009).
Copyright 2011 by Professor Ruth Ann McKinney, the UNC School of Law. Reprinted with the permission of the author.
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