Time Management for the Bar Exam

Congratulations - finals are over, and now you have some time to relax! However, for some of you, the bar exam is in the near future - the bar exam requires a huge commitment of time and effort. Your bar review course is structured to guide you through the material, but you must make the effort to learn it. It is completely possible to adequately prepare yourself during the bar review period if you devote your time exclusively to bar preparation.

It is important to realize that even if you had all the time in the world to study and prepare, there are still limitations on how much information you can retain and there is only so long that you can maintain the level of intensity required during the relatively short bar preparation period. For those of you that have started your bar review courses, it should be clear that studying for the bar exam is unlike any other experience - you must be prepared to put the time and energy into the process.

During the first weeks of your bar review, make sure to:

• Set a realistic work schedule that allows for going to the lectures, time for reviewing material covered in class, time to practice problems, and relaxation time;
• Refine realistic study goals based on your strengths and weaknesses; and
• Vary your study activities throughout the day to maintain your concentration level.

The following schedule might be a template that works for you; and allows you enough time to attend your lectures, review material, and practice problems:

• 9:00-1:00: Bar review course
• 1:00-2:00: Lunch break
• 2:00-4:00: Review notes from morning session; make flashcards of black letter law; consolidate notes
• 4:00-:4:30: Take a break
• 4:30-6:30: Work through MBE questions in the subject you have just studied
• 6:30-7:00: Dinner break
• 7:00-9:00: Work through additional MBE questions; essays from a released bar exam (or maybe a MPT, depending on your needs)
• 9:00-11:00: Review materials for the next bar review session or review notes from one subject covered earlier in the bar review period

Remember, there is not a one size fits all schedule, and there are a number of reasons why you might need to adapt the schedule to fit within your needs, including the possibility of having an evening bar review course. The key thing to remember is that you must make time to study, and you must plan ahead to give yourself enough study time.

While you prepare for the bar exam, Professor Darrow-Kleinhaus' books, Acing the Bar Exam (Thomson West 2008) and The Bar Exam in a Nutshell (2d ed. 2009), are great resources.

(Updated) Law School Shorthand

We have gotten a lot of feedback about how helpful the prior shorthand post has been when preparing for class and taking notes in class. Below, we have added additional abbreviations to the list. As mentioned in the prior post, there is not a right or wrong way to do things, but making use of these abbreviations can be a time saver.

Π or P – plaintiff
∆ or D - defendant

Aff’d - affirmed
Rev’d - reversed

TC - Trial Court
AC - Appellate Court
Cir. - Circuit Court(s) of Appeals (i.e. 2d Cir.)
COA - Court of Appeals
DC - District Court
SC or SCt - Supreme Court

admin. - administrative (or administration)
alt. - alternative
Ame – Amendment
ans – answer
arb - arbitration (arbitrator)
arg. - argument
AE – assignee
AR – assignor
Ass'n - association
a/r - assumption of risk
atty - attorney
auth - authority

BR or bankr. - bankruptcy
bc or b/c – because
B – beneficiary
Bd. - board
BFP – bona fide purchaser
BoP or b/p – burden of proof (or bill of particulars)

CB - casebook
cent - central
CA - class action
CE - collateral estoppel
CL – common law
co. - company
CP – condition precedent
CS – condition subsequent
Cong. - Congress(ional)
cx - consideration
Con. – constitutional(ity)
K - contract(s)
CNeg - contributory negligence
© or (c) - copyright
Corp. – corporation
c-c - counterclaim
Ct. - court
cx-c - crossclaim

def. - defense
dem – demurrer
dept. or dep't - department
diff – different
disc or discrim - discrimination
dist. - district
div - division

EE – employee
ER – employer
Emp - employment
Ev – evidence

Fed – Federal
FRCP - Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
FRE - Federal Rules of Evidence

g/r or GRULE – general rule
gov or gov’t - government

HDC – holder in due course
H – husband

Inc. - incorporated
indem - indemnity (indemnify)
indep - independent
ins - insurance
Int'l - international

JMOL - judgment as a matter of law
JNOV - judgment notwithstanding the verdict
j/t – joint tenant
J - judgment
Jdx or jurisd - jurisdiction

L - landlord
l/c - letter of credit
liab - liability
ltd - limited
LLC - limited liability company
LLP - limited liability partnership
lit or litig - litigation

Maj. – majority
Min. - minority
MPC - Model Penal Code
MTD - motion to dismiss

Neg. – negligence
No. - number

OE – offeree
OR – offeror
op. - opinion
O - order
org. - organization

p’ship - partnership
PJ - personal jurisdiction
p/f – prima facie
PE – promisee
PR - promisor
Prop – property

Rxn – reaction
RE or R/E - real estate
® - registered trademark
reg(s) - regulation(s)
Req’d - required
R, R2 - Restatement of Law, Restatement Second
Rev - review
RAP – Rule Against Perpetuities

§ or s - section
SHolder or S'holder - shareholder
St – state
Std – standard
SoL – statute of limitations
SoF – statute of frauds
SL – strict liability
SMJ - subject matter jurisdiction
SJ - summary judgment

TRO - temporary restraining order
T - tenant
TP or 3rd P – third party
TPB or 3rd PB – third party beneficiary
™ or TM - trademark
Tr. - trustee

Unif. - uniform
UCC – Uniform Commercial Code
USC - United States Code

v - versus

W - wife
w/ - with
w/in - within
w/o - without

Exam Prep III

Now that you are in the exam, what should you do?

1. Allocate your Time

• Have a watch somewhere in plain view;
• Set up a timetable on your scrap paper - use the point allocations provided by your professor to set the time; or if there are no allocations provided, use your best judgment based on the number of questions, length of the questions, and time given for the exam.

2. Read the Question

• Begin by reading the interrogatory at the end of the question;
• Identify what you are asked to do;
• Read the facts "actively".

3. Outline the Answer

• Identify the issues;
• Identify the rule for each issue;
• Compile the building blocks for the rule of law by considering elements, definitions, exceptions to the general rule, relevant distinctions, etc.;
• Follow a hierarchy of concepts by moving from general to specific and defining each legal term of art.

4. Write the Essay

• Begin your statement with, "The issue is whether . . ." and include "when" to ensure that you include the relevant facts;
• Commence your statement of the with, "Under the [controlling law]";
• Use "Here" or "In this case" to introduce your application;
• Use "because" to make the connection between rule and fact;
• Match up a "fact" with each "element" or "definition" in your rule and explain the significance;
• Answer the question you were asked.

For Multiple Choice Questions, remember:

1. Read actively - start with the call of the question, and then move to the fact pattern;

2. Take a moment to "recap" the material facts;

3. Identify the issue;

4. Move from the issue to articulation of your own answer;

5. Translate your "answer" to fit an available and appropriate answer choice.

Exam Prep II

Right Before the Exam: Sit calmly and do not think about anything else -- do not worry about other exams (you cannot do anything about them, but you can do something about the one you are taking now).

When Told to Begin: These minutes are critical for setting the pace of your exam experience. You want to start smoothly, work efficiently, and remain calm and focused. Here are some ways to do it:

• Write down anything that you are afraid you will forget during the course of the exam on scrap paper.
• Scan the exam: take a quick look through the entire exam to get an overview; note the number of questions and overall composition of the exam. A general sense of the exam is necessary to let you plan your time and will help you stay focused in knowing what you will be expected to do.
• Read the instructions: your professor may give you important information in the instructions, and not following the instructions may cost you valuable points.

Allocate Your Time: Budget your time and work within that time -- divide your time in accordance with the way the professor has allocated the points. The most points deserve the largest allocation of minutes. (Be specific -- it might be helpful to make a timetable to ensure you have properly allocated your time and have enough time to finish your exam)

After the Exam: Go home -- do not stop to chat with friends and discuss the exam. Do not relive the exam thinking about what you did or did not do. Instead, move on to the next exam where there is something you can do to affect the outcome.

For Students that take the Exam on a Computer: Make sure that you have a backup plan in case your computer crashes or if there is another mishap. Make sure you know exactly what to do in such a situation, and do not waste time trying to self-correct the problem. Also, do not forget to bring pens and pencils with you into the exam in the event you have to write the exam.

A Final Word about Open-Book Exams: You must learn the material as if you were taking a closed book exam; do not expect to have have time to look everything up! Likewise, do not waste time looking up answers that you are fairly certain are correct. Also, make sure you know what is and what is not included in your professor's definition of "open book" because it could vary from one professor to another.

Exam Prep I

Exams are just around the corner -- no matter how much you have studied, and how carefully you have outlined and done practice exams, once you get to the exam, you must be in the moment. What does this mean? You must respond to what your professor asks of you, and not what you want your professor to know (and by answering the professor's questions, you will be showing what you know). If you have prepared properly, you will be able to identifying the issue in the facts and connect the facts with the rule.

With just a few weeks to prepare, there are a few things you should remember:

1. Make sure to get enough sleep. Cramming and staying up all night doesn't work for law school exams. You have enough time to study and sleep if you plan accordingly, and plan in advance!
2. Make sure to eat -- don't forget to take study breaks to eat, and don't forget to eat before you walk into an exam. It is hard to concentrate when your stomach is growling.
3. If you are an evening student, it might be beneficial to take some time off during finals to study, especially the day of the exam. This time off will prove important and beneficial because you want to be as free from distractions as possible.
4. Make sure you have all of the necessary supplies - do you have pens that actually write; do you need pencils for a Scantron; do you have your exam number; are you going to use earplugs; etc. If your exam is open book, does the material you are planning to bring into the exam comply with the professor's guidelines and specifications?
5. Now is also the time to ask your professor any outstanding questions you have about the substantive law; you do not want to wait until the last minute to fill in any holes or gaps that you might have in your understanding.
6. And of course, make sure to allow yourself enough travel time to get to your exam!

The weeks leading up to exams can be very stressful -- make sure to stay away from those that add to your stress and anxiety. Your final exams are the culmination of all your hard work this semester, and you want to put yourself in the best possible situation to show your professor exactly how hard you have worked all semester.

Check back here in the coming weeks for more test taking tips and strategies, and, as always, stop by our offices (Suite 314) if you need additional help or have questions -- we are here to help.

It is that time of year again when there is a temptation to not prepare for class, or skip one class to do work for another -- do not feed into the temptation! The last few weeks of school are way too important to start going to class unprepared or to start skipping classes.

Take some time to think about time management and how you can best spend your time -- schedule time for non-negotiables: i.e. the time you spend in class; the time you spend preparing for class, commuting to school, sleeping, etc. It might be helpful to even make a schedule from now until finals so you do not get distracted.

It is important not to let your school work pile up, but if you do find yourself in an "emergency situation", Dean Jarmon had a few tips that you might find useful:

Make every minute count. Do not waste time. Only undertake studying that gets results. Always consider what the payback will be for the exam (or paper or project) when starting a task.

Keep up with current class reading. Many students are tempted to stop reading for class to find more study time. This strategy is a bad idea because then they are then lost on the current material which will also be on the exam.

Continue going to all classes. Many students are also tempted to skip class to find more study time. This strategy does not work because the professor will now be pulling the course material together, will give out information about the exam, and will test on the new material.

Develop a structured time management schedule. Block out times for the week when reading for class, writing any papers, and reviewing for
exams will occur. Label each block with the course related to the task. Spread the time for exam review among all exam courses so that progress can be made on every one of them. Few people can work more than a few hours on a paper at one time. Use breaks from a paper for reading or reviewing for exams.

Prioritize your courses and topics within courses. Some of the things to consider are:

• Determine the level of understanding in each course.
• Determine the amount of material to learn for the first time in each course.
• Determine the amount of material already reviewed for each course.
• Evaluate which topics are most likely to be heavily tested, moderately tested, and slightly tested for each exam.
• Determine whether course topics need to be studied chronologically as presented (because they build on one another) or can be isolated for study in
  any order.
• Check to see the order of your exams within the exam period.

Break course topics down into sub-topics. It is easier to stay motivated and to see progress if one can cross off sub-topics quickly. It is also easier to find a shorter block of time to complete review of a sub-topic than it is to find a block of time to review the entire long topic.

Condense material to the essentials for each course. These students no longer have the advantage of learning all of the nuances and gaining full understanding. They need to make sure they understand the basic concepts, the important rules, and the methodologies. Unfortunately, they will be depending on working memory and may well have to re-learn everything later during bar review.

Apply the law after learning each topic. Do a few practice questions to see if you can actually use what you learned about a topic. Once you know how to structure an answer for a particular topic, the structure can be used when you confront new facts for the same topic on an exam.

Get enough sleep. Staying up late and getting less than seven hours of sleep as a minimum will be counter-productive. Going into an exam in a sleep-deprived state will only mean being unable to focus and analyze clearly. Cramming more material during last-minute, late-night study will not make up for exhausted brain cells.

See Amy Jarmon, It's triage time again, Law School Academic Support Blog, April 22, 2010, available at http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/academic_support/2010/04/its-triage-time-again.html.

Continuing Orientation Workshop - Writing a Law School Final

For students wishing to review Professor Darrow-Kleinhaus' lecture on Writing Law School Finals, the video is available on TLCWEB (password protected). Below is the handout from the lecture.

Study Tips to Reduce Anxiety

The reality of being half way through the semester is beginning to set in; and for some, that comes with a great deal of anxiety - maybe the anxiety set in is because a midterm didn't go as well as anticipated, or maybe it is time to get serious with studies after weeks of coasting. Regardless of the reason, there are ways to reduce anxiety. Below is an excerpt from a blog post written by Dean Amy Jarmon with tips for minimizing stress and anxiety:

Plan your study schedule carefully. Decide what hours you can free to focus on review each week. Designate review time by course so that you can determine whether you have prioritized time properly for each course. Not all courses are equal - think about your level of preparedness and understanding for each separate course.

Study for understanding rather than mere memorization. If you truly understand a concept, you will retain the information better and recall the information more quickly. Also, understanding a concept will allow you to reason through a difficult question on an exam. Instead of guessing, you will be able to consider the question logically and thoroughly.

Go to your professor early and often to get questions answered. The sooner you "plug up" holes in your understanding, the more quickly you will lower your anxiety. The same is true if you are a first-year student who has access to help from upper-division tutors or teaching assistants.

Think about the information at all four levels of processing when you study: global, intuitive, sequential, and sensing. Two of these styles will be your preferences. The other two styles are your "shadows" - you can process at those levels, but it takes a bit more effort. You will understand the material with both breadth and depth if you consider all four levels.

• Global: What is the big picture of the material? What are the essentials that you need to understand? How do the topics in the course fit together to make the whole?
• Intuitive: What are the relationships among the topics, sub-topics, concepts, and cases? What policies or theories have been discussed in class? Do you know how to argue those policies or theories appropriately for the parties?
• Sequential: What are the individual units that you need to understand in the course? What steps of analysis or methodologies do you need to use for each topic or sub-topic? How can you think through the information methodically when you answer a question?
• Sensing: What facts, details, and practicalities do you need to know to flesh out the material? Are there nuances that you need to note in how the law is applied? Can you state the rules and definitions precisely? Do you need to know case names or code sections for your professor?

Apply the concepts and rules to as many practice questions as possible. Practice questions help you to understand the nuances in the law through different scenarios. The more variations you see on the facts ahead of time, the less likely that an exam question will seem "alien" to you. You will have thought about something similar previously during your practice sessions. By doing some practice questions "under test conditions" prior to the exam, you will be less anxious about formatting essay answers, choosing the "best" multiple-choice answer, or managing your time during the exam.

See Amy Jarmon, Study techniques that reduce anxiety, Law School Academic Support Blog, March 19, 2010, available at http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/academic_support/.

Building the Rule and Analysis Sections of an IRAC

Professors have started to give midterms, and it is time to really focus on the details of what should be included when writing a law school exam -- by this point in your law school career, you have heard one way to approach writing an exam is by using the IRAC format, and you probably know what that means. But, within the IRAC format, being able to properly articulate the rule of law and sufficiently analyze the facts from the hypothetical takes a lot of work and practice. You have probably practiced a few hypotheticals and know exactly what what should go into your IRAC, or do you? Below are some tips for making sure that you are including the relevant law and properly analyzing the facts your answers.

Your rule paragraph should include enough of a statement of law to resolve the general issue. Start with a general rule, and make sure to include a sufficient discussion of the law to provide an adequate context for your analysis of the question or controversy (i.e. have you provided the relevant exception or exclusion, are there any legal terms that need to be defined, etc.). You must identify enough of the relevant rule to provide an adequate context for your analysis of the facts in controversy -- your analysis will not make sense unless you have identified the rule which determines the legal meaning of those facts.

Once you have identified and explained the applicable rule, then you must examine the inferences and implications of the relevant facts in relation to the rule. Your analysis is a vital part of the discussion -- as you write your analysis, let the articulation of the rule guide your application of the facts.

Within your analysis, the best approach is to match up each element (or sub-element) in the rule to the relevant fact; and use the word "because" to make the connection between the rule and fact. Make use of every fact of consequence and make sure that each conclusion you make is supported by an explanation (ask yourself "why").

Use this approach to demonstrate your ability to engage in a thoughtful analysis -- this does not mean simply repeat the relevant facts from the fact pattern, but instead, you should explain to the reader the legal significance and consequence of each fact.

As the semester continues, build on these skills by continuing to practice hypothetical questions, and continue to reference Mastering the Law School Exam for tips on improving your writing skills. This extra effort will help you build upon the requisite skills, so that when it is time for finals, you will know exactly what should be included in your final exam.

Intro to Multiple Choice Questions

Multiple choice questions are great tools to study the law, and will inevitably show up on your final exams and on the Bar Exam - the difference between the "legal version" of a multiple choice question and what you have experienced in the past is that the multiple choice questions you face in law school will test your knowledge of the substantive law, your reading comprehension, and your legal reasoning skills.


So, starting with the basics: how should you attack a multiple choice question?

• Start by reading the call of the question (what is the question asking); then read the fact pattern and find the issue;
• once you identify the issue, articulate your own answer; and
• find your "answer" in the available answer choices.

There are a few more things to remember when faced with a multiple choice question:

• You must read the question and the fact pattern actively. Make sure to pay attention to the legal relations of the parties; pay attention to significant words [i.e. "reasonably", "intended", "mistakenly thought", "deliberately", etc.]; and identify amounts, dates, quantities, ages.
• Never assume facts. You may need to draw a reasonable inference from the facts, but do not create your own facts and do not go off on a tangent based on what you think might be asked. Remember, your professor has crafted the question to contain all of the facts you need to answer the question.
• You should frame the issue to answer the questions. If you fail to identify the issue, then it makes it difficult to identify the relevant facts, and accordingly, you have no means by which to identify the correct answer choice.

Remember, after you have articulated the issue, apply the rule of law to the facts and reach your conclusion. Generally, by determining the appropriate outcome, you remain in control of the question and are not as likely to be distracted by the distractors in the question designed to throw you off course.

Continuing Orientation Workshop - Outlining

For students wishing to review Professor Darrow-Kleinhaus' lecture on Outlining for Law School Finals, the video is available on TLCWEB (password protected). Below is the handout from the lecture.

Active Reading

When working thought hypothetical problems, multiple choice questions and during exams, you should read the questions "actively" -- but, what does it mean to read actively? “Active reading” means that you search for and identify the following:

• The sub-area of law: when you study for a specific class or walk into your exam, you know the subject matter, but there are still wide open categories and you must narrow it down specific sub-topics. A critical component of reading actively is reading in context -- on exams, it’s your job to provide the context.
• The legal relationship between the parties: it is important to pay attention to the legal significance of parties’ relationships. The nature of the relationship is often of major significance to a resolution of the problem. Often, professors will use such relationships to test your ability to note distinctions in how the law treats such relationships (you may be dealing with fiduciary duties, different standards of care, and additional obligations imposed by law).
• Amounts of money, dates, locations, quantities, and ages: be sure to pay attention to dollar amounts, dates and times, quantities of items, jurisdictional information, and any ages if they appear in the fact pattern. These details can be important for so many reasons: imagine skipping over a time sequence of events in a contractual relationship, then your analysis of the offer, acceptance, and requirements for performance may be way off. Dates also signal statute of limitations problems. Ages are generally tied to a statutory issue (consider statutory rape) or a standard of care (fiduciary duty) while money and location information tend to indicate jurisdictional thresholds. Reading carefully assures that you won’t miss critical signals.
• The words “oral” and “written”: these words figure prominently in contract, property, and evidence questions. They signal potential issues with the Statute of Frauds, enforceability of promises, transactions with respect to land, and even admissibility of certain kinds of evidence. Also, note language that signals a writing or oral conversation i.e, a letter, a fax, or a telephone call.

“Active reading” does not include:

• Adding facts to the problem: unless you are told to do so specifically by the call of the question, you are never to add your own facts. In most cases, you are given all the facts you need and should use only those facts.
• Making assumptions: never make assumptions -- this will lead you astray and into dangerous exam territory. Remember, an assumption is not the same as a logical inference, which often must be made from the facts you’re given. (When working with a set of facts, you may need to draw factual inferences and connect these inferences to the dictates of the rule.)
• Never confuse your parties: as you read and before you write, make absolutely certain that you are clear about who is doing what to whom. You don’t want to confuse the actors.

As always, you can refer to Mastering the Law School Exam for further tips on practicing your active reading skills.

Studying with Hypotheticals and Multiple Choice Questions

We have said that is it important to do practice problems -- regardless of whether you are doing hypothetical questions or multiple choice questions, do you know what it means to study from the questions? Are you actually learning from the process?

Merely going through the process isn't enough and "doing questions" may be a waste of your time. Instead, you need to learn how to analyze the question and be able to reason through the problem to arrive at the correct answer.

What does this mean? If you can only partially answer the question, or if you are only getting multiple choice questions incorrect, ask yourself:

• What does it mean to only know a portion of the material?
• Are the correct answers "right" for the right reason or did you answer for the wrong reason or just get lucky, and do you know why the incorrect answers are wrong?
• Did you know the law; were you able to identify the controlling law?
• Did you correctly read the facts; did you add facts that threw you off course; did you correctly read the question; and did you apply the correct rule to the facts?

Make sure that you are not just going through the motions, but instead really learning the law as you go along by actively learning from the question. It is not cheating to look up a rule, consult your outline, or read a sample answer to help you build an analysis -- you will learn through the repetition and reinforcement of actively doing the work.

Reading Cases

Several students have stopped by our offices with questions about reading cases, and several have asked how all of these cases relate to their law school experience as a whole. These students have wanted to know how much they need to know about every case for their finals, and how much of each case they need to include in their outline. Below is an excerpt of a blog post written by Dean Amy Jarmon, which includes a summary of how you should attack your case reading and briefing for the semester:

All cases are not equal in importance. Some cases are read for historical background only - the law will change by the last case on a sub-topic. Some cases are packed full of important essentials such as rules, policies, jurisdictional differences, important points of reasoning. Some cases are included for just one smaller essential: a definition or an exception.

Cases need to be read at two levels. What are the important aspects to understand about the individual case itself? This level of reading focuses on the parts within a case and the specifics one needs to understand the case. How does the case fit into a series of cases, into the sub-topic, and into the topic? This level of reading focuses on the synthesis of the case into the larger body of law that one is learning.

Cases are a starting point in the study of law rather than an ending point. Cases show us how judges think about the law. Cases teach us how to extrapolate the most important aspects from the full opinion. Cases provide us with "tools" for our toolkit so we can solve new legal problems. Cases become illustrations in outlines rather than the basis of outlines. Professors will not ask one to "recite everything you know about Case X" on their exams.

Cases are essential to the practice of law. Lawyers read and analyze cases every day. They are constantly searching for precedents that relate to their clients' cases. Thus, the time spent in law school on reading and briefing is not merely an "ivory tower" exercise. Students who become skilled at these tasks are making an investment in their future expertise. Students who use canned briefs or headnotes as substitutes for these tasks ultimately shortchange their professional growth.

Case reading and case briefing are important legal skills that take time to learn. The process becomes faster as the law student becomes more expert at analysis. It also becomes faster once the law student understands why we read cases.

See Amy Jarmon, Reading cases for more oomph, Law School Academic Support Blog, September 20, 2010, available at http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/academic_support/.

Outlining - Organizing by Rule

Now that we have discussed the big picture of what an outline is and how to go about starting your outline, let's talk about the details of organizing your outline by the rules and how much of the rule you need to know.

Your outline should be organized by rule of law, not by the case - yes, you learn the rules by reading cases, but when it comes to outlining, everything gets stripped away, and the remaining rules (that is: definitions, elements, factors, exceptions, and defenses) are left.

Things to think about when putting together the rule of law in your outline include:

• How is the rule defined?


• Are there any words within the rule that need to be defined?


• Under what facts or circumstances would the rule likely apply?


• Are there any tests or factors that must be met?


• Are there limitations, exceptions or exemptions?


• Are there any consequences for applying the rule?


• What would be the result of applying the rule to the applicable parties?

These points are just to get you started; your outline has to have enough detail to allow you to learn the law with specificity, thus you should include enough detail so that you can use it as a study tool, but not so much detail that you get bogged down and lose sight of the big picture. So in determining whether you have enough detail; ask yourself:

1. Have you been able to define the rule fully and completely (including knowing how it might arise in context), and


2. Do you appreciate how the rule operates (including knowing what happens if the court finds the rule applicable; and what are the likely results, outcomes effects, etc.).

So what about all those cases you read in class? They have a place, but the weight depends on the class and your professor. Listen for clues in class, such as when you professor tells you that you the applicable case is a "seminal" case; when a rule of law or legal doctrine is derived from a specific case (i.e. the Erie Doctrine, a Brady violation, Miranda rights, etc.); or when a professor tells you that you need to know the specific case - these are pretty good signs that you should include the case name and holding in your outline, as well as understand the case as you would any other rule of law.

Further, your class notes are an important tool for compiling your outline as they should capture what you learned in class, as well as give insight into your professor's tone and points of law your professor highlighted in class.