Law School Discussion

I did most prep solo, but that isn't necessarily a recomendation, just how it worked out for me as the year evolved. For whatever variety of reasons, I didn't enmesh with any group that would have had value as a study group... in hindsight I think I should have tried harder to socialize and develop more of a in-school support network ...not to say that it would have taken as formal a form as a "study group" even, but there would be greater potential for ad hoc discussion and support at least.

As for outlining in particular, I did it as I went along rather than compiling it later on. I imagine my outlines were more rambling than those of the edit-and-refine folks, but then again I'm an audio learner, and my note taking is... well, not my strongest area...

I used the Outliner program from Storelaw, which helped keep my notes from becoming overly free-range. Outliner also had outline templates based on the 1L casebooks available, which provided headings and subheadings preformatted, and that saved me a lot of work (once again, the data entry side of note taking being a weakness for me) The templates also had built in cases pre-entered, with 2 of the 4 casebooks even having citations pre-entered. Each case's section had tabs for my brief, in-class notes, outside source notes, and even could provide an online brief from either lexis or westlaw (if the citation is entered)... which can help a little on those jammed up and less than prepared occasions. But, as seems to be a recuring theme, results may vary.

Also, I found commercial outlines pretty helpful for establishing understanding as the year progressed... helping to simplify/distill concepts as well as confirm (or correct) that a concept was what I thought it was. Also, some classes seemed like better fits for commercial study aids. Property in particular has some rather formula-driven subjects (future interests, estates in land, etc)

However, I found the commercial outlines to be less helpful for end of semmester exam prep (though not totally without value). At that stage I think the commercial outlines can give a false sense of clairity that can crumble when faced with an exam's muddy fact pattern... better to be prepared for the mud.

I suppose everyone has to find their groove.... whatever combination of anal and zen that works for them, the trick is finding the right mix sooner than later...plus having a thick skin doesn't hurt. 

GOOD LUCK! 

WMCL rising 2L here...
The Mitchell Library has a bunch of resources and lists, including the following list of sources with briefing advice...
http://www.wmitchell.edu/library/documents/briefcase.pdf


While I think it is a good idea to get familliar with briefing before classes start and develop a system ahead of time, be aware that you will most likely need to adjust and adapt once you are in the day-to-day. Over time, parsing the signal vs noise becomes more second nature. A few profs are gotcha types who might quiz you on the semi-obscura to check for slacking and/or to keep the class on its toes, but I believe the vast majority of the faculty at wmcl tend to be concerned with the core parts of a case that made it worthy of inclusion in a casebook to begin with. If you happen to have one of the gotcha types, you'll learn that soon enough, and can adjust accordingly. As you go, revisit your previous briefs, and ask yourself if they...
(A)were helpfull at the time (in-class discussion of that case/theory)
and
(B) likely to be helpfull at the end of the semester (or whenever tested)

function trumps form

hiya jvan

In order of pref, I put down 2,1,3, mainly based on schedule times, but with a little research on profs. too, but it mostly feels like a shot in the dark.

I'm not doing the SEP, although I'm having regrets/2nd thoughts about that. But being as this might be the last low-preasure Summer in the near future, I'll try to savior the time   to the best of my abilities