The LSC method doesn't translate very well to the actual classroom. People get excited after reading the book because it makes things seem easy or structured. I bought a casebook used from one of those LSC rainbow junkies. The book is a mess. I got it for under 20 dollars. You can tell the guy had no idea what the hell he was doing. After receiving the casebook, I wasn't surprised that he told me he didn't do well in the class. I know some people who took LSC's advice and made a system of their own. I don't know how they did. In law school people don't really talk about grades. You don't know who has done well (at least at my school) until law review is announced. In fact, I think LSC briefing method is close to book briefing. I don't think book briefing from the start is helpful. I don't know how other 2Ls feel about it though.
Delaney has the traditional style of briefing. He was a professor at NYU. I know how to do a Delaney brief. His Learning Legal Reasoning taught me how to do a brief intially and some of the stuff in there helps in legal writing. But those briefs are the 3 to 4 page elaborate brief. Some professors might require that you do the elaborate briefs in the beginning weeks of class to make sure that you know how to do it. But I think a lot of people get struck on their brief looking like the examples in the book. There's no such thing as the perfect brief. You might have 10 cases to read in a night for 4 different classes. You shouldn't care about writing the perfect brief. You should care about understanding what you are reading.
I used the Leews method of briefing. I thought it helped me pull out the most relevant things I need from the cases especially the landmark ones. It also helped me remember certain cases better and what area of the black letter they covered or were a variation of. A caveat: I wouldn't start doing the Leews style of briefing right away. Like Todd pointed out, you still need to know where the precedent and holding of the case are and what it is. It depends on you. You will come up with a system that works for you. You can read these posts for guidance but ultimately it's what makes you comfortable. After you received your first semester grades, it's also what made you successful.
As a newbie starting school next month, I enjoy sitting back and reading the various opinions on "to brief or not to brief". It appears that the concensus is to brief in some form or fashion. But I've also read many posts about the best "method" of briefing: Delaney's, Law School Confidential's, LEEWS'.
Can you 2L's & 3L's sound off on your opinions?
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