Save money on canned briefs, go on Lexis!!!

[Trancer]

Lexis offers brief synopsis of the case with all relevant information, why spend money on briefs... this semester im gonna save the 25$ each supplement costs and just use lexis exclusively.  You guys might want to give it a shot, it saved my ass last semester.

[Jumboshrimps]

Lexis briefs are extremely short and useless for law school purposes. They are for researchers who don't have time to read the whole case.

[texas1]

Lexis briefs are extremely short and useless for law school purposes. They are for researchers who don't have time to read the whole case.

I seem to remember a gorilla by the same name....

[sharmaine73]

Lexis briefs are extremely short and useless for law school purposes. They are for researchers who don't have time to read the whole case.

I disagree.  Once you know how to read a case and know how to pull the relevant material out on your own, you don't need the super detailed commercial case briefs.  I used the ones on Lexis all the time last semester.  They were a life saver when you didn't have time to read all the cases and just wanted to get the gist of what happened and the rule you needed to pull out of it.  I think they were also helpful if a case seemed confusing,  I'd sometimes read the Lexis notes first  then go back and read the case and it made things much simpler.

[slacker]

I disagree with your disagreement. Lexis is good for a quick overview, but the canned briefs have several advantages including pulling out the procedural posture, and, if they're for the casebook you're using, focusing on what the casebook focuses on since the case in the book is generally edited to a snippet of its former self.

For example, a case on a wide range of topics might appear in a Civ Pro book, edited to show how FRCP have affected the case/outcome. The Lexis brief might focus on substance and gloss over or skip the procedure. The brief for a Civ Pro casebook would give the relevant procedural info.

[dft]

I agree somewhat.

I think the canned briefs are better than using Lexis (or Westlaw) alone. That may not justify paying $30 for them, however.

If you can get them used for a good price, then I would say go for it.

I disagree with your disagreement. Lexis is good for a quick overview, but the canned briefs have several advantages including pulling out the procedural posture, and, if they're for the casebook you're using, focusing on what the casebook focuses on since the case in the book is generally edited to a snippet of its former self.

For example, a case on a wide range of topics might appear in a Civ Pro book, edited to show how FRCP have affected the case/outcome. The Lexis brief might focus on substance and gloss over or skip the procedure. The brief for a Civ Pro casebook would give the relevant procedural info.

[slacker]

Used/older edition is fine. You might miss out on a few cases, but you'll save a lot of $$$.

[mr.hopkins]

assuming you'll need any case briefs ..

[Jumboshrimps]

I can't believe I've come to this decision but here it is. The best briefs are the ones you make yourself. I'm not talking about the whole-page, sectioned-off things some profs suggest. I mean a sentence or two that effectively distils the rule of the case, and then a sentence or two of facts. I have to put it in words I can remember for the exam, so why not do so after reading the case?