:)

I’m in agreement with Andy here. We sat next to each other in a bunch of classes and amusingly our books would match pretty closely. We’d have the same things highlighted in the same colors, and have notes in the margins (circles with arrows pointing to a big, ‘TEST!!!’)

I recommend never taking case notes separately from lecture notes. I did that first semester, and it added an extra layer of confusion when I had to assemble an outline.

Good luck!

The short answer is that everyone has their own method of class prep, and figuring out how you learn is part of the law school experience. That said, I think that I can provide some ground rules that will help.

While it depended on the class, I only typed skeleton notes before class with case name + cite, parties names, sentence or two about the facts, and the holding. This was mainly to keep my class notes organized. I used the law school confidential highlighting, or “book-briefing,” strategy [pros: less time typing out case facts that don't matter at all on the test (except for analogizing factual situations, but that's easy) cons: wasting time making the book look pretty, buying highlighters].

I think this is the best system for people with decent recall who read carefully. Taking solid notes before class is a good idea, especially if you get nervous when called on, or want to be very prepared.

My advice for extensive class prep is to focus on the “black letter law.” Some research on the term might help, but it’s basically the rule that a case stands for. While it’s really hard to get past the factual situations that cases limit their holdings to, if you always think about the rules then you can understand how the law intersects with different facts (like in hypotheticals, or on exams). Remember though that you’re being taught an way of thinking–with emphasis on thinking analytically–not just memorizing rules.

My girlfriend adds that she liked her system of taking class notes in black, and prep notes in blue. Use OneNote bullets/numbering, color and highlighting, and label your tabs by topic, not by date. Search the internet for class outlines using the same book and edition as yours (google “nyu sba outline”) and make friends with upperclassman. Read law school confidential, and “the elements of style” by strunk & white.

Goodluck with school. Feel free to post more questions as you think of them. We’re planning a 0L-1L wisdom post sometime in the future.

-Andrew

FYI: I start school at BYU (Utah) in a couple weeks. I was a neuroscience major, but my work experience is in dental sales. I’m thinking patent law is what I want to pursue.

As to the wireless, I’m glad it worked for you, but I think an internet connection is a huge advantage. I’m constantly pulling up cases, laws, or random statistics that professors mention. Besides, when someone gets caught not reading, I need something to do.

I think OneNote is a good way to ensure that you are ready with the right answer for a professor’s question, but I actually found it helpful for studying for exams to have to go through my notes and sort them into what was important, instead of having them already in the perfect nuggets of information. That said, the organization certainly is VERY important, especially for open-note exams where you might be completely blanking on something, but if you can locate it quickly in your notes, you’ll still get the answer.

Essentially, what this means is that, even if I didn’t already type 50 wpm faster than you, I’d still be able to transcribe with more alacrity!

Oooh, I kid! To each his own; n’est pas?

Here’s your official welcome to Legal Geekery.

Cheers!