CALI's Pre-Law Blog

5 Jul, 2006

Learning how to study in law school is the hardest part about law school. If you’ve done much research about law school, you will know that the cornerstone of studying in law school is the outline. More about outlining below...

What is an outline?:
Basically, an outline is a student taking all the relevant information from relevant sources (class notes, casebook, and supplemental material) and condensing that into one document which the student uses to study for the exam. You can find a lot of tips on how to outline in law school out there, but everyone does it differently. Some people like longer outlines, other people like shorter. Some students will tell you they do not even make their own outlines and rely on past students’ outlines, whereas professors say this is strictly forbidden. Some students use more of a graphical approach with flow charts, others use the old fashioned outlining.

How I outline:
I piece together an outline using all sources available to me that I think are important. Some students work with other students in the class while outlining. Some even work on a group outline. I like the fact that you can ask another student for his/her opinion on a certain facet of the outline, but I prefer to work at my own pace. I haven’t really worked in study groups since my first year and, coincidentally or not, my relative standing has improved. For me, the way I go about outlining for a given course depends mostly couple of things: whether the exam is open note and whether I can get an old outline.

By far the biggest factor is whether the exam is open or closed notes. If the exam is open note, I have no problem with making a very fairly lengthy outline. In open note exams I’m not worried about memorization for the exam, but working within my outline during the exam, so organization is key in open note exams. If I get to the point where the outline is pretty long (say, 50+ page) I’ll use MS Word’s indexing functions to go through and mark relevant topics and place the index to be printed out on the first page of my outline. I will also use some sort of page markers for the really big topics. Further, I’m less picky about what goes into open notes exam outlines.

If the exam is closed notes I try to keep the outline small. Thirty pages or less. I’ll include only extremely important case rulings. I will list basic topics, rules, and elements and memorize those from off of the outline.

The other big variable is whether I can find outlines from the same class/professor. Now, I know most professors are adamant about the “make your own outline” mantra. But if I can find a well organized outline from the year before from the same professor’s class then I will rely on it heavily. I will never rely on it fully, but I will take that outline and add notes straight into it during class. This allows me to correct any possible mistakes by the student and helps when putting together the final outline. Towards the end of the semester I will then fill the outline in further with material from secondary sources such as commercial outlines or even other past outlines. I then edit it and that is my outline.

When I cannot find an old outline to work with, I will take more painstaking notes in class. I always take notes in outline form during class. Although it gets me off track a little bit when I get worried about the organization during class, it’s worth it to me so that my notes can actually become the outline as opposed to taking the notes and then making a whole new outline later based on those notes. I then fill in with the secondary materials and edit.

My general outlining tips:

- The class syllabus is a great place to start if you do not know how to organize your outline.

- Do not get hung up on case names and details when putting together your outline. Most professors aren’t looking for case names and details (which is why briefing in law school is not important, but that’s another topic).

- Do not be discouraged against buying commercial outlines based on the advice of your professor. Many professors hold commercial outlines in disdain, but the outlines are important learning tools. I did not use ANY commercial outlines my first semester and I don’t really know why. I wish I would have. Put down the $20 on a used Gilberts and, don’t rely solely on it, but supplement your notes/outline with it.

- Finish the outline in enough time to concentrate on past exams if possible. Preparing the outline is only half of the process. Applying that outline to the exam is the most important thing. Doing hypos from past exams, if available, upon completion of the outline is just as important as having a good outline.

- Find past students’ exams and use them. But do not rely on them completely.

- Spend more time outlining and organizing your outline so you can work within the outline for open note exams.

- Spend more time memorizing a shorter outline for closed note exams.

- Think about using an index of key terms for longer outlines (if anyone has questions of how to do this let me know).

- For open notes, if you find a chart in a commercial outline that may be useful but you cannot bring the actual commercial outline into the test, scan that chart and put it directly into your outline (assuming this is not a violation of your professor’s testing policy).

- Most advice says to work on your outline from the beginning of the class on weekly basis. Put this in the do as I say, not as I do category. I guess I kind of do start early because I keep my class notes in outline form and those notes eventually become my outline. But I just cannot force myself to sit down and start working my outlines before 2-3 weeks prior to the exam. While most students, me included, don’t do it, I bet getting started early would work pretty well.

Final words:
There is no right way to outline. I think everyone does it differently. Some of the tips might be useful, I don’t expect you nor do I want you to outline the exact way I do. But bottom line, do whatever you feel comfortable with/what works for you.