In law school, students are expected to read multiple cases to identify rules that will be applied on exams. Using non-law sources, students will learn how to extract individual rules from multiple articles to create one synthesized rule that can be used to solve new problems.
Recognizing and understanding policy in cases is a challenging task - and an invaluable tool. Knowing the policy behind case law and statutes and understanding the underlying policies helps us apply the law on exams and when representing clients. Engaging and practicing these skills throughout your law school career is essential.
This lesson will walk you through things to consider before setting "foot" (physically or virtually!) in a law school doctrinal classroom. You'll learn about how to listen for and capture the most important information, how to maximize your note-taking efficiency by using symbols and shorthand, and the various software options available for taking notes. It is recommended by the author that this lesson be completed before Note-Taking 101: Case-Based Content, which tests your note-taking skills in practice.
This lesson, intended for incoming and current 1L law students, guides participants through the process of note-taking in law school classes with a focus on case-based information. Using a series of cross-doctrinal audio lecture examples and integrating periodic checks for understanding, students have the opportunity to develop their note-taking skills and practice categorizing the pieces of case-based information. This lesson is equally suitable for full-time, part-time, evening, or remote law students.
Final exams require recalling information from over 14 weeks of the semester. This lesson provides insight on how to remember the vast information from class to apply on final exams.
This podcast discusses tips to help you remember more information and to perform better on law school exams. Three learning strategies are explained: spaced repetition, the testing effect, and cognitive schema. Briefly defined, spaced repetition incorporates periodic studying throughout the semester. The testing effect can be more challenging and is exactly what it sounds like; it is testing yourself to see whether or not you know the material. Lastly, the podcast explains how to create a cognitive schema as an organizational structure that you can use to retain information.
For more on this subject, look at the CALI Lesson "Secrets to Improved Memorization."
This lesson is designed to provide students with data about why their attention levels may dip during class or studying, including recent research regarding the effects of digital distractions on concentration. The lesson invites students to reflect upon the reasons they may lose focus and/or concentration while in class or while studying, and provides a robust set of strategies students can use to anticipate and control for that loss of focus, incorporating several free-writes.
This lesson gives best practices on whether and how to form a law school study group.
This podcast discusses methods to use to make you more comfortable with class participation, including case briefing templates. The podcast will provide you with the opportunity to do a freewriting exercise, explore some research in the field, and learn a few tips on how to hone your approach to speaking out loud in class.
This lesson will take you step-by-step through a method of representing the content from cases in an outline.
Law students are excellent readers, and this skill will lay the foundation for success throughout life. However, reading in law school requires more precision than previous educational activities. This lesson will deepen individuals reading skills specifically within the context of legal reading.
This lesson explains some key differences between legal writing and exam writing. First, the lesson demonstrates the relationship between legal writing and exam writing. Next, the lesson explains the differences between legal writing and exam writing. After you complete this lesson you will be able to transfer writing and analysis skills learned in your legal writing course to your final exams.