BASIC ACADEMIC TIPS ON THE STUDY OF LAW

SELF

Read. Repeat. Review. Fundamental to the study of law is the voluminous intake of legal knowledge from codals, annotated books, cases and other materials. Success or failure essentially rests on the dedication and intensity of a student on smart reading (reading with comprehension). First, know your average reading time by counting how many pages you can finish in an hour. Second, add all pages of your textbooks and other materials you need to read for the entire semester and divide it by the number of days you intend to read all of it. It would be preferable that you allocate 2 weeks before any major exam as purely review time and not taking in new information. By having these numbers, you can build a workable and calculated study plan with the minimum number of inputs you should take every day. Corollary to this is the knowledge for your high or low points of mental absorption. Ideally you must allot 3 hours for a one hour class. Base your study plan on these key personal facts.

Sleep. Never forsake a good night rest. 8 to 6 hours of sleep is essential for greater brain absorption and activity. Never compromise your health. As a general rule, late night cramming and sleepless nights barely help you during exams.  Make this a habit and take care of your body.

Memorize before you sleep, recall once you wake-up. Memorization is an essential exercise in the study of law. Though not a total requirement, memorization helps you in articulating the law itself and helps you support your arguments. There are several tips in memorization and each person has its own unique style. Try to discover yours as soon as possible and integrate it in your daily readings. Basic is breaking it down into thought chunks and repetition.  

NETWORK

Analyze and understand your teacher. Each teacher is unique and each one has a distinct method of evaluating the quality of your answers. Know what they want to find in your answers. Know what provisions of the law they consistently ask. Know the manner that they want the question to be answered. As Sun Tzu puts it; “if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperilled in a hundred battles”. In the law school setting, knowing your professor will mostly lessen your chances of defeat during exams.

Establish upper-year level connections. The upper class men had been through want you are about to go through and with this come a treasure throve of wisdom. As much as possible, connect with upper year level students since they can give you a personal take of the law, the teachers, and the method. There advises are valuable for it can help you craft a study plan that anticipates the situation. You can also ask for notes, past exams, outlines and other resources that can help you prepare for the daily rigour of law school.

Peer Support. Never forget that you are not alone in the legal journey. You have friends that go through the same experiences you go through. A good support system will not only encourage you to study but will also help you check your own cracks and advances in the study of the law. It is wise to sometimes gather and ask questions to one another so you can build on each other’s legal knowledge.

TOOLS

Update yourself on latest jurisprudence. Having a stock knowledge of latest jurisprudence is an edge. You can access this bank of cases on legal blogs such as http://lexoterica.wordpress.com/. You can also make it a habit to read one latest Supreme Court decision daily published in their website. Knowledge of jurisprudence allows you to see how certain laws are applied in varying circumstances and how the Supreme Court interprets the law.

Develop personal law notes. Having your own notes with your own hand writing and your own form is a tremendous help in your absorption and memorization. Try to condense legal thoughts in one sentence and certain provisions into one word. Digest cases with key facts, main issue/s and the principle of law applied. Diagramming also helps you relate and connect the basic principles of law and help you see the greater principles behind it. By having a solid grasp of its essence or its “why”, understanding “what” the law is not so much of an effort. It can also help you generate a mental picture of the law which can aid memorization.

Watch the news and/or read newspapers. The law is a changing social institution that responds to the present context. Watching the news especially on matters of legal concern helps you link the law and reality and may lead you to better appreciate the study of the law. Moreover, make it a habit to relate laws to news reports. This is a great way to review your lessons while watching at the same time.