Law School Success

Copyright Thrive Development, Inc. 2017

Law School Success

1. I graduated from the Univ. of Pennsylvania with a degree in Economics.

2. Then received a law degree not from a top tier school.

3. I remain anonymous because what I say goes against the traditional theory of how to
study in law school, and what your professors will demand.

a. I almost failed my first semester studying the traditional way or as required by

professors. If the Dean had not allowed me to start the semester over again, I
would not have received my law degree.

4. First, buy the commercial legal briefs books at your law school bookstore, and buy the
one that follows your assigned casebook.

a. Legal briefs are brief summaries of each case in the casebook.

i. Each brief is about 2 paragraphs long a very easy read.

b. Several publishers exists, but I recommend Casenotes.

i. See Casenotes here: http://www.wklegaledu.com/series/casenote-legal-
briefs

5. Second, buy the commercial law outline for the course topic. E.g., Contracts, Property,
Torts, etc.

a. Outlines are rules of law condensed to a single sentence or two.

i. They also help you understand what the rule of law is as opposed to
being confused by writings in your case book that would sound
unintelligible to a novice.

b. I highly recommend Emmanuel Law Outlines, after perusing through the other
commercial outlines. Gilberts Law Outlines is also good but certainly not as good
as Emmanuels.
i. See Emmanuel Law Outlines here:
http://www.wklegaledu.com/series/emanuel-law-outlines

6. Third, when you are assigned readings in your case book, first read the legal briefs that
correspond to the cases in the casebook.
 a. This will tell you the issue or issues -basically the rules of law each case
intends to teach.
i. Most cases have one or two rules of law.

b. If you have time, quickly read over the casebook assigned readings and pause
and contemplate when the issue or issues identified in the commercial brief are
discussed.

7. Fourth, read and memorize the section in the commercial outline that corresponds to
the issues related to the case book readings and commercial briefs.

a. For example: If you are assigned readings on offer and acceptance in contracts,
read and memorize the section dealing with offer and acceptance in the outline.

i. In Emmanuel Law Outlines, you can almost memorize word for word the
rules of law stated as sentences.

8. Fifth, to prepare for exams, re-memorize the commercial outline sections that were
covered in class and make sure you know the material inside out.

a. You may want to review your notes or request old exams by professors, but you
will be given a fact pattern where you must discover the issues or rules of law
involved and the best way to recognize and address them is by memorizing the
rules of law in your outline

9. Sixth, use mnemonics or other memorization techniques.

a. Certain rules will be intricate and detailed

b. I recommend the books by 8 times world memory champion Dominic OBrien

i. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_O'Brien

c. This will also help you for the Bar Exam

10. Seventh, remember why you are in law school. Although getting an A is great, you will
eventually need to know the materially fully to be able to help people. When someone
asks you a question, will you be able to answer them fully and comprehensively?