1. Focusing on Classroom Discussions
Some professors, in having classroom discussions, may be trying to elicit information that would be useful for you to know and realize in answering an exam question. Such a discussion may be extremely helpful in you preparing your case briefs and exam outlines.
A Case Brief consists of some of the following headings:
a.) Basic Facts: To provide a background for the application of the law which may not serve as a huge source of discussion
b.) Holding: The outcome/decision of the Court
c.) Legal Reasoning: The principles, policy reasons that the Court employs when applying the law to the facts of the situation
d.) Ratio: The main principle(s) that come out of the case
Some professors also tend to focus on the theory behind the law that they are explaining. This may be important for exam purposes. This however does not mean that the aforementioned information is not necessary. Theory may be important to incorporate within your exam answer though depending on what your professor asks of you.
There is a split between those who prepare notes and do their readings before class and those who do it after. Identify what works for you. If you do prepare notes and do the readings before class, make sure you identify mistakes that you have made and correct them so they are consistent with your professor’s analysis.
If your professor is demonstrating the law with specific mini hypotheticals - pay attention. This may be to show you how the law is applied differently in different situations and depend on certain factors. This is the classic example of the “What if?” sentence
Additionally, you should pay close attention to split decisions, 5-4 decisions. This may be a case that you could use to argue both sides of the law as the dissent may be equally compelling. It shows how the law is seen differently by different individuals. For example, in the Law of Contracts, Lord Denning could be used to oppose a certain principle of current law to argue for the other side on an exam.
At the beginning, you will always feel like you are spending a LOT of time briefing cases. Some students find it useful to flip to the end of the case excerpt and read the summary and then delve into the actual reading of the case to know what they should be looking for.
2. Preparing Outlines
Do not leave the preparation of outlines for each course to a couple of days before the said exam. If you do not understand a principle, it may result in panic and a slowing down of the learning process.
Start compiling your notes and making them shorter every so often - perhaps after a major chapter or chunk of the course. You doing this would also serve as a review and raise any red flags early on that you can discuss with your professor during office hours.
When preparing outlines, it may be useful to break down each course into major issues or themes, with sub-topics for each. You could apply tests under each topic, followed by the case name (some people call this their “Rules” List, which may be useful in courses such as The Law of Contracts). The use of policy arguments may be implemented into each theme, which may be important in courses such as Constitutional Law. You can also add examples, exceptions, and distinctions, by including cases.
Some people like to use a detailed table of contents to browse through their notes during an exam while others like tabbing. This is a personal opinion but try to find what suits you better when you may try to do a practice exam (through using past exams available through the exam bank on the computers in the library).
Some law students are also very visual learners and like using flowcharts and diagrams to explain what happens when certain factors are available and what the law would be in that particular case.
3. Taking the Exam
Many students jump the gun and start answering the questions right away. Make sure you read and follow the instructions at the front – perhaps you only have to answer one of two questions, etc. This is important to note at the beginning of the exam. Make sure that your writing is legible – professors are marking a lot of exams and you could try to make it easier for them to mark your own. You do not want to frustrate the person marking your exam.
For exams that focus on hypotheticals and essays, the answers will cover a wide range of issues. If you have already talked about a specific area of law in one hypothetical, it will likely not come up in the other hypothetical. Keep this in mind.
Furthermore, if you have a choice in answering questions, do not spend valuable time trying to choose one. Just be aware of any questions that you read and draw a blank on right away so you can eliminate these. If you draw a blank when you are answering a question, just move on and go back to it – most professors will allow for the questions to be answered in a different order.
Some professors are also proactive in assigning suggested time frames to be allotted to each question. Try to stick by this allotted time frame because it is an indication of the length and time that the professor thinks is required to provide a satisfactory answer.
If you write a lot and realize that your answer may be off-track, unless you are absolutely certain that you are completely wrong, do not cross out that large segment of your answer. You could proceed by just stating that a more persuasion argument would be what you write about next. Remember, you would most likely want to add counter-arguments.