How to Prepare for a Law School Class

Law school is hard. You can, however, ease your anxiety about being called on in class if you prepare properly for each class. Here are some guidelines about how to properly prepare for a law school class, what to bring with you and what to refer to so you can get the most out of class.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

1. Write a list of assignments due in class each day for the week.

2. Decide when you will complete each assignment for the week. Consider your law school class schedule and plan to complete each assignment before it is due in class.

3. Find a comfortable place to study. That does not mean go to sleep. That means find a quiet area in the law school library or plan to study at home. Do what works best for you.

4. Orient yourself before doing each assignment. That means you should look at your law school course syllabus or the table of contents of your textbook to try to understand why you're reading the assignment and which part of the course the assignment relates to.

5. Do each assignment on your list. Cross off each assignment as you complete it. Crossing each assignment off your list will give you a sense of accomplishment and spur you to keep working.

6. Brief cases fully. Particularly as a first-year law student, you'll want to brief cases fully before class. That means writing out or typing a separate brief for a case, not just making notes in your textbook about the case.

7. Bring your textbook, notes, syllabus and case briefs to class with you. Refer to your case brief if you get called on in a law school class.

Tips & Warnings

• Actually allocate how much time you will spend on each assignment for the week. You may not follow the schedule exactly, but it will give you a sense of how much you should accomplish each day.

• If you get called on in class, using your case briefs to answer questions is much easier than trying to flip through a textbook to find the pertinent part of the case.