How to Write or Prepare a Law School Outline

Preparing a law school outline is a good way of reviewing the course material.

A law school outline is a document that typically summarizes an entire law school course to study for and possibly use in the final examination. It is a quick reference guide to trigger a student's memory about the course subject matter. Compiling a good outline requires a strong grasp of the course concepts.

Things You'll Need

• Course Outline
• Course Textbook
• Course Notes

Instructions

1. Use the professor's course outline as a template for preparing your law school outline.

2. Add a short statement summarizing that particular topic for each heading in the outline,. For example, in a criminal law course, the heading for one particular week might be "assault". Next to that heading, you would type "attempted/actual application of force" as a general cue for your memory.

3. Add brief notations about the applicable legal principles for each subheading in the outline. Include statute sections and case law as appropriate. For example, in a family law course you would put FLA (Family Law Act or the name of the family law statute in your jurisdiction) and for the section on "definition of spouse" you should reference the FLA definition section and summarize the leading (precedent setting) cases establishing the definition.

4. State the issue as a question for each legal principle. Summarize the legal analysis, and note one or two of leading cases that established the principle. Make only short notes about the facts in the case to trigger your memory.

5. Review your outline for legal accuracy. Reference your course textbook and course notes to ensure accuracy.

Tips & Warnings

• Law school outline templates are available online.

• Make at least one additional copy of your finalized outline in the event of loss or damage to the original.

• Be cautious about using the available templates because the writer may not have had a full understanding of the applicable legal principles.

• Do not wait until the end of the course to start outlining. Law courses cover a significant amount of material so it is next to impossible to outline an entire course in a short period of time. Good practice is to outline each section of the course as it is completed.

• Avoid including too much information. Do not attempt to write a summary of the entire textbook and all of the case law. Focus your outline on the key legal principles and leading cases.

References

• Law Nerds; "Create an Outline for Each Class"