How to get through all of your readings in law school

Law school is one of the most challenging career paths in the U.S., especially for first-year law students. A big part of the syllabus features different reading material with intricate subject matter, such as case briefs, statutes, law review articles, and more.

All of which can make reading and comprehending legal writing time-consuming and mentally taxing. In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to get through your law school reading.

10 tips for getting through law school reading efficiently

Getting through law school will require hard work, time, and dedication. Here you’ll find 10 tips that will help you prepare for your final exams.

Time management

Law school is much more than just attending classes. You have to research projects, write assignments, and complete law reviews and legal research, and that’s just the beginning.

The key to time management is to create a schedule for every minute of the day – even the smallest things. Don’t forget to include the time you’ll use to relax and have fun with non-law-school-related activities.

Reading and briefing cases

Reading and briefing cases in law school can be daunting. Start by identifying the source of the problem. If it takes you a long time to brief a case, you may need to increase your reading speed.

While case briefing is essential, it isn’t the key factor in preparing you for final exams. If reading and briefing cases takes too much of your time as well, adjusting your case reading habits is the best course of action.

Focus on the black letter law

While the procedural history of a case might be fascinating, that’s not what law school exams focus on. Most exam questions will focus on the black letter law – the well-established legal rules.

Consequently, your time will be better spent learning about the elements of a rule instead of the history behind it. Take apart the elements of a rule by writing and typing them out. This will help you to learn how to analyze the structure of a rule during an exam.

Key topics

Your professors will prepare you for the key topics that will most likely be included in the exam. For example, if your professor spends two weeks reviewing intentional torts, that’s where you should focus your energy.

Cases discussed for short periods may also be included in an exam, but you should review them as time allows. Your study schedule should focus on the key topics discussed by your professors.

Office hours

In the first semester, students may keep up with their reading assignments but struggle with legal concepts. If that’s the case, the best alternative is office hours.

Law school professors make time in their schedules to meet with students and go over challenging topics. Some students have their own learning styles and find it hard to keep up with classroom dynamics. In these one-on-one meetings, you can go over specific topics you don’t understand.

On class time

For law students who have fallen behind with exam preparation, the idea of a cold call during a class discussion causes too much anxiety. Students think the best thing to do is skip classes to avoid this awkward situation, but this couldn’t be more wrong.

Class time is when you can learn the correct answers and listen to your classmates’ legal analysis. By the end of the semester, your class notes will help dissipate any doubts.

Create a good studying atmosphere

Creating good study habits includes building the right atmosphere. Try and avoid distractions that will deviate your attention from the material you’re reading.

Find a quiet and comfortable place to study, whether listening to music or in total silence. The key is to create a distraction-free environment.

Revise your notes before class

Re-reading your class notes is better than going over the reading material multiple times. First, it will help you get in sync with where you left off in the previous class.

On the other hand, instead of reading material where you have to look for the correct answers, you’ll already have all the right answers when revising your notes.

Consider study groups

Study groups can be an excellent learning tool. Discussing topics with peers with the same academic goals will increase your chances of retaining information. Additionally, you can also get helpful studying tips from other students.

One crucial thing about study groups is to keep them professional rather than a social gathering. Otherwise, you’ll lose precious time you should use for practice exams.

Rely on assistive technology

If you struggle to keep up with your reading material in law school, embrace assistive technology to aid you with your studies. Text to speech applications, for example, can read books to you and enhance your reading comprehension skills. While you’ll still have to pay attention while listening to the material, it will help you keep up with your studies while doing other tasks, like driving, working out, or cooking.

Succeed in law school with Speechify

Speechify is a text to speech application that can help law students keep up with their studies and prepare for their exams. Based on AI technology, this software can read aloud any physical or digital text, including documents, PDFs, docs, notes, and more.

This TTS app has been designed to work with Android, iOS, Safari, and Chrome, making it easily accessible on any device. If you’re a law school student and the workload is getting too much, don’t hesitate to try this app to help you get back to speed. With customized settings, you can control the playback speed and listen to any law school study material at 4.5x the speed to help boost productivity.

Visit Speechify today and get familiar with this technology designed to help you on the road to success.

FAQ

Do you do all the readings in law school?

No. To do well in law school, you must focus on the topics your professors ask you to read to pass the law exams.

How many hours of reading do you need for law school?

The average reading time for a law school student is 40 hours a week.

What year of law school is the hardest?

The first year of law school is the hardest.

What is the hardest subject in law school?

Most students find Constitutional Law and Civil Procedure the hardest subject in law school.

What are the best ways to stay on top of your readings in law school?

The best ways to stay on top of your reading are to plan a reading strategy, take useful notes, revise the material before class, practice reading, and allow text to speech tools like Speechify read the material out loud to you.

What is the best way to study for law school exams?

The best way to study for law school exams is to create a final study schedule, take notes you’ll have to revise at any given moment, and do test practices.

What is the Socratic method?

The Socratic method is an argumentative dialogue based on questions and answers, which is thought to stimulate critical thinking.

See more