How to Read & Brief Cases

Your first year of law school, you will spend a big bulk of your time reading and briefing each of the cases in your assigned reading. This is super important. By your second year, you will probably be able to get away with using canned briefs (which are case summaries you can pull off the internet using your case name and citation), but your first year it's important that you understand HOW to properly read and brief a case, so you don't want to skip learning how to do this. You will need this skill come exam time and in the unfortunate event you get cold-called. Trust me.

READ

Chapters in case books are generally organized according to a broad topic. For example, in Criminal Law, there may be a chapter on Homicide and in it there will be different sections for Manslaughter, 2nd Degree Murder, 1st Degree Murder, etc. Each section will illustrate important rules of law according to the most relevant and controlling cases available. When reading your cases, keep in mind that some of the stuff may not make any sense at first. Especially in subjects like Property law, some of the cases can be really, really old and use archaic language. Just hang in there and don't get stuck re-reading the same sentence over and over again. Your professor's job is to flush the cases out during class lecture. Also, don't skip over commentary, footnotes or dissents (although by 3L year, you won't really care about Scalia's dissenting opinions). Often times, you'll find pieces of helpful info in there that your Prof wants to discuss/question on. Use your highlighter and write all over the page, you'll thank yourself later when you get cold-called and need that info fast.  

BRIEF

At the very minimum, you'll need to include the following in your case brief:

Heading: Case name, court name and date of decision

Facts: Relationship of parties and relevant facts to dispute

Procedural History: Describe what happened in the lower courts

Issue: What is the question in litigation? What is the court attempting to resolve?

Rule: Legal principle being applied by the court
Analysis: How the court came to their conclusion

Conclusion: Judgment/ court's response to question at issue

Write your brief out and take it with you to class. When you get called on in class, you're up! The Professor will ask you a series of questions about the required reading and you can use your brief to answer them. If he asks you something so specific you don't have it in your brief, revert back to your highlights and notes in your textbook.

GOOD LUCK!!

1L SUMMER READING

My First Internship

I got a phone call from the Career Services Department today. Apparently, a local criminal defense firm is looking for a 1L to help with a high profile murder case involving a juvenile defendant.... and the CS center recommended me! They asked if they could pass my info onto the firm and, of course, I said yes! So excited :)

Overheard in Law School #3

"I mentally murder people I don't like."

Overheard in Law School #2

Student: I'm sorry, I'm not good at math.

Professor: None of us are. That's why we went to law school.

Life is Good (Again)

DONE with my first semester of law school!!!
And it didn't kill me. Somehow, I managed to make it through 1L fall with only minor psychological damage.

I didn't harm any of my frenemy classmates, my son still thinks I'm cool (enough), and my husband hasn't filed for divorce yet - all in all a success no matter what my grades turn out to be.

I'm pretty sure my friends and family will find me less likeable these days, but that's to be expected, right? I mean, who actually likes lawyers/law students? Not me...

Exam Update

The semester is almost over. I only have one exam left and then I am FREE for Winter Break. Words cannot express how excited I am to be able to watch tv, drink until I forget about law school, and not read ANYTHING until school starts back up.

Surprisingly, exams have not killed me (yet). I've been avoiding the law school library and my classmates like the plague. I think this has helped a lot actually. They all look so panicked and I just don't want to do that to myself. I've been busting my ass this entire semester so that I wouldn't have to kill myself now trying to catch up or outline - that's what I keep reminding myself when I start to get anxious. So I've been studying at home and making sure I get good sleep, take my vitamins, don't obsess over exams too much.

So far they have all gone really well. Ofcourse everyone I've talked to thinks they did okay though, so we'll see what happens once we get our grades back. I'll keep my fingers crossed until then.

For now, I have ONE MORE exam standing between me and the holidays -better get back to studying.

GOOD LUCK ON EXAMS EVERYONE!!

p.s. ESTATES & FUTURE INTERESTS SUCK

Open Letter

Exhausted.

Holy bags under my eyes!!

I am SO tired. I never imagined law school could be so mentally and physically exhausting.

Here are a list of things I am sick and tired of:

• Waking up before the sun comes up every morning.
• Seeing the same people all day, everyday.
• Being one of the twenty people who keep getting called on over and over again.
• My friends and family guilt tripping me about neglecting them.
• Carrying 300 lbs. of books around campus.
• Feeling like I don't have enough hours in the day.
• READING. And BRIEFING. And OUTILNING. And STUDYING. And PRACTICE PROBLEMS. OMG - I AM SO SICK OF LAW SCHOOL!!!

Love this.

"What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you ever close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."

- Billy Madison

They Hate Me.

Maybe it's depression talking, but why do I feel like all my friends and family hate me?

 

 

I know, I've been acting shitty.

 

 

Law school is a selfish endevour; I'm selfish for putting my friends and family through it.

 

 

I have so much guilt for missing birthdays and forgetting to return phone calls. I'm generally pretty cool. I'm a good friend and people usually think I'm fun to be around. But lately I don't even want to hang out with myself. I hate school, my classmates, and am finding the negative in everything.

 

 

I think law school is killing my soul.

FBI & Pizza

Today we had a guest speaker come in from the FBI and I loveddd it.

He talked about all the great job opportunities that the FBI has for law graduates and told us some crazy stories. I had no idea that almost 25% of FBI special agents have a juris doctorate. They also like to recruit accountants and, apparently, they are hiring like crazy right now.

I don't know if I would be cut out for the FBI, but it definitely sounds interesting. For a few years he specialized in crimes against children, so I stayed after and talked to him about it. He was so nice and helpful. He gave me some great advice on incorporating my interests in human rights advocacy into a career in criminal law. Definitely glad I didn't skip today's lunch lecture.

Best. Shirt. Ever.

I need this in my life ASAP.

Law school is depressing.

Yep, that's about all I have to say at the moment.

I could go on and on, but I've recently become particularly unfond of long, drawn out opinions that could just as easily (and much more conveniently for the reader) be thoughtfully presented in a simple thesis statement.

So, there you have it.

Law school = Life ruiner

Overheard in Law School #1

"You can't rape someone you love."

Thought of the Day:

Two thumbs down for the Socratic Method.

Lucky.

Lots of my classmates are from out of state. Today, I was having a conversation with one of them and she was nearly in tears talking about how homesick she is with all her friends and family so far away. I couldn't help but feel bad for her. Law school can be so isolating. Day after day, you are completely consumed with reading and studying. For someone who moves away from home and lives by themself, I can see how you would get really lonely living the life of a 1L.

Sometimes, in the deep corners of my mind, I question my decision to get married and start a family before starting law school. Balancing work, life, and family is downright overwhelming and can seem impossible at times. Wouldn't it have been so much easier to have finished school first? I'm sure in a lot of ways it would have been.

But then I think about what makes me happiest in my life... and that's my family. Every morning when I wake up before the sun comes up, it's them I say good morning to. When I have a bad day at school and come home cursing about my bitchy classmates, I know my husband really cares about what happened (unless there is an important game on, but he'll at least pretend).

I'm so LUCKY to have them here with me. Law school effects them too and I'm so happy to have my support system right here in the trenches with me :) They make me the luckiest 1L ever.

I should be reading...

But I thought I would give everyone a little update on my observations of law school so far.

1. The reading is intense. But it's nothing compared to the intense anxiety I feel when a professor starts randomly cold calling on people in class.

2. Being in a room all day, everyday with 100 type A personalities is far from what I call fun. Everyone is so similar... we're all assholes and smart asses. They might as well just put us all in a cage and have us fight to the death because that would probably be easier and less painful.

3. The gunners in my class have already been identified and made fun of by everyone else. In addition, the professors have recognized them as well and have already started ignoring them when they raise their hand (every 2 minutes). This brings great satisfaction to me and the rest of my non-gunner classmates.

4. Some people just do NOT know how to dress. I mean, this is a professional school. There is a dress code. Law school is not the place for sun dresses that are so short people can almost see your Britney. And it's definitely not the place for jean shorts and flip flops. What are these people thinking?

5. Wow, I knew it was going to be competitive... but I had no idea it would be like THIS. Example. Yesterday my civpro professor announces that he will be assigning seating charts today (lame, but whatever). Class starts at 8am. I'm super short and totally ADD, so I always sit in the front row to ensure that my vision isnt blocked by a big headed person and that I am not distracted by people in class. I got to school at 7:25am thinking I would have more than enough time to grab a good seat. When I get there, the door to the room hadnt even been unlocked yet and there are about 40 people already there!! WTF. When they opened the doors, it was like a mad rush for the first four rows. I almost got trampled to death and people were throwing elbows everywhere. I was able to get a good seat, but it nearly cost me my life.

This should be an interesting three years.