The life of a law student is less often than what we’ve seen in “Legally Blonde”. If we’re to rate how difficult this sector is in Hollywood movies, we’d consider “To Kill a Mockingbird” as an accurate depiction. That’s because the glamour of becoming a lawyer is shadowed by the massive amount of time you will spend studying, and the complex cases you’ll have to go through to earn experience.
Usually, it’s considered that as a law student you should be studying about 30 to 40 hours per week in order to be fully prepared for the exams, and allocate about two hours of study for one hour of class. That’s because you’re not only learning new concepts, but also analysing cases and practicing hypotheticals. For example, as you’re going through class material, you can top that with brief cases from specialized book recommendations.
But let’s see how you can specifically improve your studying techniques and ace every one of your future exams as a law student.
Devise a daily study schedule
It’s not that you don’t know what to study, but you don’t have the assigned time to organise your class material. Regardless of your class itinerary, you can work around classes and develop a study plan every day for the next month, and adjust it as you go. Of course, you will have to sit down and study at the time written on the planner.
Use a digital or physical calendar to write down the exact hours when you will study, and make sure to introduce breaks to drink water and move, so you can replenish your energy to study. Overall, the best times to study are early in the morning, when you’re more likely to be more concentrated and retain more information than usual. You may also study in the late afternoon up until ten PM, but fatigue starts building up, so maybe leave the easier material for the evening and start strong with complex cases in the morning.
Be smart about how you memorise
There are many difficult aspects of studying law, as you will have to memorise legal terms, besides laws. But the difference between a good and a bad lawyer is the capacity to use that information to make a decision based on critical and analytical thinking. So, for the first part of the process, you should use memorisation techniques that help your brain retain a massive amount of information fast, such as mnemonics, through which you associate the letters of one word with the name of a complex legal concept. The memory palace method is also pretty useful, and it entails planning an imaginary route in a space you know well and using it to memorize concepts from the legal glossary of the UK law.
When it comes to cementing your skills of critical thinking, you can take a break from studying by doing fun exercises. For instance, think about more creative ways to solve problems, and try to write down your mental process of breaking down a problem.
Start thinking like a lawyer
While you’re still a student, having a successful law career means thinking like a real lawyer and having the confidence of a true professional. If you don’t know how to do that, you can start watching some lawyer-approved movies and enter the mind of fictional characters to see if you can pick something valuable for them.
One of these movies is the classic “12 Angry Men”, which mostly takes place in one room with unnamed characters. The emotional thriller is appreciated because it gives you insight into group dynamics and also shows you how jury rooms truly operate. “Anatomy of a Murder” is another must-see on the list because it was based on accurate source material, so you will see one of the closest to reality trial movies. If you want to see a more recently-made movie, “Lincoln Lawyer” with Matthew McConaughey will show you what it’s like to be a defense attorney when cases are more than complicated. As a side note, you should also put “True Detective” on your list, because it has the same actor who does a brilliant job at depicting talent and critical thinking.
Prepare for classes
You might be taken by surprise at your next exam when your professor is cold calling. We know how uncomfortable it is to be unable to formulate the answer the teacher wants, or for people to stare at you, so it’s always better to prepare for every law class you have, even if you are speed-reading over the material. However, you should still focus on book briefing cases, because reading them helps gain a thorough base on dealing with different cases.
Take advantage of several base points in the process of briefing by colour-coding sections, such as facts, issues, rules, and analyses. This tip will help you identify the answer to the raised problem in class faster, and will also help your mind memorise the process faster by associating a specific colour with knowledge.
Go to every class
Last but not least, don’t skip classes, because you don’t know what useful piece of information you can miss. For example, if you want to prepare for the bar but you skip Family Law, Secured Transactions, and Trusts and Estates because they’re less important for the topic, you already set yourself up for failure because these classes can include important information. We know that Constitutional Law and Civil Procedure are the most essential, but your role now is to gather all the accessible wisdom from professors who teach even less popular classes.
Conclusion
As a law student, your biggest problem is being able to memorise a huge amount of information in a short time. Before you know it, you are being cold-called by the professor on a matter you haven’t studied, and your confidence may crumble. Luckily, you can prevent these from happening while truly building a career in law when you study on a solid schedule, take enough breaks, and try useful memorising techniques. But it’s also essential to be present in classes and prepare beforehand.
