Ask questions before the exam to help with making notes.
In law school, whether you pass a course doesn't depend on how eloquently you answered a professor's questions during class, rather it's the exams that count. Law exams comprises of a hypothetical legal problem that you have to resolve. Whether you act as the lawyer counseling the party involved or the judge resolving the case, doesn't matter. Your professor assesses two things when grading your exam: issue spotting and analysis. Issue spotting involves picking out the legal problems. Analysis consists of applying the rule of law to the facts of the case. Thus, making notes can prepare you for your law exam.
Instructions
1. Obtain an old law exam. You can acquire one at the law library or in a casebook for hypotheticals. Exams are also available through commercial study guides and online examinations.
2. Decide the type of outline you want to use with your notes. Making notes for the law exam involves preparing an outline for the entire course. You, however, have to decide the outline that works for you. Your choices include: a rigid organization, visual outline with charts or re-writing essay outlines.
3. Prepare the outline. Write your outline to achieve two things: a thorough understanding of the subject and aid in issue spotting and analysis.
4. Create a checklist for the outline. Read the outline. Write the information on a separate page. Limit the checklist to a page. Include only the major categories covered in the course.
5. Use your outline. You can check your outline against the old exam. Take the old exam like you would with the upcoming exam. You want to ensure that the outline prepares you for your upcoming exam.
Tags: your outline, issue spotting, issue spotting analysis, making notes, outline Write, spotting analysis