The Art of Note-Taking at Law School: The “Summary”
Success in law school is a four step process; doing your readings, taking notes, organizing those notes, and then studying them in preparation for the exam. Organizing my notes for law school was a novel process to me. Each course had a number of topics and cases associated with them. At first, the pace of some courses was overwhelming! In lectures, I took detailed notes, trying to get the most in. During readings, I would take note of all the points that I felt were also important — the facts of the case, the arguments of both parties, the majority and dissenting opinions of the court, and key takeaways. Before I knew it, I had ended up with pages and pages of notes, sometimes duplicated. Making sense of these notes together and putting them into a concise format was tiring and confusing. Over the course of 1L, I compiled some ways of putting method to this (note-taking) madness, which has made note-taking and the creation of summaries a much more bearable (and perhaps even enjoyable) process!
Case Tables
It was in my second semester of 1L that I learned from my upper year colleagues how to create a more organized summary (“Summary”) of my notes. Some students created summaries closer to the end of the term whereas others preferred to continuously develop their summary as the term progressed. A Summary is one document containing all the material in a particular course from the term, in an organized fashion which would help you prepare for the exam. Seeing the number of cases that we discussed in class, I made use of tables to take more concise notes, such as the one below:
Case tables were not only easy to find in my summary, but also helped me read more effectively, as I searched for the facts, the final holding and the ratio. During open-book exams, positioning the ratio under the case name would help me quickly refresh my memory and save me time when referencing caselaw to support my arguments.
Table of Contents/Outline
Next, I used headings and sub-headings (in Microsoft Word) to keep track of the progression of topics in the course, and their associated caselaw. Microsoft Word is able to automatically generate a table of contents including the headings that you have used in the document. If you prefer to use a different application for note-taking, creating your own table of contents or outline will be very useful for providing a general overview of the course and a checklist for your exam.
Sample Summaries
A publishing company, Emond, also provides some law school resources — which include summaries for some 1L courses. Although the content may differ across law schools and their courses, the organization of the summary is worth referencing when creating your own.
Shorten Your Notes
It might feel tempting to write all your notes in long sentences including as much detail as possible. This is not wrong, considering the nuances of certain topics and the persuasive language of caselaw. Noting the details will be integral to your learning — but doing so in a timely and efficient manner is equally as important. Be mindful of the difference between paraphrasing what you read and summarizing what you have understood. Shortening my notes by using bullet points, numbered lists and/or short forms has saved me time when reviewing my notes for exams, and has also encouraged me to assess whether I have been actively reading or passively skimming.
Cross-Reference with Case Briefs
Although undergoing the reading and note taking process on your own is the best way to learn, take advantage of credible case briefs online to determine if you understood the material correctly. Your professor will typically be your first and best point of reference for any questions on the material, but a quick skim of a case brief might help reaffirm your understanding. Most law schools provide their students with access to external research portals which also may be a good place to reference.
Here are a few sites that I have come across for case briefs:
- Supreme Court of Canada Case Briefs (Note: Limited to cases heard in the past 2-3 years)
- CanLII Connects (Note: May not necessarily have summaries for all caselaw)
- LexisNexis Case Briefs (Note: It requires a product subscription to access. Some law schools are registered with this service and provide their students with access.)
There is no one golden rule to drafting your summary, and you should adopt the method that works best for you — which, often times, requires a bit of experimentation before you realize. These pointers will hopefully become good starting points for you until you master the art of note-taking at law school. Happy summarizing!
