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Reading tips?

With the copious amount of reading in a law degree, anyone have any tips? Do you summarise in notes what you have read etc.?

Reply 1

Bupdeeboowah

Original post by rkhan57

With the copious amount of reading in a law degree, anyone have any tips? Do you summarise in notes what you have read etc.?

Always make notes in point for of what you have read. Make mind maps and flow charts to better understand the topic; this will also make problem questions easier to answer.

Quite a few people, including me, like making case notes in the form of tables which make them easier to memories.

Reply 2

Rk57

Original post by Bupdeeboowah

I am currently making notes of the chapters I am reading but it is very time consuming, I need to learn how to condense the notes as I am literally writing the whole book instead of notes.

Also what is the format of the table you make?

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 3

Bupdeeboowah

Original post by rkhan57

Making notes while doing readings is terribly slow - I got by with around 8-10 pages per hour - but it is ultimately more efficient (for me, at least) than to highlight passages and then come back to make notes for them.

The excel format I used was something like this (sections are horizontal)

Tab: Negligence and duty of care
Section: 3rd stage: requirement of fair, just and reasonableness
Sub-category: Role of the courts and public policy considerations
Case: Mcloughlin v O'Brian [1983] 1 AC 410
Court: HL
Case summary: 3 children + husband lorry accident hospital saw family treated 1 child died severe shock personality change
Rules: Lord Scarman (dissenting):
1. By focusing on principles judges keep the common law alive, flexible, and consistent,
2. It is not the duty for the court to operate public policy, nor are they equipped to do so
3. If principles lead to results that are socially unacceptable, Parliament can always legislate against it
Issues: Lord Edmund: Too much faith is put in Parliament's willingness to intervene; public policy matters are justiciable (and this is true in more recent cases: White v Jones [1995] 2 AC 207)
- Also, Parliament is unable to overturn previous judgements as a matter of public policy

Hope this helps.