Law Student Help

Hey all,
Sorry I usually lurk and don't really ask questions here but here goes. I'm a first year law student and due to some illnessses etc. I have till August to prepare for exams. My question is, however, what do I study? Sorry if this sounds stupid but I can access an archive of well written formatted notes and usually sort of copy my condensed versions down, however I'm confused as to what I'd need to learn as my exams are open book so definitions and cases aren't very necessary. But then what should I do? Should I read some textbooks and make notes of my own even if they aren't as good as the ones I have acess to, or should I attempt to memorise the notes of higher quality? Please let me know so I can have some guidance in studying. Thanks <3

Original post by symboris

Hey all,
Sorry I usually lurk and don't really ask questions here but here goes. I'm a first year law student and due to some illnessses etc. I have till August to prepare for exams. My question is, however, what do I study? Sorry if this sounds stupid but I can access an archive of well written formatted notes and usually sort of copy my condensed versions down, however I'm confused as to what I'd need to learn as my exams are open book so definitions and cases aren't very necessary. But then what should I do? Should I read some textbooks and make notes of my own even if they aren't as good as the ones I have acess to, or should I attempt to memorise the notes of higher quality? Please let me know so I can have some guidance in studying. Thanks <3

Hi, I would recommend having the key statutes, cases and definitions in your notes for the open book exams. I am not suggesting that you should not do some reading as well around these subjects so that you don't need to look through these notes and you can save time in the exam, but just incase you get nervous/panic it is great to have them as a safety net. I would (if possible) look over lecture slides and seminar work so you know the important information about each module. Alternatively, you could use the notes you already have access to and format them in a way that works for you. Don't try and memorise everything as this will just stress you out, however make sure to have a good understanding of each topic so you don't rely on you're notes 100%. Importantly, take some time to relax, make sure to eat and sleep. Look after yourself in the stressful time to make sure you are in the best possible headspace before the exams. Good Luck. :smile:

Sophie (2nd Year Law Student, Student Ambassador)

(edited 1 month ago)

Original post by symboris

Hey all,
Sorry I usually lurk and don't really ask questions here but here goes. I'm a first year law student and due to some illnessses etc. I have till August to prepare for exams. My question is, however, what do I study? Sorry if this sounds stupid but I can access an archive of well written formatted notes and usually sort of copy my condensed versions down, however I'm confused as to what I'd need to learn as my exams are open book so definitions and cases aren't very necessary. But then what should I do? Should I read some textbooks and make notes of my own even if they aren't as good as the ones I have acess to, or should I attempt to memorise the notes of higher quality? Please let me know so I can have some guidance in studying. Thanks <3

Hi there

It is great that you are starting to revise so early on, there is plenty of time to revise, and being an open book exam try not to stress too much. :smile:

It's not a stupid question at all, during first year of my law degree I also did not know how to revise for law exams.

It is good that you have access to well written notes, I think these can be the basis for your revision. I am not sure if this is the case for your law school, but usually for my course, I am required to write essay questions or answer problem questions. These will call for different methods of revision. Here are some tips that I have found useful in the past:

Firstly, I think it is important to ascertain what of questions will come up during your exam for each module, they can differ between modules so just be careful on this. The best way you can figure this out is by looking at past paper exam questions from previous years. I find it useful to compile a table of all previous exam questions and noting repetitive themes that come up each year. This can help you to narrow your revision and studies. Create a timetable so you can get through all the topics you want to cover (you do not have to cover all topics if you do not have the time to, I am usually quite selective with my revision i.e. only revising a few topics).

Secondly, building on top of the notes that you already have, you should: for essay questions look into some journal articles that may support your arguments. In essays, the question may be something like’ critically analyse X…’ This requires you to formulate an argument, and support this with evidence. Evidence can usually be statute, case laws, especially academic journal articles will be really helpful. This shows that you are not just formulating an opinion, but you have a well thought out answer with evidence to support your conclusion. For problem questions, they are a bit different, it requires you to have good knowledge of cases and statutes, and being able to apply these to the relevant facts. For these, just make sure that you have knowledge of the cases and understand how to apply the legal tests etc. In both types of questions, doing practice questions will be really good, especially as it helps you with timing. It will also help you identify gaps in your knowledge.

Thirdly, after compiling all your notes, it may be good to be able to link relevant topics together (perhaps mind-mapping exercises), as this will improve the coherency of your argument. During the exam, you may have little time, or just want to spend more time on writing, so if you want to, you can choose the memorise some of the content. However, this may not be necessary, instead memorising the most important cases will be sufficient, and for the rest just knowing where they are located in your notes so you can access them quickly during the exams. Being an open book exam, if you do encounter issues with memorising your notes, please do not let it stress you out too much—you are being test on your knowledge of the topic, and how well you can link different arguments together to formulate a concise argument. In my opinion, you are not really being assessed that much on your memorisation skills.

I hope this helps, good luck with your exams!
Chloe
University of Kent student Rep

Original post by symboris

Hey all,
Sorry I usually lurk and don't really ask questions here but here goes. I'm a first year law student and due to some illnessses etc. I have till August to prepare for exams. My question is, however, what do I study? Sorry if this sounds stupid but I can access an archive of well written formatted notes and usually sort of copy my condensed versions down, however I'm confused as to what I'd need to learn as my exams are open book so definitions and cases aren't very necessary. But then what should I do? Should I read some textbooks and make notes of my own even if they aren't as good as the ones I have acess to, or should I attempt to memorise the notes of higher quality? Please let me know so I can have some guidance in studying. Thanks <3

Hi @symboris

Whenever I have open book exams, I tend to condense any of the reading or notes I have access to into my own notes as this is the best way to not only memorise some of it (you won't have time in an exam to be looking everything up) but it also will allow you to have your notes in a really good format for finding the answers you need when you do have to check something.

I hope this helps and good luck!

Sophie

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