Last week I overheard a conversation between a 3L and a 1L that made me cringe.  The conversation was centered around the needless waste of money on purchasing casebooks.  It was said that reading the cases is just a waste of time and everything you needed to know you could get from “canned” briefs and outlines.  Hopefully the 1L let in slide in one ear and out the other; better yet, did not let it in the first ear at all!

The theory goes “why should you read all those cases when all you really are concerned with is the rule of law that will be tested on the exam?”  This is very poor thinking.  I am not saying that ready-made briefs and commercial outlines are not without their place, I use them.  But I would never suggest that they are a substitute for doing the actual work.  If you use them at all use them as a supplement to your traditional studies.  The rule of law is not the reason for reading and briefing cases.  The reason for doing your own reading and case briefing is so you can learn to think like the judges are thinking.  Not to sound cliche’, but the learning really is in the journey rather than the destination.

By reading cases you get a feeling for the reasoning behind the decision of the judges.  This is the key to understanding what law is all about.  Simply knowing a rule of law will not get you very far unless you live in a vacuum where nothing ever changes (not likely).  You may pass the exam, and you may even get an “A”, but what are you going to do when you graduate and must begin to really practice law?  Most likely you will have some very unhappy clients and perhaps a lawsuit or two, or three.

Shortcuts in law school are more like shortfalls.  Whether the 3L was just ribbing the 1L and trying to sound like some sort of über-student I cannot say.  But to some beginning law students feeling the pressure for the first time and the thought of reading hundreds of pages a week, the idea may be tempting.  This type of advice can be devastating in the long run.  Don’t take it.

Read each and every case.  Brief each and every case.  Analyze each and every case.  Know each and every case.  The key to being a great law student is not knowing the answer (because the answers will inevitably change) but knowing how you arrived at the answer.  If you know how you arrived at the answer then you will be prepared to analyze factual variations.  Moreover, you will be better prepared to construct your own succinct and persuasive arguments.  You are not in law school to get good grades.  You are in law school to learn the law (which is more than just a set of rules).  Good grades do not necessarily mean that you know the law.  Knowing the law, however, will generally lead to good grades.  God Bless and have a great day.