These links ought to help you learn about reading and briefing - the two most fundamental activities related to class preparation ... and preparation for the professional practice as well.
(As with most pages on this site, we're constantly updating ... so send me a note if you find another great link to add, or if you discover a "dead" link here. Click on the "contact" link below to send a note.)
This very short article, sponsored by American University Washington College of Law, provides the essentials you'll need to know before you begin to brief cases in your first few days of law school.
“The brief,” Southwestern Law School's Professor Paul Bateman explains, “is not an end in itself but, like a hammer, is a tool that lets you nail down a legal concept.” Rather than setting forth a detailed format for case briefing, Bateman describes the why and wherefore of preparing a brief. To help law students avoid much of the inevitable frustration of their initial briefing experiences, he cautions them never to lose sight of the target: the final examination. By mapping the relationship between case reading, case briefing, classroom discussion, course outlining and exam answering, Bateman provides a very instructive easy to follow set of guidelines.
Professor Tara I. Walters (Southwestern) provides a summary and example of how to brief a case.
Orin S. Kerr, an Associate Professor of Law at The George Washington University Law School, explains in clear, concise language how to read a court opinion. "Modern judicial opinions reflect hundreds of years of history and practice. They usually follow a simple and predictable formula," he explains. This brief article (also at 11 Green Bag 2d 51) would be a good starting spot for new law students to learn some fundamentals.