Alternatives to Outlining/How to Outline

Outlines represent one method of organizing the subject matter for a given law school course.  Your should not default to outlining as your primary note taking strategy.  Your primary note taking strategy should vary depending on the course, the professor, and the final exam.

Helpful Outlining Tips:

• Before each class the professor will assign reading.  Usually the assigned reading contains 2-3 cases and some other text.  The best way to prepare for class is to read the materials and try to note:
  • What is the general theme/subject of the reading?
  • What are the facts of the cases you read?
  • Do the cases you've read have any facts in common?
  • What are the outcomes of the cases?  Who won and who lost?

Commercial Outlines

• For most of your courses, commercial outlines aren't that helpful.  Commercial outlines, such as Gilbert's, Emmanuel, Nutshell, Seigel's, etc. are available for purchase and usually cost anywhere from 30-50 dollars. 
• As with most things in law school, the usefulness of commercial outlines depends on what type of professor you have for each course.  If you have a professor that teaches the black letter law and closely follows a casebook, then commercial outlines will probably help you.  For courses like Tax, Evidence, and Wills & Trusts, commercial outlines can help a lot.  All of the aforementioned courses are heavily rules based.
• Many courses, even core courses like Torts, Property, and Constitutional law can vary widely depending on who is your professor and what he or she decides to teach you.  Many professors like to teach about the failings of the law, and where the law breaks down.  A commercial outline will not help you for classes where professors explore the "grey areas" of the law.
• Many people find that commercial outlines are useful for the California Bar Exam, however most students receive complete outlines from their bar prep course, rendering any other commercial outlines you have purchased moot.

The Goal of Outlining

• The goal of outlining is to help prepare you to perform well on your final exam.  If an outline won't help you prepare for your final exam, don't outline.  For example, it may be more helpful to spend your time preparing flow charts rather than a detailed outline of the material.
• For a vast majority of courses you take in law school, your outline becomes obsolete the second you finish your final exam.  You won't use it to study for the bar exam, you won't use it when you're practicing law, and you won't use it again while in law school.