First Class Law
Essentials
A Law Student’s Guide to Taking Notes
Much like the commonly quoted phrase about
life, ninety percent of a law degree is just
showing up to lectures and tutorials – the rest is
taking good notes.
If you want to have any chance of achieving your best in any degree, you must
always turn up to lectures, seminars and tutorials. As a law student, it is
inevitable that you will consume a lot of information and will be required to take
effective notes over the course of your studies. The first step to your success in
coursework and exams is ensuring that you have taken notes about what the
professor has covered in the lecture. This will allow you to have the professor’s
perspective on the course, and the lecture notes will be your primary sources
for studying the exams. The rest will come from your independent learning, and
how you organise your notes into a comprehensible form.
The following is a guide on why note-taking is essential to law students, what are
the best styles of making notes, and how to take good notes during the course
of your law degree. It is important to note that while this guide will help you
understand the process of taking effective notes as a law student, taking notes
can be a rather personal endeavor and you will decide what works best for you.
Notes can be handwritten or typed, and you can even use software for taking
notes - it is totally up to you and what works best for you.
,Importance of Taking Effective Notes as a Law Student
a. Key concepts and outlining
The primary goal of taking good notes during lectures is to have an outline of the
course in order to have the best chance of succeeding in the exam. To be able to
produce a thorough, complete, and comprehensible outline, you have to
capture the key concepts and information from each class. You must take good
notes from the beginning of the course, particularly since the first couple of
lectures will be introducing the key concepts and definitions that will be used
throughout the remainder of the classes. If you do not have a clear record of the
key concepts or definitions, you will not understand what the lecturer is
discussing and you will ultimately feel lost.
Some lecturers take attendance at the beginning of each class. Be aware that
this is not only to ensure that you are actually turning up to classes, but also
so that they have proof of whether you missed a class when a particular
topic was discussed. This is so that you cannot argue that the teacher missed
something or that you were not aware of something that was said during that
class which might have had a bearing on the coursework or exam. GO TO
CLASS!
b. Preparing for discussion in class or tutorials
Many law students, particularly first year students, are anxious about being
cold-called in class or tutorials. The best way to get over this fear is to become
more confident in yourself, and if you feel confident that your notes are
accurate, you will believe in yourself more.
Tutorials are set up for a reason, and that it to be able to test your
understanding of all the notes that you made during the class. The tutorials are
usually made up of questions that are testing you on what was discussed in the
class, rather than what the literature is saying. However, it may be the case that
required or further reading is highlighted in the tutorial questions. If so, this is
where taking notes of the literature is important.
, A critical skill for law students – and subsequently lawyers – is to be able to
synthesise a number of texts or pieces of information into succinct parts. The
more that you practice being able to synthesise all the information from the
lectures and the discussion in class into succinct notes, the quicker you will
develop this skill. This includes being able to read the literature, understand
what is being discussed, and synthesise the information from all the texts into
notes that you can add to your notes from the lectures.
Never feel embarassed if you are chosen to answer a question in class or a
tutorial and you are not able to answer. You are not expected to know
everything, especially if you are a first year student. You are there to learn, so
as long as you are actively attending lectures and listening to discussions in
tutorials, just know that you are doing your best. Equally, if you do answer a
question and your answer was not what the lecturer was looking for, do not
feel discouraged. The important thing is that you tried your best and you are
learning from your mistakes. KEEP GOING!
c. Learning and retaining concepts
Effective note-taking can help you to understand and retain important
information that you have highlighted throughout the course. One of the best
ways to do this is by actively engaging in the material as you take notes. Try to
summarise or paraphrase what the professor is saying during the class, and do
not be afraid to ask questions to clarify your understanding.
After leaving a lecture, you may find that a day or two later you might not be
able to recall a lot of what was said during the class. An effective method to
continue retaining key concepts is to have a good set of notes to be able to go
over the main points that were covered during the class. This will also prove to
be invaluable if you find gaps in your notes or if you need further clarification of
some points before the exam.
Taking notes is essential to success in coursework or exams. If you do not
have a set of notes that clearly identifies the key concepts and allows you to
learn the content of the course in a succinct, comprehensible way, you will
feel unprepared for the final exams. Do yourself a favour and take a good set
of notes from the beginning. BE PREPARED!
