Top Law School Study Techniques for Law Students

​Law school exams are very different from exams taken in high school. Since they are not like conventional exams, law students often have to come up with new study strategies in order to to answer law school exam questions and earn high marks successfully. To get a first in law school, you will have to step up your study game a bit and adopt new study techniques. But it will definitely be worth it! Getting a first in law school will benefit you in the long run as you can capitalise on it in your career. Higher grades will act as a launchpad to get you ahead in the race. Also, they will open up new professional avenues at the start of your law career. Here are some law school study techniques and tips to help you achieve first class grades.

Study technique 1: Use smart revision notes & guides

Working smart is the key to successful law study, otherwise, you will end up wasting a lot of time and effort. For example, proper law textbooks are bulky and difficult to follow, but you can easily help yourself by starting your study with good revision notes and guides. Instead of spending countless hours over textbooks and trying to understand the complicated language they use, try to understand each topic by reading an easy-to-follow set of revision notes. You can then supplement your study by speed-reading or scanning through selected textbook chapters. Here’s why it’s important to start with good revision notes:
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• Revision notes and guides contain only the critical material and cases. This will help you to quickly revise the points before the exam without wasting time reading unnecessary content.
  
  
• Specific definitions, cases, and statute sections are explained in good revision notes in very simple and easy language.
  
  
• Quality revision notes contain good examples and illustrations of how the law operates, which explain things in an uncomplicated and straightforward way.
  
  
• Revision notes and other similar law study materials highlight high-priority and low-priority content, which will help you to identify the critical points for revision. ​

Study technique 2: Enrol in law essay writing courses

Writing law essays is an important part of the law curriculum. Unfortunately, they can often be problematic. Law essays require you to settle a legal conflict of some kind. This can seem to be a difficult challenge at times. However, by applying some simple techniques on understanding the question asked, formulating your arguments and structuring your essay, you can easily learn how to get first class marks. Unfortunately, the support and study material provided by most law schools may not be enough to help you develop that intellect. That’s why you should enrol in external law essay writing courses that take you through every aspect of law essay writing. Here are some benefits of enrolling in professional law essay writing courses:

• Good law essay writing courses include lessons prepared by law experts and experienced tutors that guide you through the entire essay writing process. They give you much more knowledge and insight than you could ever get at your own law school.
  
  
• Quality essay writing courses in law also provide you with access to essay templates and assignment writing sheets that can help you structure and speed up your writing process.
  
  
• Online law essay writing courses in particular are a great investment, because they provide you with access to pre-recorded online video lectures integrated which you can access at any point throughout your degree and revisit as often as you will want to.

​Study technique 3: Use tailored essay plans

Getting a customised essay plan might seem like a pricey solution, but it can also be a very good long-term investment. Investing in a tailored essay plan for at least some of the assignments which you are particularly struggling with will reap its benefits in the future by helping you to score first class grades and preparing you for real-world application of the law. An essay plan prepared by a professional law tutor will assist you in picking out the correct cases and statute sections for your essay. This, in turn, will save a lot of your energy and time, as you will skip unnecessary reading and confusion. Getting a tailored essay plan will help you to improve your essay writing skills right from the beginning of your law school journey. Tailored essay plans are usually designed to help you avoid distractions from irrelevant topics and materials. The focus of a tailored law essay plan is only on the definitions, cases and statute sections which are most relevant to your topic. By following a good essay plan you can prepare assignments that are sufficiently in-depth and comprehensive to score a first.

Study technique 4: Watch simplified lectures for each module

More often than not, law school lectures follow an over-ambitious approach. The lecturers want law students to learn absolutely EVERYTHING on a particular subject. They often forget that students have many other subjects to study as well at the same time. Also, during standard university lectures the lecturers often use a very sophisticated vocabulary and language, which might be difficult for law students to understand. A solution to this problem for law students is to watch simplified pre-recorded online lectures for each module outside of the university, to gain a better understanding of each subject. Those types of lectures are simply easy to follow, simpler versions of the most important study content covered at university, which will help you to quickly understand the subject and the module in overall.
Those types of simplified lectures often cover each topic in a step-by-step manner rather than running through it quickly – as is often done at law school. This helps law students to avoid confusion about the topic.

​By following simplified lectures on different legal subjects you will also learn how to apply the key legal concepts in your exam answers and assignments. For example, the lectures will help you to really understand the core concepts in law and apply them to legal scenarios, rather than merely teaching you to memorise the concept of the modules. You can also rewind and replay the videos if you have missed any concept to help you even better understand the law theory of the particular module. In general, studying from simplified versions of lectures can help you build a thorough understanding of the law cases, definitions and statute sections, so that you know to apply them in real life as well as create better essays and exam answers.

Final word

Passing law school with flying colours is every law student’s dream. It’s true that law school can be quite competitive, which has its own ups and downs. But that’s not to say that you are doomed to getting average or below average marks. You can definitely still get a first by following the correct approach to writing law essays and using suitable study materials, such as smart revision notes, tailored essay plans, online law essay writing courses and simplified lectures. A consistent revision from quality revision notes and guides will not only enhance your knowledge base but will also improve your law essay and exam writing skills. Choose appropriate sources of knowledge, carefully plan your study schedule, and follow it regularly to be able to score a first in your law school essays and exams.

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