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#Part 5: Create an Outline for Each Class

Why Outline When You Can Buy One?

Given the time pressures of law school, many students are left wondering why they should outline at all. Commercial outlines that are written by experts are readily available at cheap prices. Moreover, creating your own outline is time-consuming and difficult.

Statistics show that students who create their own outlines invariably do better on exams than those who rely on commercial outlines. 1 It's the process of creating the outline and bringing the material into a cohesive and understandable format that makes the difference. Merely possessing an outline written by the professor or an outstanding student does not guarantee success.

Outlines are simply condensed summaries of the rules of law. The outline serves three primary functions.

First, it helps tremendously in getting you to think like a lawyer . You synthesize your class notes, briefs, reading and secondary sources into one coherent body of law.

Second, you remember the rules better by restating it in your own words. It will help you memorize the material by rewriting and reorganizing it.

Third, the outline is your primary tool in tackling the exam. In the final week before the exam, you out your casebook and class notes on a shelf and concentrate only on your outline. The outline makes you more efficient by giving you focus. Even if your professor allows an open book exam, you'll want to outline in order to be more efficient in using notes during the exam.

There are abundant resources in commercial outlines. However, you won't necessarily succeed by having the best commercial outline or in having an Honors Student's outline from the past. It is the process of outlining that spells the most success for a student. If you do use another student's outline, make sure that she had the same professor as you do. Professors teach their courses differently to emphasize different areas of the law.

1 Michael J. Patton, "The Student, The Situation, and Performance During the First Year of Law School," 21 Journal of Legal Education 10 (1968); Guy R. Loftman, "Study Habits and Their Effectiveness in Legal Education," Journal of Legal Education 418 (1975).

When and What to Outline

While many students attempt to outline, few know how to do it effectively in the first year. Outlining skills are usually not taught in law school. Also, many students start too late in the semester to take advantage of the process. By the time they start outlining, they've forgotten the nuances of the first half of the course. On the other end of the scale, some students start to outline too early. There's a danger of starting before you really have a grasp on the material. You need to know the material before you start to condense it into an outline.

Outlines should be started when you finish a significant portion of the course, but not beforehand. You can figure out when to start outlining by looking at the table of contents in your casebook and comparing it with the syllabus of the course. Most casebooks are broken into sections in which there are three or four chapters comprising 100 pages or so of material. In the standard first year course, this material might take five or six classes. What follows is an example of a break down of major sections and subsections for a Torts class.

Sample Torts Table of Contents

1. Intentional Torts
   1. Assault
   2. Battery
   3. False Imprisonment
   4. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
   5. Defense - Self Defense, Consent, Privilege
2. Negligence
   1. Duty of Care
   2. Breach of Duty
   3. Causation
   4. Defenses - Contributory Negligence, Assumption of Risk, Statute of Limitations
3. Strict Liability
   1. Trespassory Torts
   2. Nuisance
   3. Products Liability
   4. Defenses

Using the sample above, you would want to start outlining only after you have covered an entire section of material, such as all of the Intentional Torts. Although you may feel that you are ready to outline after covering only Assault and Battery, it would be better to wait until you have also covered False Imprisonment and Emotional Distress. Although the areas do not seem related, those torts all have the underlying element of "intent" in common. To fully understand the concept of intent, the other torts will lend insight. Alternatively, don't wait too long. Be sure to start outlining the material once you've completed a section while it is still fresh.

How to Outline: 6 Easy Steps

The outline should not just rehash the book or lecture notes. If you're only regurgitating what the professor said in class or copying what the casebook author wrote, then you are missing the whole point of outlining - to get you to think like a lawyer.