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A large part of what many lawyers — especially litigators (trial lawyers) — do is read cases so they can distill the law and get at the subtleties that enable them to win their clients' cases. Cases are part of the law school curriculum so that students can see a court's reasoning in action. Reading cases isn't like reading a novel or even a textbook. Cases are often dry, difficult, and full of complicated concepts and terminology. But, each case is an exercise in its own right, and keeping that insight in mind helps you focus on reading it in an active way (by asking yourself questions).
Because reading cases is virtually all law students do (for homework), expect to read about 20 to 30 pages in your casebook (a thick book filled with appellate cases) per class per night. This reading will probably take you between four and six hours per night total. At the beginning of your first year, it'll probably take longer, until you get the hang of things.
Getting the gist of complex cases often requires a few read-throughs, even for seasoned practitioners. (Many a law school star student has had to plead guilty to devoting hours of effort to plowing through printed pages . . . only to wind up doing it all over again —and again.)
When you're reading cases, keep the following strategies in mind:
- Reading each case twice. The key to reading cases and getting plenty of information out of them, particularly the drier ones, is reading them a few times when you're first starting out. In fact, twice may be only a conservative estimate during your first few weeks of law school but should be adequate thereafter.
 | Reading a case twice enables you to initially give it a fast, understand-the-big-picture kind of read, and secondly a more thorough, in-depth, comprehensive sort of read. Both reads are important to your overall understanding. |
- Color-coding your highlights. Most people like highlighting the cases as they read them. But some take the highlighting even further by color-coding what they highlight. You can do this by using pink for the facts, blue for the issue, green for the rationale, and yellow for the court's holding. Highlighting in this manner may help you to keep everything straight as long as you know your color system inside and out.
- Writing in the margins. Another great way to remember important bits of a case, especially the next day in class when you need to recall information quickly, is writing notes to yourself in the margins of your casebook. Write a brief summary of each important point or significant fact, and make stars next to key points. As an overall means of jogging my memory, at the top of each case, write a few short phrases about what the case was about and what the court's holding was.
- Taking the material one step further. After you read your assigned cases for class, you may want to take your preparation one step further. Has the professor recommended any law review articles that you need to check out? Go to the library and look them up. Are any points in the reading unclear to you? Look them up in a study aid or treatise.
If you're already a part of a study group, you may want to go over some or all of the assigned reading for the week with your group to clarify any confusing points. Collaborating with your peers and tossing ideas around is one of the best ways of getting the most out of your homework.
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