Don't Make This Common Law School Mistake

Before I went to law school, I read a few of the common law school guides that most law students read. These guides promised me academic success as long as I followed the particular strategies that they described. I followed their advice for about half of my time at law school, and it's a good thing I didn't keep following it longer.

As I got wiser to the ways of law school, I realized that much of the advice given to law students is counterproductive. As I moved away from the advice found in mainstream law school guides, my grades, and more importantly my overall law school experience, improved markedly.

Towards the end of my the time at law school and even for some time after I graduated, my friends and I would discuss all the mistakes we had made by listening to the silly mainstream advice. We would often wonder out loud how this advice came to be, illogical and ineffective as much of it is.

Now that I know better after making many mistakes as a law student, I will share with you one common law school strategy that you should fervently avoid if you want to do your best in law school. Unsurprisingly, most law school guides encourage this exact strategy, to your academic, financial, and social detriment.

The strategy I am talking about is the use of hornbooks and commercial study aids to prepare for classes and exams. As a law student, you should do your best to avoid this common mistake, and here are a number of reasons why. First, studying from commercially prepared study aids is not an effective study strategy, because the material in these study aids differs from your course material. The way study aids present material will also differ from the way in which your professor wants you to approach and understand the course material. Contrary to popular belief, you can get all the information you need to do extremely well on exams from the casebook, relevant statutes, and class, without ever resorting to study aids. Furthermore, buying hornbooks multiplies the number of sources you feel that you must study, and will only make the learning process more confusing, frustrating, and ineffective.

Second, hornbooks and commercial study aids are expensive, and the cost of these aids adds up fast, especially if you believe that you need them for each of your classes. Being that these extraneous materials contain little, if anything, of value to your studies, you will do well to save your money for more worthwhile pursuits, such as vacations, electronics, or whatever it is that you like. And yes, the money you save on hornbooks can actually pay for a vacation, even a nice one.

Third, given that study aids have nothing to offer over the actual course materials in terms of valuable study material, they waste your time. Your time in law school is valuable, and you should try to be as efficient as possible by using that time to study the casebook and to relax. The less time you spend on useless study aids, the more time you will have for effective study and for relaxation, which will help you stay balanced and focused in law school, while avoiding burnout.

Finally, you should be aware that most professors are against the use of study aids (except those who write these aids), and they know what they're talking about. Your professors were exceptional law students, and most of the time they know what they're talking about when it comes to study strategy, so listen when they tell you that the most important information is in the casebook and statutory supplement, rather than in a commercial study aid.

Instead of wasting your time and money on hornbooks and commercial study aids, read your class materials and devote at least some of your free time to activities that you enjoy