Practice and Practical Skills

Doctrinal Law School Courses

The practical skills required for later success begin with navigating law school.  And one of the challenges that most law students face is not knowing what is expected of them academically, especially for doctrinal courses, such as criminal law, torts, and contracts.  The doctrinal courses in law school are often unlike anything students have faced before; these doctrinal classes expose students to new methods of teaching, such as the Socratic Method and the Case Method, new methods of studying, such as outlining, and different methods of testing knowledge, such as hypothetical scenarios.  Because of this, most law students struggle initially in understanding what is being asked of them in doctrinal courses.  This is especially true during the first semester of law school, but often continues into subsequent semesters.   And for some students, this confusion remains throughout all of their doctrinal courses.  The information in this section will help clarify what is expected of students for doctrinal courses, as well as providing other tips and tricks. 

A Doctrinal Roadmap

• Step 1: Consider Joining a Study Group

  • This is not required, as some students perform better by working alone; but it is a useful option for many students

• Step 2: Start a Separate Outline for Each Doctrinal Course at the Beginning of the Semester

  • An outline is the typical method used by students for doctrinal courses

  • An outline is usually a running document which you will add to throughout the semester

  • Outlines primarily consist of briefs of each case that you read for class, where you will:

    • Brief each case

      • Doctrinal courses use the Case Method, which means that you will learn the law through reading real, prior judicial decisions, which are the bulk of your casebook for that doctrinal course

      • Case briefs are summaries of the cases, which usually include: the relevant facts, the rule from the case, i.e. the holding, the rationale, and any concurring or dissenting judicial opinions

    • Add the brief to your outline before class (in preparation for class)

    • Take good notes during class

    • And update the briefs in your outline to reflect that day's class notes

    • (repeat the process for next class)

  • To get an idea of what outlines look like, you can view sample outlines from "Helpful Information & Tools" and "Useful Supplements"; but it is advised to create your own outlines, as outlining will serve as a major part of the learning process, in addition to your outline serving as the study material for your end-of-semester doctrinal exam

    • You may also use other supplements and tools when outlining, such as: West Academic, hornbooks, flashcards, and PowerNotes

• Step 3: Read Each Assigned Case Before Class and Brief the Case In Your Outline

  • After reading each case, you can brief the case directly in your outline (and use your outline during class if called on by the law professor)

  • Reading and being prepared before class will make you ready for the Socratic Method of teaching, in which the law professor will usually call on students to recite the facts of the case, the rationale of the decision, etc., and propose hypotheticals to students

• Step 4: Take Good Notes In Class 

  • You can take notes in your outline, or you may take notes in a separate document or notebook
  • In either case, you will update the briefs in your outline to reflect that day's notes (step 5)

• Step 5: Update the Briefs in Your Outline to Reflect That Day's Class Notes

  • It is highly recommended that you do this everyday, every few days, or every week; this will save time, energy, and frustration during finals, where you need time to review your outline (not spending time updating it with class notes) and memorize black letter law

• Step 6: Repeat This Process

  • At the start of every semester in which you have doctrinal courses, repeat this process for those doctrinal courses
  • Repeat steps 3-5 after completing the initial steps (1 and 2) at the start of the semester