How to Manage the Demands of Law School Assigned Reading

Article written by Sammar Masood, 3^rd year law undergraduate at City, University of London.

It’s no secret that most of a law student’s time is spent trying to get through the week’s hefty reading list. It can be difficult to manage textbook chapters, vast portions of legislation, cases, and journal articles with typical student concerns such as attendance, applications, and maintaining a study-life balance. So, whether you’re a first-year student feeling slightly overwhelmed with these new demands, a final year looking to make your reading routine more efficient, or a GDL student trying to navigate your new world of cases and legislation, some useful tips will be provided to ensure you get the most out of your assigned law school readings.

Learn to prioritise

While it is possible to complete every word of your assigned readings, considering the complex nature of the law and its jargon, doing so might leave you tired or feeling unmotivated to complete any more of your to-do list for that day. Therefore, knowing how to prioritise accordingly becomes extremely important.

Professors typically identify assigned textbook readings as ‘compulsory’, and most of the time, the assigned chapter will mainly contain the information communicated to you in the corresponding lecture. So, if you understood the lecture fully and cannot identify any initial gaps in your knowledge, the assigned textbook chapter is really something for you to skim read, simply as a means of confirming your knowledge, while making sure to avoid unnecessary, unexamined information mentioned by your professors. If you identify with this type of law student, where lectures are sufficient to form your understanding of a topic, then you should prioritise ‘further reading’ such as journal articles. These articles will develop your critical thinking on a topic and introduce you to different academic perspectives surrounding it, setting you up perfectly to write a critical law essay.

If you identify as a student who often leaves lectures feeling that there are significant gaps in your knowledge or understanding, firstly don’t worry – you are not the only one, and secondly, embrace your assigned reading as a chance to fill in those gaps, not as an intimidating barrier. Prioritise your ‘compulsory’ readings, whether they be in the shape of a textbook chapter or a lecture handout, and read through them with the focused and targeted goal of filling in your specific gaps. For example, if you understand the general definition of an uncodified constitution but are unsure about the broader ramifications, narrow your reading to a detailed focus on the latter as opposed to making detailed notes on a three-page overview of the definition of an uncodified constitution. ‘Further reading’ in the form of journal articles, however, should not be left aside but rather scheduled to be read later that week or during coursework periods where legal research and critical thinking becomes a priority.

Reading cases

Cases demand a standalone section due to their unique nature both as a document and as a form of reading for students. In short, when reading a case there are certain key questions that you should aim to answer. Can you identify the relevant facts of the case? What was the issue in the case? What decision did the court reach? How did the court reach this decision? Having these questions in mind should provide you with a structured approach when tackling cases.

With the Internet, it is tempting for students to simply punch in the case name on Google with the word ‘summary’ next to it and come up with an instant answer to these questions. However, having the ability to read a document as complex as an entire case and extract all those relevant questions from it is a valuable skill that will aid you when writing exams and analysing complicated documents as a future lawyer. Therefore, all law students should try to fully read some cases as part of their studies; while it may take some time to complete on your first attempt, it will become easier with each subsequent attempt, hopefully becoming second nature to you. After all, it is the cases that set lawyers apart from all other professions!

Making notes on your reading

The most efficient way to put your reading notes on paper is to add them to your existing lecture notes. This way, you will not have to make separate documents for each piece of reading. For example, let’s go back to our example of struggling to grasp the ramifications of an uncodified constitution. Once you have filled in this gap using your assigned reading, go back to your lecture notes and find the section where you perhaps included the heading ‘Ramifications’ but could not include much information, and just add in your new knowledge, perhaps adding the name of the textbook or the lecture handout for future reference.

As for journal articles, making notes on these requires a more targeted approach. One highly recommended method is to, on the same document as your lecture notes, write down the name of the article and the sections the author has included. Under the heading of each section, write in your own words a summary of that section. For example, what was the author’s main argument in that section, what sources of law did they refer to, what conclusion did they reach, and did they suggest any reforms? Another touted way of consolidating your knowledge of journal articles is to simply include your own summary of the author’s introduction and conclusion as these sections of the article typically lay out their argument and sources used in a concise manner. However, depending on the importance of the article’s content, argument and author to your studies, the level of detail you contain in your relevant notes can be adjusted accordingly.

Overall, at any stage of your legal studies, the amount of assigned reading is never an easy task, but hopefully with these tips your reading should become more manageable and enjoyable, while allowing you to identify your strengths and weaknesses as a law student.