Academic Success Tip - The Importance of Briefing Every Case You Read

Case briefing is simply a formalized way of taking notes on your reading in preparation for class. Creating your own case briefs is important for several reasons:

1) You will be better prepared for class discussion;
2) You will develop the analytical skills that are crucial to success on exams;
3) You will crystallize your understanding of the case;
4) You will be able to review a groups of related cases easily and efficiently without having to rely on your memory of having to re-read cases;
5) You can use your briefs and class notes to create your course outlines.
Don't make the mistakes that many law students make during the fall semester - they brief only sporadically or stop briefing completely because they believe it is too time-consuming. Even worse, they resort to using canned briefs to save time or because they view these as "expert" sources. The task of case briefing is well worth the added time and effort, and it will actually save you time when it counts - when preparing for exams.