4 BIG Secrets to a Smarter Outline in Far Less Time!

There is a smarter way to assemble your outline. While any method of outlining will take more time than we’d prefer to spend, approaching outlines using these four strategies is far more efficient. Here are some of the strategies I’ve given my private clients over the years.

SYNTHESIZE THE CLASS CONTENT. Outlining is where we sit down, learn the law, and put the all of the moving pieces together. Most students make the mistake of assembling an outline of biblical proportions. Remember that the outline is our final stop before being able to take practice exams or sit for final exams.

The role of the outline is best understood in context of the law school exam. Your professors will expect you to produce a concise exam response. It’s impossible to pull that off if your exam tool is too large. So our goal must be to turn the outline into an exam tool that is user friendly.

Synthesizing the class notes means that you do the work of pulling out the most salient aspects of your notes from reading, lecture, briefs and possibly even power point slides. Finally, you organize the information into a systematic process. The most important ingredient of the system you create is that it be consistent.

USE TOPIC HEADINGS. Topic headings are a great way to assure that your outline is consistent. The framework of your outline should be organized under discrete topics or headings that outline the major topics and subtopics of an area of law for any particular course.

Let’s take Contracts as an example. If you were outlining “Formation”, then “Formation” would be the title heading because it is one of the broadest areas of law or units within the Contracts course. Beneath the title heading would be topic headings such as (1) Offer, (2) Acceptance, (3) Consideration and (4) Parol Evidence. Like each of these several topic headings under Formation, the topic of consideration has several sub topics. One of the subtopics are the types of consideration which include bilateral versus unilateral consideration. Another sub-topic under Consideration would be the various circumstances that sometimes lack consideration such as gift promise, pre-existing duty rule, illusory promise, and past consideration. Lastly, there is the sub-topic of promissory estoppel, which also falls under Consideration as an exception.

It is very common for law school professors to teach the various topics and subtopics of a course in a sequence different than how the topics are generally ordered on an exam. When available, be sure to take a critical look at your professors’ final exams so that you can get a better idea for how to order your outline so that it better reflects how the exam questions typically test the relevant topics and subtopics. During my seminars I spend a considerable portion of our time showing students exactly how to approach topics in a systemic order. The stronger your system the better analysis you will write. For this reason, outlining with headings is essential.

CONNECT CASES TO RULE ELEMENTS. In your outline, it’s not enough to merely list your cases from class in the order they were reviewed in class. You have probably noticed by now that cases are examples or illustrations of rule elements. For instance, there are about four elements to the tort of Battery. One of those elements is “contact”. However, there were probably several cases that your professor assigned that illustrates the various nuances of the contact element. If you look closely back at the cases, you will find that the different cases simply serve as a basis to make arguments and counter arguments on your exam to explain or reason why and why not a court could conclude for or against a claim for battery based on the satisfaction of the “contact” element.

By doing the work of actually connecting the cases to the specific rule elements to which they relate, your outline will be a far more powerful tool on exam day. Tying cases into elements within outlines to support stronger exam analysis is something that I spend a lot of time explaining and illustrating with both private clients and at Exam Prep Seminars so don’t over look this strategy.

INCLUDE POLICY WITHIN EVERY TOPIC. I have written articles and produced videos extensively on this topic so I won’t belabor the point. However, it’s important that you remember to strategically place your professor’s policy considerations into your outline. More importantly, you should insert the policy adjacent to the rule elements they relate most to. This is a powerful way to strengthen your outline because it is a strategy that intelligently anticipates and prepares you to accumulate the most points on exam day.

Nearly every 1L will create some form of an outline. Set your self apart and prepare a smart outline! Like you, smart outlines are exam friendly.