Outlining

Outlining is the process of organizing your study materials into one concise document that provides a comprehensive view of an entire course. An outline should be prepared for each substantive law class. Some professors will allow you to bring outlines that you have made yourself into the examination area with you. However, test writers are so pressed for time they rarely have a chance to refer to materials they have brought with them. Outlines serve as a quick memory aid, but their true value is bringing the student to a clear understanding of the material through the compilation process.

When to begin

Ideally, a student should outline as each topic is completed in class. This would correspond roughly to the chapters of your textbook. There is some argument that by completing the compiling phase of your outline as class progresses, you are likely to forget what was covered. However, once outlined, it is easy to review. If you, like most students, wait until the week before an exam, or, for classes that only have a final, until the last weeks of class, you are still faced with a memory problem. Only at this point, you have to remember an entire semester’s discussion of material. In addition, you will likely have five other classes for which you will prepare outlines. If you choose to prepare at the end of the semester, give yourself a good three to four weeks.

Format

Outlines vary in length. To begin, you may try using the table of contents from a standard text like your casebook or a hornbook. This gives you the organization of the course. The chapter headings and subheadings are usually indicative of important legal issues or rules. The general format may look something like this:

I. General Principles

II. Rules of law-first topic

A. Relevant Statutes, Restatements

B. Relevant cases

C. Tests of the court

D. Policy/Rationale

E. Exceptions

III. Rules of law-second topic

IV. Rules of law-final topic

V. Other considerations

Assembling your outline

Once the basic format is determined, it’s a good idea to begin your outline with a general discussion of the topic, sources of the law, maybe a little history. It may also be useful to end your outline with additional academic or philosophical information you have picked up in reading on the topic. It gives greater depth to your discussion.

Now page through the various resources you are consolidating—casebook, class notes, hornbook, commercial outline (ask at library reserve desk for these published materials) or whatever you have chosen to use. Review each source for the first legal issue in your outline. Restate this information into a rule in your own words. Restating the rule yourself confirms that you understand the legal issue. Because your outline defines all elements of the law that you will need to know for an exam, record cites from statutes and Restatements that are pertinent. Include a sentence from your case briefings for the major cases you read and the tests used by the court in making its decision, just enough to refresh your memory. Add exceptions to the rule as well. Follow this procedure for each issue in your outline.

Not everything in the supplemental readings (hornbooks and commercial outlines) will be covered by your text or classroom discussion. Your professor will let you know what material you are responsible for. Remember, this is an outline, not a term paper. Maintaining the outline format will make review for study and quick reference during exams much easier.

Reorganize and consolidate

Most likely, the outline will have more material than necessary at this stage. Sift through the outline and edit out unnecessary information. The outline should be a concise framework of your topic.

You may find that a different organization scheme recommends itself at this point. Reorganizing your material into a structure that is logical for you is part of the task.

Include a table of contents or tabs. You won’t have time to flip through your entire outline during an exam. This will direct you quickly to the information you need.

Checklist or Issue Outline

In addition to compiling your main outline, you should put together a one- or two-page checklist or flowchart to serve as a quick review during the exam. The outline will act as a study tool to aid recall. The checklist will be the exam-taking tool to spot issues in the exam question.

The checklist consists of subject headings and subheadings, and legal tests with a few cases the court will use in its decision presented in the order that you would write an exam answer. As you read an exam question, run it through your checklist to spot issues. Its use is to scan each exam question for major issues and remind you to look for them if they do not jump out at you on first reading.

IRAC

One very effective format for writing exam answers is commonly called IRAC:

I=Issue; identify each issue raised by the problem

R=Rule; identify the legal rule that governs the issue

A=Analysis; analyze the facts in relation to the rule

C=Conclusion; based on your analysis of the facts and consideration
of policy issues.

As you read through your exam, you will be looking for the questions of law that must be resolved. Your checklist will help you identify broad issues. In your exam, you will state the broad issue in combination with the specific aspect of the issue that the question has raised. Each issue is to be handled separately. Once the issues are found, identify all rules of law that apply to each issue. This may include statutes, Restatements, U.C.C., and cases.

A useful format for a checklist would be issues as headings accompanied by applicable rules. This prepares you for applying issues and rules to the fact scenario in your exam question in order to analyze and conclude a proper answer.

Keep a Copy

Make copies of your outlines, either on disk or in paper. It would be a tragedy to have to rewrite an outline that has been misplaced or destroyed.

Further Information

Canada, Ralph, Surviving the First Year of Law School, Lord Publishing, 1978 KF 283 .C36 1978

Deaver, Jeff, The Complete Law School Companion, John Wiley & Sons, 1984 KF 283 .D4 1987

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