True “attendance” in class means so much more than simple presence in the classroom. Active engagement is essential. Note-taking promotes that engagement.
Exam-targeted note taking is an art. She who keeps a discerning eye on the target during each day’s class will take notes with purpose—notes that will substantially enhance her ability to demonstrate her legal skills, knowledge, and fluency on the final examination.
A law student's primary goal in taking notes in class is precisely the same as the objective of the lawyer taking notes at a deposition or client interview: to create a personal record for later reference. In addition, law students and lawyers have other reasons for note-taking, including:
Do these match your objectives? Learn how to take class notes ... it's a whole different process than it was when you were an undergrad. As soon as you exit from the classroom, you ought to move to the next level: breathe life into your notes by transforming your notes. You'll find more about that in the links and blog entries we'll be adding in the future. If you have questions now, send me a note (use the "contact" link at the bottom of the page).
Taking excellent notes is a very important skill to learn ASAP in law school.
As a new student, you may find that taking notes in law school is quite different than taking notes in college. I remember thinking often, "So what do I write down?" That's because you'll undoubtedly find yourself in some classes where the professor says very little of substance.
"Why do you say that?"
"What does that mean?"
"How do we know that?"
So how do you take notes that make sense ... and what do you do with them after you've taken them?
In addition to the method you'll find in 1000 Days to the Bar - But the Practice of Law Begins Now, check out these videos to glean some insight.
When lawyers jot essential words and phrases, often in makeshift shorthand, on those yellow legal pads, they know that these notes need to be transformed into something more permanent as soon as possible. They know that stale, sketchy notes are useless notes. Notes made during meetings, phone conversations, depositions, hearings, and trials need to be transformed into something more substantial if they are going to be useful—and this transformation must occur as soon as possible. Lawyers transform their notes. So should law students striving to work at their highest levels.
Even the best of law school notes include evanescent references, abbreviations that make sense when written, and bits and pieces of quotations, thoughts, and analytical stratagems that make perfect sense in the context of the classroom discussion, then little or no sense a week later.
As much as 80 percent of what was “learned” in a classroom will be forgotten within a few hours—taking notes is a method to preserve class content and an essential ingredient in the recipe to prevent total disappearance of that content from your mind. However, notes left untouched are notes not worth taking.
Notes, once written, remain passive. Effective learning is active. Give your notes power: immediately transform them from passive entries in your notebook or computer to action-provoking, engaging catalysts for learning. Put your raw data to work.
Immediate transformation of your class notes from raw data to categorized information, memory cues, specific inquiries, and basic materials for your personal course summaries will make your note taking worthwhile.