Effective Study Habits For Law Students

EFFECTIVE STUDY HABITS FOR LAW STUDENTS

Elias Linus Odoh

University Of Jos 

Abstract

To be an outstanding law student, you must know the law – and to know the law, you must study the law.

How do you study the law?

Well, you think it’s just by reading wide. It will shock you!

This article promises a detailed study guide to being an “A-Law-Student”, with proven methods that will help you navigate the complexities of legal principles, cases, authorities, and lots more.

Let’s dive!

INTRODUCTION

Richard Feynman, an American Nobel Laureate, developed a proven technique that helped him stand out as a Physicist. This study technique is idealized on the concept of taking what’s “hard to understand and trying to explain it in your mind by explaining it as if you were talking to a child”.

Law students are usually frustrated whenever they see their examination questions stare at them like lizards at palm oil. Legal questions are powerful enough to make your brain skip.

Yes, but you don’t have to pull off your eye sockets during exams. The right study guide is enough to help you maintain peace during and after your exams.

Therefore, smart study samples that will guide you through the rigors and rancor of law examinations and as well, locate you at the top of your class will be explained here – like explaining to a child.

CRACKING THE IRAC RULE

If you are a law student, then, the IRAC Rule is not a strange concept to you. It is a rule designed to help law students answer law questions in the most simple, logical, and score-oriented manner. However, over the years, after this rule was developed, law students still failed exams. What could be the problem? Yes, you’re very correct! Unguided, inadequate, and un-smart study habits. That’s it, my learning colleagues.

So, what are the study principles and habits you need to learn to help you synchronize with this rule and thus, crack it? So to say – yes, how do you give your lecturers a marking scheme?

Some of these codes are captured below;

⮚ Read, Read, and Read: Some law students want to get ‘As’ without moving an inch of their course books. According to Victor Hugo, “To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark”.

One of the fundamental ways to keep abreast of information, knowledge, and ideas is to keep reading. Generally, reading is like a net lowered into a river, expecting a catch. A law student, specifically, must make up his/her mind and consciously learn to read at odd times and at all times.

Reading will help you dig into a hidden gold reserve, where treasures untold could be unpacked for the journey of life and exams. It is pertinent to note that if you must be an excellent law student, reading must be a hobby for you.

You must understand that reading does not only prepare you for law exams but enhances your thinking capabilities and wires you up into that critical thinker that you are.

⮚ Know Your Reading Strength: Seriously, how many hours can you study/read? Yes, how many? Two? Three? Oh! Four? Well, Five? OK, Five hours every day? Do you think you should read less or more? Are you comfortable with the hours you put into your study time? Is it giving you the results or grades you desire?

No law limits you from stretching to any length of study hours you desire and are capable of, but, understand that your brain has a limit it can take for sometimes. While research shows that some students can read for a long period, others can only go a little while – and since the study of law demands that you read a lot, a strategic approach that will help you prepare for the most part is upon you to device.

Such an approach could be;

● Study to know

● Study to grow

● Study to show

⮚ Develop a Problem-Killer Mindset: Law exams are replete with problem questions – scenarios painted to get you involved in a murder case, a contract, a constitutional problem, a civil procedure rule, a legal principle or maxim, commercial machinery, a plethora of confusing concepts; ok, a lot of annoying rules, right? Look at these problems as an already practicing lawyer, stare them in the eyes, and kill them before they even arrive to threaten your mental peace. What would you do if you were to answer these questions for your client in court?

How do you murder law problem questions?

● Get the issue(s) right: Legal issues demand a thorough understanding of the subject matter. If you are to discuss the issue of the right to life for example, a salient understanding of contemporary problems beclouding breach of the right to life, right to die, whether or not a death sentence amounts to a violation of the right to life as provided for in section 33(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), etc.

Tragic to say is the fact that a wobbling posture on legal issues puts credence to your failure in law exams. If you make the mistake of misplacing the issue(s), the rest of your answers will be like a broken link – missing its way into nothing but jeopardy.

● Master the rules: Every legal issue springs from a principle or a rule of law. The rule of Stare Decisis, for instance, hinges on the concept that a decision of a higher court is binding on lower courts, etc.

● Understand the facts: As the saying goes “Understanding is the father of wisdom”, the scenarios that are often painted in law exams are tricks to test your understanding of facts, thus, make sure to have a good grasp of the facts.

● Criticize the principles: Over here, your personal opinions are required.

The tips above are not just for passing law exams but analytical approaches to have in mind while studying. I believe that, for a law student to be above average, he/she must cultivate a critical-mental-apparatus habit, that deciphers the problems before they arrive.

⮚ A Study Mate/Group: Reading together helps to create bonds and as such shares similar burdens. A topic that seems difficult to you might be simple for others; thus, a study mate or group is very important as a law student. However, not everyone can easily condescend to a study group as some law students are highly exclusive to themselves. Nonetheless, choosing a study group or mate could help you navigate difficult situations – when the going gets tough.

CONCLUSION

Without any stretch of the imagination, success in your law exams is largely dependent on the system of study you have in place – a working-study habit.

“A drop of water makes a mighty ocean”

Spend more time on difficult and cutthroat courses, concepts, principles, and legal rules, with that, other ones won’t be a problem. Also, divide your time for all your courses and make sure you, have a balance sheet for all.

If failure can accumulate, success should accumulate more.