Howdot

heydoi
t?

Youoft enaskyoursel
fhowsomeofy ourclassmatesareabletoanswerthereci
tati
onswi t
h
ease.Youof t
enasky ourselfhowsomeofy ourfri
endsandcolleaguesacethei
rrespecti
ve
examsasi fthesewereasbasi castheal phabet.Youoftenaskyoursel
fwhatyouar edoi
ng
wrong.Youof t
enasky ourselfwhaty ouar efail
i
ngt odoinordertobecomeoneoft hebestin
yourclass.Doubtsli
ngeriny ourmind.Youal way saskthesamequest i
ons.Youalwayslookfor
theanswer —howdoy oust udy?

Lawschool isandwill
alway
sbeat estofbr
il
li
anceandperseverance.Wit
sarenotenoughin
l
awschool .Lawstudentsar
erequir
edtohaveastrongwil
linordertosurvi
ve.Howev er
,
betweenthesetwonecessaryfact
ors,
onemustconsidersomegr ayareasinstudy
inglaw.One
questi
onthatcomest omindishowcany oumaximizeyourti
mei nstudyi
ngandatt hesame
ti
me,absorballofthem?

Thestudyoflawisqui
teknownf orit
smul ti
tudeofassignments.Foreverysubj
ect,
ther
eisan
equalamountofassi
gnmentthatchallengesnotonlythebrai
nsoft hoseengagedinit
sstudy
butaswellasthei
rpat
iencei
nfinishi
ngt hesame.Accor di
ngl
y,infor
mationover
loadoften
comesinnextbecauseoftheseveralpagesoflawsandannot ationsoneneedstomemor i
ze
andunderst
and.
I
ndeed, l
awschool r
equiresal otfrom l
awstudent s.Butcli
ché,asitmayseem, studyi
nghar d,i
s
notenoughinlawschool .Somet i
mes,iti
sevent hewr ongapproachwhenst udentsfocustheir
respecti
veenergi
esont hewr ongaspectoft helaw.Somel awstudent
sfocusonmi nordetail
s
thatwon’tevenpopoutf orrecitati
onsorexams.Theymemor izetheminusculepartofthe
doctri
nelai
ddownbyt hecour t.Theyreadsever
al material
sthathavenoconnect i
onor
whatsoevertothereadingassignmentduef orthatsameday .

Whilealawstudentmayhav et
hebri
ll
i
anceandtheskil
ltoper
severeandeventual
lyf
inisht
asks,
theymuststi
llhaveasenseofbal
ance.Lawstudent
smustbeabl etomaximizethei
rtimeand
expandthei
rknowledgebyadapti
ngtomeanswhicharenecessar
yf ort
hei
rsuccess.Inshor
t,
l
awst udent
sar eal
sorequi
redtobeablet
ostudysmart.

Inl
inewithouradvocacyinhelpi
nglawstudent
sreachthei
rmaximum potenti
al,
Barri
sta
Soluti
onsli
stsdownthet i
psonhowt ostudysmart
,especi
all
yduri
ngthi
st i
meofaheal thcr
isi
s.
Inordert
of ul
lymaxi
mi zealawstudent
’sti
meandcapacitytoabsor
bsuchmat erial
s,wehave
comeupwi thalistt
ohelpy oual
l.

Bel
owar esuggestionswhi chonemayadoptint hel
ongr
un.Whil
eweadmi tthatt
hestudyof
l
awi snotal
wayst hesamef oralll
awstudent
sbecauseweall
haveourst
yles,maythi
slist
nonethel
esshel
pt hosest udent
swhoar ei
ndir
eneedofti
psandthosewhodonotknowwher e
tobeginwit
hinthei
rr especti
vejourney
s.

1.St
ickt
oonebookandonesuppl
ement
almat
eri
al
Thecommonmi sconcepti
oninlawschooli
sthatyouneedt or eadever
yavail
ablemateri
al
thereiswhenitcomest oapar t
icul
arsubj
ect
.Lawst udent
st endtohoardseveralbooksand
readingmater
ial
st hatsupposedlywoul
dhelpthem masterthesubjectunderacertai
n
professor
.

Onedoesnothav et
hetimetofi
nishallthesemater
ial
s.Youwouldbely
ingtoy
oursel
fifyou
wouldsaythaty
ouwi l
lbeabl
etor eadfourbooksandfouraddi
ti
onal
readi
ngmateri
alsfora
par
ti
culart
opicassi
gnedbyyourpr of
essor.

Asky ourprofessorwhathi
spr efer
redbookis.Ifheorshedoesnothav eapr eferr
edbook,ask
aroundsomel awstudent
swhoal r
eadywentt hr
oughtheparti
cularpr
ofessor.Checkt he
recommendedr eadi
ngmat eri
alsanddeterminewhichtextyouaremostcomf ort
ablereadi
ng.
Chooset hebookandt hesupplement alr
eadi
ngmat eri
alwhichyoubeli
evewi llbemost
understandableonyourpart.I
twi l
lhelpyoui
mpr oveyourknowledgeoncertaintopics.

2.St
udyt
hesy
ll
abus

Anot
hermi
spl
acedef
for
tbyl
awst
udent
sal
lov
ert
hecount
ryi
sthef
actt
hatt
heyr
eadal
oti
n
thebook,
someti
mest oaf aul
t.Someti
mes,theyal
readycoveratopi
cbey
ondthegi
ven
assi
gnment.Whi
letheadvancedstudyisgood,onemustrememberhowevert
hatti
meisoft
he
essencei
nlawschool.Lawstudentsdonothavetheluxur
yofti
me.

I
tisimportantt
oreadt hesyll
abusfi
rstbeforedelvi
ngi
ntoreadi
ngandanaly
zingannotat
ions
f
ort heassi
gnedtopics.Byreadi
ngthesy l
labus,onewi
llhaveanover
viewastowhattopicsare
i
ncludedandwhatt opicsar
ei mpor
tantthattheyareev
enhighli
ght
edintheprof
essor’
ssy l
labus.

Bylookingintot hesame,youwil
lalsogaugehowfarthetopicisgoingtobe.Normally
,the
professorwoul dalsodict
atewhatthel
asttopi
cofthedaywoul dbe.Mar kyourr
especti
ve
syll
abusandy ouwi l
lbeablet
omanagey ourti
mewi sel
yinfocusingoncert
aintopics.
Accordingly,y
ouwi llbeablet
odetermi
newhatshouldbepr i
mar i
l
yst udi
edorfocuseduponthe
saidinstance.

3.Not
edownt
hef
avor
it
etopi
csofy
ourpr
ofessor

Iti
swi t
houtadoubtt hataprofessorhashisorherfavori
tetopi
cwit
hrespectt
ohis/her
l
ectures,r
ecit
ations,andexams.Al awstudentwouldnoticethi
swhentheprof
essor
conti
nuouslyrepeatsaquestionorevencallssev
eralstudentsi
nansweri
ngthesameuntil
iti
s
perf
ect.
Notethesedownandbesur etostudywellforthattopicbecauseitismostlikel
ythattheexams
wil
lincl
udet hesepart
iculart
opics.Moreoft
ent hannot ,t
hesetopicsaretheonest hatar
ealso
al
l-
ti
mef av
or i
tesi
ntheBarexams.I ti
sbett
ertobepr eparedont hesetopicsthannotbecause
generalconcepts,
grayareas,andcommonl yaskedquest i
onsandt ermsintheBarwi l
lhel
py ou
becomeadeptandbr i
ll
iantwithrespectt
ocer t
aintopicsofthelaw.

4.Bef
orememor
izi
ng,
fini
shst
udy
ingi
tfi
rst

Youcannotmemor i
zesomethingyoudonotunder stand.I
fyouwil
lbestart
ingof
fwith
memor i
zati
onwit
houtful
lyunderst
andingther eason,expl
anat
ion,
andstorybehi
ndthe
same—y ouarepr
epari
ngyoursel
fforfail
ure.Yes,youmaybeabl etoreci
teorwri
tet
het extbut
thesameisonlygoodforshort
-t
erm memor y
.

Befor
ememor i
zingacodalprovi
sion,akeypartofjur
isprudence, orevensomer equisi
tesor
element
sprovi
dedforbylaw,youmustl ear
ntofini
sht hewhol etopicassignedsoy ouwillhav
e
theti
meforunderst
andingandprocessi
ng.Withoutunder standi
ngt hetopicatfi
rst,
youwi l
l
haveahardti
meappl y
ingsuchconceptsinreci
tati
ons, quizzes,
exams, andev eninreall
if
e.

Al
waysrememberthati
twil
lall
beeasi
erifyouunderst
andatfi
rstwhaty
ouar
ereadi
ngbef
ore
memori
zingev
ery
thingandcrammi
ngev erypr
ovi
sionther
eis.
5.Usemnemoni
cswhenmemor
izi
ng

Oneoft hetipsinmemorizi
ngacodal pr
ov i
sion,anexcer
pti
njur
ispr
udence,
orsomeoft
he
essenti
alrequisi
tesorel
ementsofadoct r
ineisthatyoumustbefamil
iarwi
tht
hekey
words.As
mentionedabov e,youmustfi
rstunder
standi t
.

Andwheny ouhavethekeywords,
youcancr
eateyourownmnemoni
cssoastomemorize
everyt
hingwi t
hease.Whi
lesomebooksorrevi
ewershavet
hei
rownmnemoni
cs,i
tisst
ill
bet
ter
i
fy ouhav eyourownver
sionbecausey
ouwill
remembermorewhaty
ouhavedoneand
memor izedcomparedtotheother
s.

Alwaysrememberthatt
hisi
snotashor
tcutbutr
atherabet
terunder
standi
ngoft
het
opi
csy
ou
havealr
eadyreadandunder
stood.

Thesearejustsomeoft heti
psonhowt ostudysmartinl
awschool.Asmenti
onedinthef
irst
fewparagr
aphs, thi
sisj
ustali
stofti
pssuggestedbyBarr
ist
aSolut
ionsinor
dertohel
plaw
student
sinthistimeofaworseningpandemic.Toal
lthefut
urel
awy er
swhomayber eadi
ng
thi
s,mayyoual lhaveaneasi
erjour
neyfrom t
hispoi
ntfor
ward