Keep Up With Your Case Reading and Prepare for Cold Calls in Law School (Flipped Case Method)

If there is one law school complaint I hear more than any other is that it is impossible to do all the reading. When one professor assigns 30 pages of reading a night, it doesn't sound like much. But you have to realize that EVERY professor is assigning the same amount. If three professors assign 30 pages each, those 90 pages start to add up. Here is the worst part: the average reading speed for cases is 10 pages per hour.

Using the standard method of reading cases (diving head first into the case, reading the case three times, picking out the most important facts of the case, writing a case brief that is almost as long as the case itself, and then blindly heading to class), could take an entire day. That’s time you don’t have in law school.

So we came up with a better way. I got tired of trying to "stir cement with my eyelashes." I realized that the way I was reading my cases was backwards. I also realized that the single worst way to read a case was to dive head first into the opinion with no context.

The trick is to read the supplements and commercial outlines first. Read several of them. Then, once you have an idea of what is important about the case, and only then, read the text of the case itself. This “Flipped Case Method” will save you hours of time and make you far more prepared for class discussion.

Boom.

Videos mentioned:

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[LegalEagle]

Got questions about law school? Ask in the comments!

[elmateo]

The number 1 way to avoid getting cold called: Volunteer. When the professor asks a question that you do know the answer to, raise your hand. If you're one of the people who is always answering questions, the professor is far less likely to call on you with something you can't answer. At least that's been my experience.

[TheCommunistColin]

To any accepted 1Ls or aspiring law students out there, I cannot stress enough how much this method WORKS. This saved me hours and hours and hours of time each and every week. On days where I knew I'd be cold-called, I'd be able to confidently talk about an entire case in its broad strokes from doing about 30-45 minutes of work. Seriously, READ THE SUMMARIES FIRST. Almost every single named case out there has summary videos or articles about its main points. Let those guide you. I stopped using textbooks entirely from the second half of my 2L year onward.

[BRX]

He's right. Think about it like this: From your first day of kindergarten all the way through undergrad, you were given the concept first, and then that was backed up with examples. A is for apple, B is for ball, C is for cat, and so on. When you get to law school, that is suddenly reversed. They give you the examples in the case books, and you suddenly have to extract the law from that. Your mind simply has not been conditioned to function that way. Most students flounder around, trying to figure out what is and isn't relevant, without having any basis for making those determinations. It makes more sense to read commercial outlines first to get a handle on the basic concepts before going to the examples in the case books, because this is the way that your mind is used to learning things. Also, it would probably be better to skip the big, fat, fully fleshed-out commercial outlines like the Emmanuel's that he held up; those will only drown you in minutia. I believe that you'd be better off with the really basic outlines, like the 'Short Happy Guide', 'CrunchTime', or 'Acing' series. (You'll have to do your own outline anyway, which will end up being like the big commercial outlines.) Incidentally, you don't have to spend a huge pile of money on these; you can buy them off of eBay for only a few bucks each-- way less than you'd pay in a bookstore. And don't worry about getting the very latest edition; especially for 1Ls, the basic concepts will be the same. Save your money to reduce your stress level, making learning the law easier.

[hi]

1L is starting in about 10 days for me (orientation in 6) lol... so I’ve been binging a bunch of these videos on your channel. Invaluable resources!!!

[lazarosipov]

A month into law school, I can now say that this method works so well. It's saved me a ton of stress when reading cases as I already know what to look for. Great video and tips!

[thesurfnate]

I think you can be way over-prepared for cold calls and do a worse job with them. Classmates are often asked to give the facts and give EVERY fact "steve smith was 42 years old, kissed his wife and kids goodbye, took his honda accord out, ran a red light and got into an accident"

Professor: "the only part of that which was material was that he ran a red light and got into an accident."

[hllgudbye]

I find the cases quite interesting tbh, well so far they have been, even my land law ones have been either sad or scandalous. I think of them like mini soap-operas, it makes them very interesting and memorable.

[theblindvisionary]

I wish my professor didn't ask countless detail-related questions. To be honest I lose the deeper meaning when there are so many seemingly irrelevant facts. Is it better to just look like a fool and prepare more for the test and understanding underlying principles? I'm leaning in that direction...

[swicheroo]

I am a professor in a totally different field. But I mostly hang out with Law Professors. I would review my professor's scholarship, before the first day of class. You don't need to read it. You just need to review it. It will tell you a lot about the professor's proclivities. I find that to be the most satisfying way to get to know academics in general.

[lukaseitel]

Well, I'm pretty happy that I will attend to law school in Germany after graduation. Cold calls are not a thing there. It is not mandatory to visit the lectures. In fact, nobody cares whether you come or not, in most cares the professor does not even know your name.

[simianinc]

Hey James, I know nothing about law but love your videos. As an aside, you need to raise your lights. You're getting ghost lighting because your shadows are running slightly upwards

[EaterOfBirds]

This sounds sensible even though I've no idea about law. Like reading scientific journal papers but the abstract is right at the beginning with those.

I'm curious what 'procedural posture means', though maybe that's super obvious to anyone interested in law

[thenonly]

Thanks for the tips! I will definitely use these this fall.

Oh yes exceedingly good advice. Otherwise a pivotal case can be dismissed as nothing important, the key line just missed because your eyes were glazed over.

[tp]

LEGALEAGLE and Learn Law Better i would love to see both of them in the same video

[rebeccadeleon]

You are doing God's work here, lol. THANK YOU!

[tonil.]

passing paralegal classes---help --- thanks

[chrisnease]

I was wondering if you could do a video on legal research

[daphnerodriguez]

THANKS YOU GOODNESS 🌟❤️🖤💚🤎 FAMILY DAPHNE COTTON ALWAYS 💜