SYNTHESIS: Building the Tent

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SYNTHESIS Building the Tent

• Effective READING, BRIEFING, and NOTE-TAKING for
  Your Law School Experience

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Presentation ROADMAP

• 1. SYNTHESIS Building the Tent
• 2. Effective READING
• 3. Effective BRIEFING
• 4. Effective NOTE-TAKING

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SYNTHESIS

• Some Assembly Required

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College SYNTHESIS (in the olden days)

• Instructions Included
• Pre-Synthesized
• Deductive Method
• Memorize key elements, forget the rest
• Regurgitation is the key to success

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Law School SYNTHESIS (superior, but necessarily
more complex)

• No instructions provided
• NO Pre-synthesis
• Study various types, shapes, sizes, of tents.
• Class learning about the tent parts.
• TEST students given several pieces of
  somethinghave 3 hours to assemble.

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Why Hide the Directions? (I mean, SERIOUSLY)

• The practice of law requires you to write your
  own directions.
• The process of writing directions is LEARNED.
• You have more legal options (and a better chance
  of success) when there isnt one right answer.

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How to Put Together a Tent Without Instructions
What was I thinking???!
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An Idiot in a Tent

• (or what NOT to do)

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SYNTHESIS

• Gather the Pieces (cases)
• Distinguish the Pieces
• Lay Everything Out
• Use your reasoning skills
• Fit the puzzle together
• Check your tent for structural defects
• Explain your steps CLEARLY (so others can follow)
• Finis!

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1. Gathering the PiecesEFFECTIVE Reading,
Briefing, and Note-Taking
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Effective READING

• So Whats Different?
• You tell us . . . weve forgotten!

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Keep in mind . . . why I am reading?

• Prepare for class
• Learn rules
• Learn to apply rules to fact situations

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Ideas?

• What we wish wed known about reading then . . .
• Remember these are just ideas, not mandated
  strategies . . . but we think theyre good ideas
  ?

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Find an anchor before you start!

• Do you ever feel like this?

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Think about study aids

• How to use them
• Use the Reserve Library

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Learn the language through dictionaries . . .

• Blacks law
• Westlaw
• Other online dictionaries

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Reading more than once sigh
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Dont get too far ahead ?
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Effective BRIEFING

• WHY should you brief your cases???
• To prepare for class
• To practice legal writing
• To make a solid foundation for your outline
• To help you prepare for the exam

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Different Ways to Brief (No one way is correct)

• Gordons Method (FPIHJR)
• Facts
• Procedural History
• Issues
• Holding
• Judgment
• Reasons

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FIRAC

• Facts
• Issue
• Rule
• Application
• Conclusion

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T-Outline

• Issue Rule

(Mr. T)
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Box Chart
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Nutshell Paragraphs

• E.I. du Pont de Nemours Co. v. Rolfe For an
  appropriation of trade secrets to be wrongful,
  there does NOT have to be trespass. One who
  discloses or uses a trade secret w/o privilege is
  liable if
• He discovers the secret by improper means, OR
• His disclosure or use constitutes a breach of
  confidence reposed in him by the other in
  disclosing the secret to him.

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The FUNDAMENTALS

• 1. Summarize the SUBSTANTIVE RELEVANT FACTS

Youre NOT taking a police report! So leave
unimportant details OUT.
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2. Isolate the ISSUE
Whether SVO When Facts SVO Subject,
Verb, Object (verb must be legally significant)
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Whats the ISSUE?

• Mrs. Sampson took her ferret, Bob, for a walk on
  Saturday. She had Bob on a leash until she
  reached the privately-owned park where Bob liked
  to play. She took Bob off his leash, and Bob
  promptly ran off and scratched a little girl.
  Mrs. Sampson is now charged with violating the
  city leash law, which says that all animals must
  be kept on leashes in public.
• Whether SVO WHEN FACTS

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Goldilocks Dilemma

• Whether Mrs. Sampson violated the Citys leash
  law ordinance, 123 ILCS 435, when Bob attacked
  the girl.
• Too Specific!
• Whether a person violates a law when a ferret
  attacks a girl.
• Too General!
• Whether a ferret owner violates a leash law
  which mandates all animals be kept on leashes in
  public when an owner has her ferret on a leash,
  but takes it off when she gets to a
  privately-owned lot.
• JUST RIGHT.

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Articulate the RULES

• What rule does the court use to solve the issue?
• Focus only on the rules that relate to your
  issue.
• And finally, USE THE LANGUAGE OF THE COURT!

...todays opinion resuscitates the ne plus
ultra, the Napoleon Brandy, the Mahatma Gandhi,
the Cellophane of subjectivity, th ol
shocks-the conscience test. City of Sacramento
v. Lewis, 523 U.S. at 861 (Scalia, J.,
concurring).
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Taking Effective NOTES
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Are there some things I shouldnt be ignoring?

• Gordons jokes!
• Fees maps!
• Floyds acronyms!

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Other things youll want in your notes

• Case holdings
• Either the holding, or some summary of what the
  case stands for in relation to the larger course
• Mistakes in your brief
• Correct as you go along, in a different font
  color or typeface
• Hypotheticals!
• These are potential previews of exam questions,
  and give you opportunities to use the
  sharp-edged sword of your legal analysis skills
• Policy arguments
• Especially if your teacher mentions this a lot.

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Secret (OK, obvious) tips from ASP!
(1 Google Image Result (strict filtering) for
obvious)
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Always think for the future

• Why am I taking notes?
• BIG QUESTION Can I use this to build my outline
  3 months from now???

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How do I know that Im on the right track?

• Unfortunately, part of law school life
  (especially first semester) is uncertainty . . .
• BUT, we can help!

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I missed that part, or I dont get it yet

• Believe it or not, Professors put up class
  recordings for purposes other than allowing us to
  skip class . . .

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Review and Discuss . . .

• Why?
• With who?
• With classmates (yes, occasionally it will be
  THAT interesting)
• With your Professors
• Or, if youre like me, on TWEN (if your Professor
  uses it)

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Good luck!