Ten tips for the law student

Time is valuable. For any law student, time is an invaluable asset. It's not just about working hard; it's about working smart. Here are 10 tips which will save time and sanity for all law students.

1. You don't have to read the whole thing

Before reading a case, search for the case summary on Westlaw, or better still, Wikipedia. In exams, you won't be expected to go into a particular judge's reasoning in depth. A simple legal principle is usually enough. If you must read the case, the head-note will refer to specific paragraphs for each legal principle you can quickly skip to.

2. Legal research? More like Ctrl + F

For legal research, search for keywords in journal articles, get a PDF file of your source materials from Westlaw, LexisNexis, HeinOnline, or JSTOR, and search with Ctrl + F for keywords – done in minutes.

3. Using Wikipedia like a boss

Wikipedia is your best friend for essays. Just be sure to edit the page after copying and pasting to avoid plagiarism. If you are in need of additional sources, the relevant Wikipedia article should have plenty to "borrow". If you have used a proposition from Wikipedia, cite the Wikipedia article's own reference as legal authority.

4. Extra content for essays and dissertations

Increase the size of all full stops and commas, extend all abbreviations, and make subheadings as big as possible. For dissertations, add a large and well spaced contents page.

5. Don't bother printing full case reports

You will probably never read them. Every time a law student prints a case a tree dies. Please protect our environment.

6. DO NOT READ FACTORTAME

Case citation: [2000] 1 TLDR 99 – the Too Long Don't Read law reports. Or indeed any comparably lengthy case. Life is just too short. The chances are that after reading all 130 pages, you'll be none the wiser and frustrated at having wasted hours reading a case you don't understand.

7. Blagging your way through a tutorial

If you haven't read the case for the tutorial, relate it to another case you do know. Alternatively, say you didn't understand the case and ask the tutor to explain the Court's reasoning at the start of the tutorial.

8. Buy your law books second hand

Hopefully the previous owner will have highlighted it and added useful annotations so that you don't have to read the entire thing and save a little money.

9. All readings are optional

The most important thing is that you can understand the law and apply it. Try to do the tutorial/seminar questions first before doing any of the reading. If you managed to get a good grasp of the law from lectures, why waste time learning what you already know?

10. Learn to question spot for exams

You need not learn the entire syllabus. The first thing to do before starting revision is to look through as many past papers as possible to see which topics are likely to come up. Questions on a single stand-alone topic are a gift. For BPTC students, you might find this year's exam question in a mock exam paper.

How many have you tried?

(Published by The Guardian - April 17, 2013)