Strategies for
Reading and
In-Class Learning
Presented by
Academic & Professional Development
Joan Harrington,
Associate Clinical Professor of Law
Director of APD
Devin Kinyon,
Assistant Clinical Professor of Law
Assistant Director, Academic Development
WHAT IS APD?
• Academic support for all law students:
o 1L Academic Success Program (ASP)
o Workshop series
o Practice exam program beginning October 9th
o Resource Room in 230H Bannan Hall
o Faculty counseling (schedule appointments online or
email apd@scu.edu)
• Academic support for upper-division students needing
additional assistance
• Externship Programs
• Bar Exam Support
Strategies for Reading & In-Class Learning
Presented by
Academic & Professional Development
o Practice exam program beginning October 9th
REMINDER: Professor Kinyon’s advice from
Orientation was to prioritize practice exams
as a way to get ready for the real deal. 5
practice exams per class is a good target, but
more practice is always better. Start
exercising your practice muscle now.
Strategies for Reading & In-Class Learning
Presented by
Academic & Professional Development
WHAT ARE THE APD WORKSHOPS ALL
ABOUT?
Work in concert with your ASP sessions to help
you build the skills you’ll need to succeed in class,
on your exams, and ultimately, on the Bar Exam:
o Reading, briefing, and the law school classroom
as they relate to exams. [TODAY]
o Explaining outlining, and connecting it to exam
preparation. [NEXT TIME]
o Big picture and nuts-and-bolts of taking law
school exams. [WORKSHOPS 3-5]
OUR GOALS FOR THIS SESSION:
• Expose you to a traditional law school exam
question
• Talk about how reading, briefing, and in-class
learning set you up to write a law school exam
• Prime you for our coming discussions about
outlining
Strategies for Reading & In-Class Learning
Presented by
Academic & Professional Development
CONTRACTS EXAM QUESTION:
• From the California Bar Exam; shorter than a law
school exam question, but other than that, mostly
the same.
• Read and mark-up the question:
o What could you answer today?
o What parts of this question don’t you
understand?
o What does this question suggest to you about
your preparation over the next 13 weeks?
Strategies for Reading & In-Class Learning
Presented by
Academic & Professional Development
YOUR TASK ON AN EXAM:
• Spotting the major and minor legal issues.
• Recalling precisely and understanding the
relevant legal rules.
• Applying those rules to the facts given to reach a
well-supported conclusion.
• And expressing yourself clearly while doing all
that.
Strategies for Reading & In-Class Learning
Presented by
Academic & Professional Development
READING AND BRIEFING IS THE FIRST STEP
IN THAT PREPARATION:
• Briefs should capture the different rules of law
that you ultimately compile into an outline in
preparation for an exam.
• Briefs should capture the relevant facts that show
how that law was applied in that specific case.
Strategies for Reading & In-Class Learning
Presented by
Academic & Professional Development
WHY?
Those rules are the same rules you’ll apply on an
exam. An exam fact pattern is just like the
statement of facts at the beginning of a case; a
good exam answer applies the correct rules to new
facts using reasoning similar to that employed in
cases you’re reading.
Strategies for Reading & In-Class Learning
Presented by
Academic & Professional Development
HOW DOES BRIEFING FOR LARAW RELATE TO
BRIEFING FOR MY DOCTRINAL COURSES?
• LARAW  you typically have a fact pattern
you’re working from
o Focus is on how this case applies to my fact
pattern
• Contracts, Torts, etc.  you’re briefing without
knowing the facts
o Focus is on identifying the core rule(s) from
this case, and beginning to figure out how it
might apply to a future exam fact pattern
READING STRATEGICALLY:
1) Time is of the essence.
2) Be strategic and flexible.
3) Make sense of what you’re reading with context
clues, hypotheses, and common sense.
4) Read selectively.
adapted from Reading Like a Lawyer:
Time-Saving Strategies for Reading Law Like an Expert
by Ruth Ann McKinney
Copies are available in the APD Resource Room.
Strategies for Reading & In-Class Learning
Presented by
Academic & Professional Development
5) How you feel about a case can interfere with
what you can learn from the case.
6) Reading is a social activity with strong
interpersonal components.
7) Read for the “main idea.”
PROFESSOR KINYON’S BONUS:
8) Adapt your reading to your professor’s
preferences and style.
Strategies for Reading & In-Class Learning
Presented by
Academic & Professional Development
BRIEFS IN CLASS:
• Edit your briefs to incorporate a more full
understanding of the rules of law that come from
classroom discussion.
• Note your professor’s preferred way of analyzing
legal issues from the nature of their questions and
discussions.
Strategies for Reading & In-Class Learning
Presented by
Academic & Professional Development
BRIEFS AFTER CLASS:
• After class, you’ll update your briefs and reading
notes with those corrections, clarifications, and
hypos from class. When your class has completed
a legal concept, then you’ll outline that material.
Strategies for Reading & In-Class Learning
Presented by
Academic & Professional Development
OUTLINING
• Right before exams?
• Mid-semester?
• What does an outline look like this early in the
semester?
Strategies for Reading & In-Class Learning
Presented by
Academic & Professional Development
EARLY OUTLINING
Early outlining is reorganizing the knowledge
gained from reading, briefing, and in-class learning
in a way that will help you answer exam questions
(and better understand the material for class.)
Early outlining is done after learning each concept
or area of the law.
Strategies for Reading & In-Class Learning
Presented by
Academic & Professional Development
CONTRACTS CLASS COVERAGE
What concepts have you covered so far?
• Oberman
• Macintosh
• Neustadter
• Woodward
Strategies for Reading & In-Class Learning
Presented by
Academic & Professional Development
OUTLINING “OFFER”
Oberman and Macintosh syllabus has heading:
“What is an offer?”
Introduction and 4 cases:
• Owen v Tunison (selling Bradley block building)
• Harvey v Facey (Bumper Hall Pen telegram)
• Fairmount Glass Works v Crunden-Martin
Woodenware Co (mason green jars telegram)
• Lefkowitz v Great Minneapolis Surplus Store
(mink scarves for women only)
OUTLINING “OFFER”
I. Offer
A. Rule (Commonlaw)
An offer is an act whereby one person confers upon another the power
to create contractual relations between them. It must be an act that
leads the offeree reasonably to believe that a power to create a
contract is conferred upon him. (CB 141 citing Corbin) OR
An offer is the manifestation of willingness to enter into a bargain, so
made as to justify another person in understanding that his assent to
that bargain is invited and will conclude it. (CB 141 Restatement
Second section 24)
1. Communication must be an outward manifestation (oral,
written, or conduct)
2. Offer must signal acceptance will conclude the deal
3. Offer is interpreted objectively not subjectively
USING THE CASES
2. Offer must signal acceptance will conclude the deal
NO OFFER FOUND:
Response with minimum selling price is not enough (Owens v
Tunison – selling Bradley block building) (Harvey v Facey –
selling Bumper Hall Pen)
OFFER FOUND:
Telegram from seller to potential buyer of mason green jars
stated prices “for immediate acceptance” (Fairmount
Glassworks)
Advertisement for sale of goods (mink scarves) was clear,
definite and explicit with nothing open for negotiation. (Lefkowitz
v Great Minneapolis Surplus Store)
THE EXAM QUESTION
Does Betty have an enforceable contract?
EXERCISE: Continue this paragraph…
Betty must establish that Al made an offer of his
office building in exchange for care for the rest of
his life. An offer is an act whereby one person
confers upon another the power to create
contractual relations between them. It must be an
act that leads the offeree reasonably to believe
that a power to create a contract is conferred upon
him. Here, Al…
APPLICATION OF RULE TO FACTS
Here, Al stated that he would give Betty his office
building in exchange for her to continue to give him
medical care until his death. His statement was
definite and explicit. Al’s statement to Betty could
reasonably lead Betty to believe that if she
accepted the offer a contract could be formed.
The fact that Betty did not believe Al owned the
building is not relevant because the standard for
determining mutual assent is objective, not
subjective. Therefore, a valid offer exists.
HOW DO I KNOW IF I UNDERSTAND THE LAW?
–or– HOW CAN I START PRACTICING NOW?
After class, concurrent with outlining, write out
practice problems to test your understanding:
• Hypos provided by your professor
• Problems in your textbook
• Problems from a supplement like Examples and
Explanations
Strategies for Reading & In-Class Learning
Presented by
Academic & Professional Development
CHECK-IN ON OUR GOALS:
• Expose you to a traditional law school exam
question
• Talk about how reading, briefing, and in-class
learning set you up to write a law school exam
• Prime you for our coming discussions about
outlining
Strategies for Reading & In-Class Learning
Presented by
Academic & Professional Development
IN YOUR NEXT ASP SESSION:
• Practicing identifying rules from your briefs and
building mini-outlines
OUR NEXT APD WORKSHOP:
• Outlining and organizing material
• Friday, September 13
Strategies for Reading & In-Class Learning
Presented by
Academic & Professional Development
Professors Harrington and Kinyon
Academic & Professional Development
230 Bannan Hall
apd@scu.edu
http://law.scu.edu/apd/
Strategies for Reading & In-Class Learning
Presented by
Academic & Professional Development