Expert Learning for Law Students » (2nd Edition)

Michael Hunter Schwartz is a professor of law at Washburn University School of Law and is Director of the Expert Learning Program (Ex-L).

Expert Learning for Law Students is designed to help law students build the analytical skills necessary to succeed in law school, on the bar exam, and in law practice. This book reveals how successful law students and lawyers plan, monitor, and implement their work and it provides detailed guidance regarding individual student personality types and learning styles. The accompanying workbook includes questions and exercises to assist students in practicing the concepts explained in the text.

The second edition includes greater emphasis on students personalizing all strategy suggestions by adapting strategies to their individual learning styles, personality types, and, most importantly, their results and their evaluations of the causes of those results. It includes additional materials designed to help students deal with law school stress and offers insights for ameliorating that stress developed within the Humanizing Legal Education movement. Tips on time management and avoiding procrastination; a revised discussion on case reading reflecting recent research; a new section on using color as a memorization tool; and a revised discussion of how to apply rules to facts and how to apply and distinguish cases are also provided.

Pt. I Basic Principles

Ch. 1 Introduction to Expert Learning 3

Ch. 2 Introduction to Law School Instruction 7

Ch. 3 How Humans Learn 23

Ch. 4 The Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) Cycle 29

Ch. 5 The Forethought Phase of the SRL Cycle 35

Ch. 6 Know Thyself: Personality Types and Learning Styles 55

Ch. 7 The Performance Phase of the SRL Cycle 67

Ch. 8 The Reflection Phase of the SRL Cycle 73

Pt. II Learning Strategies for Law Students

Ch. 9 Strategies for Reading and Briefing Court Opinions 85

Ch. 10 Strategies for Learning in the Law School Classroom 125

Ch. 11 Strategies for Obtaining Assistance 139

Ch. 12 Organizational Strategies 149

Ch. 13 Memorization Strategies 173

Ch. 14 Strategies for Excelling in Legal Research and Writing Classes 189

Ch. 15 Strategies for Learning Legal Analysis 205

Ch. 16 Strategies for Preparing for and Taking Law School Examinations 229

Ch. 17 A Chapter for the Family and Friends of Law Students 253

App. A Time Management/Self-Monitoring Log 263

App. B Exemplar Case: Parker v. Twentieth Century-Fox Corporation 273