ldc presentation: taking great notes & building great outlines by patson w. arinaitwe

8/6/2019 LDC Presentation: Taking Great Notes & Building Great Outlines by Patson W. Arinaitwe

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TAKING GREAT NOTES&

BUILDING GREAT

OUTLINES

UCU-LDC Preparation Workshop 6 th August

2011 in Nkoyoyo Hall- Uganda Christian University.



My Outline

� Taking Great Notes

When do we take notes.

Importance of preparing NotesPreparing to take Notes

Building Notes.

What to do after the taking of notes.



My outline Cont·d

�Building a great Outline

What is an outline (Generally)Importance of outlining.

Building an outline

Checklist for the outline

Taking the exam.

� Conclusion



When Do we take Notes

Law School Lectures

Listening to public speakers etc

When reading literature, text books, cases,

etc

During firm Meetings

During guest speakers at LDC

Interviewing a client, witness etc

Taking evidence in Court



Importance Cont·d

Notes are needed for record/ futurereference; during exams,

Refreshing your memory etc.

If something is sparked in your brain to say

"PAY ATTENTION!" you should be writing it

down now and finding its true purpose later.

Firm Associates tend to give hints duringsession.



Importance of taking down notes

Some people have trouble taking effectivenotes b¶se they¶re not sure what notes arefor.

Students attempt to capture a completerecord of a lecture, book or meeting in their notes- this is a recipe for failure

Inspiration can strike anywhere and you

need to be prepared! LDC is action packed. You need future

reference.



Preparing to take Great Notes



Before the lecture/ session

� Prepare for the lecture.

Check course outline; key ideas

Read the assigned materials, cases, statutes. Review the assignments-previous work.

skim through hand outs given-quickly-highlight

the topic.

Before class, Did you eat breakfast

or lunch?



P reparing Cont·d.

� Go to class - this sounds obvious.

� Sit as near to front as possible to eliminate

distractions.

� Listen well for emphasis points

� Have a proper attitude

Listening well is a matter of paying

attention

Be open minded- even if you may

disagree.



Building Notes- From Literature

Know exactly what information you¶ve tof ind

Mark the passages containing useful

information.

Remember : Highlighting is not note-taking!

Use your own words

Keep facts to the minimum

Notes should not be narrative



Cont·d: Building notes from

lectureIt is important to build your Notes in

Themes, topics, sub topics etc

Great notes will be necessary in preparing

for your examination, whether oral or

written, preparing for Submissions in

Moots and later in Court.



Now that you¶ve built

Great Notes

Are you ready for the

Bar exams?



Building Great outlines



What·s an outline?

� A general plan of the material that is to be presented in aspeech or a paper.

� Shows the order of the various topics, the relativeimportance of each, and the relationship between thevarious parts.

� Formal system used to think about and organize your paper . Eg

you can use it to see whether your ideas connect to each

other, what order of ideas works best, or

whether you have sufficient evidence to support each of your points. Outlines can be useful for any paper to helpyou see the overall picture.



Outline Generally

An outline will not help you on a bar course exam. A good outline will, but itmust be your own work.

A decent outline made on your own isbetter than a perfect outline done bysomeone else

You are the best interpreter of your notes. Use your notes to make your outline



Building an Outline

� Work on your outline throughout thesemester/term

� Use the great notes built to develop anoutline or

�

After you gather all your final materials,make a detailed and or ganized outlineof your class.



Building Cont·d

Use topics, sub topics to develop an outline EgRevision-the-Law-General-principles- proceduralelement- documents involved.

DO NOT try to memorize EVERYTHING that is inyour detailed outline. You will go crazy.

Understandy All your notes i.e. substantive law, and

procedural elements

y Cases law-facts, holding, reasoning.

y Forum; Jurisdiction, procedure and documentsinvolved



Building an Outline Cont·d

One must deduce what law is applicable. Substantive,

pr incipal (Acts of Parliament applicable) and procedural

(Civil or criminal procedures) laws.

B

oil down the law that¶s in your outline to somethingmanageable

understand the big picture of your course to effectively use

all the material in your outline

Make an issue checklist to study from. Looking at the issueson your checklist should trigger your memory about that

issue

Outline will help you discuss and analyze on the exam

rather than regurgitate memorized materials.



Make your checklist

Go through your course outline or weeks workand look at the topics.

Go through your outline highlight what you thinkare the big issues.

Make a one-page checklist of the big issues.

As you study the checklist, fill in the details thatare important under each big issue, but don¶t

make another detailed outline.

Your final checklist together with the outline will bethe study tool that takes you into the exam.



Taking the Exam that appeals

PAY CLOSE ATTENTION.

First, Look over the entire exam. See what it's allabout. length, type of questions, number of questions. suggested time

Figure out how much time you're going to spend oneach portion of the exam

Devote some few minutes for reading/outlining andthe rest for writing your answer.

Read the call of the question First



T aking Exam Cont·d

READ THE FACTS. Put your pen down and

read the fact pattern . Read it fast the first time.

Don't pick up your pen. read the facts AGAIN, but a little slower. Now, pick up your

highlighter or pen and flag possible issues.



T aking Exam s Contd.

OUTLINE, OUTLINE,OUTLINE. You MUST

outline your answer/Thoughts briefly.

A Well thought answer is much better than

a hurried answer

Time Management is key.



T aking Exam cont·d

� Legible handwriting is key.

� Maintain precision and coherence.

� Highlight (or use a different color pen)

sections & authorities quoted.

� Endeavour to draw the necessary

documents needed.



Conclusion

The above are simple but crucial for your

life at bar course as well as a litigation

advocate in Uganda.

They can be summed up into:

Prepare, prepare, prepare at all times.



Cont·d conclusion

³The fear of failure

is fatal

to success´



HANK YOU

Questions??Prepared by:

Patson W. Arinaitwe

Attorney-at-Law

ldc presentation: taking great notes & building great outlines by patson w. arinaitwe

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