Why outline?
The outline is a valuable tool for every law student, as long as it is done correctly and contains the accurate – and relevant – information. In reality, the process of outlining is more important than the outline itself. Through outlining, you are processing everything you have learned in an entire semester, putting it into your own words, ensuring that you really understand it, and condensing it into a usable, summarized document.
When to outline?
If you outline too soon, you will end up focusing on individual cases, because that is all you know so far. Individual cases do have a place in an outline, but the focus of your outline needs to be on legal concepts and rules. So, wait until a few weeks, or even a month (but no later!) into your semester. When you finish a big topic, outline that topic.
Start your outlines on a weekend, when you can give yourself a large block of time to work on them (four hours per subject is good to start). Once you are caught up with your outlines, you won’t need such large blocks of time – a few hours at the end of each week will be sufficient to outline what you have done that week.