Here’s the main points from this series of posts. What additional points did you pick up on? Tell me in the comments. Break the reading down into bite-sized chunks. 30 minutes is a good metric to aim for, but you can be flexible about this. Make sure you know the purpose for reading this particular… Continue reading

Your case notes will evolve over the number of sessions you are able to devote to reading a case. These sample notes follow the structure suggested in post 1.4 in this series, bearing in mind the example case has no dissents. First reading session Case note on R v Chipunza [2021] EWCA Crim 597. Case… Continue reading

In the previous article, I gave you an example of initial notes following a first reading session with a new textbook chapter. The first reading session is always going to be less detailed because we focus on structure and themes, introduction and conclusion. We use these subsequent sessions to get into the detail. We will… Continue reading

Aim to spend the final few minutes of a reading session making notes. Mere reading only gives you a basic familiarity with a topic. To understand and retain you need to interact with it. This is one of the objectives of your assignments, but you don’t have to wait for an assignment to take advantage… Continue reading

We’re coming to the end of this series of blog posts and the general principles should be clearer now. The typical sort of documents you’ll be asked to read include Law Commission reports, government department reports and Select Committee reports. Applying the principles then, we start with why. What is the reason for assigning you… Continue reading

The principle for reading journal articles builds on what we’ve learned in recent posts on textbooks and case law. Aim first to establish the purpose of reading this article. Then within the article establish that it is indeed relevant for you right now. Then establish its structure so that you can identify the most important… Continue reading