Law Outlines

Here is a list of links to free law school outlines updated on October 19, 2008. However, keep in mind that commercial law school outlines are more reliable and are updated more frequently so they remain current. Commercial outlines are listed near the bottom.

These free law school outlines cover all possible law school course subjects and are great for reviewing before you start a course or before finals. Some are prepared by law school professors and others are prepared by law students. This list is in no particular order.

If you know of another good collection of law school outlines on the internet, please e-mail us.

To buy commercial law school outlines — either new or the less expensive used copies — visit Amazon.com’s law school resources store, which has some great deals, as shown here:

Nutshell Series

Gilbert Law Summaries

Emanuel Law Outlines

High Court Case Summaries

Law students use law outlines in a variety of ways. First, law students may review a law outline prior to starting a law school course on the subject. This way, the law student can get an overview of the concepts and terms used in the law school course. For example, a new law student could see terms like “implied contract” and “promissory estoppel” and look up their definitions before starting a law school contracts course.

Second, a law student may review a law outline during class to get more information during the course or as a quick preview in case the law student was unable to read the assigned cases before class. For example, a new law student could review the blackletter law for the mailbox rule in contracts before covering the mailbox rule cases in an upcoming contracts class.

Third, law students may use a law outline towards the end of the law school semester to prepare their own outline in preparation for law school finals. By reviewing a law outline, students can get a better understanding of the subject and its topic areas, which can help law students decide the best way to organize their own law outline before a final exam. For example, a law student in a contracts course could see that all the rules regarding offers and acceptance can be grouped under one topic and rules related to breach of contract could be grouped under a separate topic.

Finally, law students may use a law outline as a quick review before a final exam. The best law outline to review is an outline made by yourself or at least by another student in your class. The topics coverage and emphasis can vary among law school courses, so using another law student’s outline before your final exam is not advised. A law school outline prepared by you will often have exam tips that you identified during the course along with key concepts to remember.

By using law school outlines in this manner, you can improve your ability to learn law school course concepts efficiently and effectively, which should give you an advantage over other law students who are not using law school outlines to their full extent.