If Possible, I'd Love To Ask A Quick Follow-up Again On Your Response To My Q On Apps You Use As A Law

if possible, i'd love to ask a quick follow-up again on your response to my q on apps you use as a law student :) you mentioned xodo & pdfexpert as two apps you use for pdfs. as a fellow law student, i've struggled with finding an appropriate way of reading/organising/annotating long pdfs.. if possible i'd love to ask two quick qs!

could i ask how you use each app? i'm not very organised so i'm thinking of committing to one but not sure which

could you give a step-by-step rundown of your approach to studying a new topic/section of the law? (e.g., do you read before a lecture/annotate handout/notetaking in seminars) my course introduces a new legal area each week per module so was wanting some professional advice on how to manage :') tysm!! <3

Hi again! This is how I use XODO/PDF expert:

(take my advice with a grain of salt I don't really have a stellar academic track record and the only thing I'm good at is spending all my hours studying and coming up with ideas that need a lot of years to perfect. I'm hoping the hard work will pay off in later years but everything's more of a WIP at the moment. I don't have an estimate of my own credibility)

Whenever I have a long 500 page judgement to get through, I break up the long judgement by adding an index in the app. The apps lets me add my own index. If it is a textbook, I already have an index so navigating in between the pages is easier, and it also helps me get a bird's eye view of the subject/topic

After indexing it, I assign a specific color to a specific sub-topic. One judgement, for example, deals with several issues, like Secularism, Federalism, etc. I assign a color to them, and as I'm reading the judgement, I highlight specific lines with their specific colors that basically sum up the argument being made. So I know which paragraphs talk about which sub-topic.

When I've highlighted the main arguments, and then I glance through the document, a little mind map begins to form in my mind. I learn to separate small nuggets of ideas and learn how they're linked to each other.

I also sum up the paragraphs or put in key phrases on the margins when I feel that they have switched to talking about a distinctly separate idea.

Now I switch to other note taking apps for the next step. Usually, I use Obsidian to make my notes.

After understanding the basic framework of whatever text I am reading, I make my own mind map or framework with my own words. This step is very important, because it is very easy to lose yourself in the topic and not know how to make a head or tail out of it. Especially legal text.

Finally, I have personally found that it is important to set up a strict timeline to when you want to be done with a specific topic and move on. The temptation to go deeper into any topic is very real and negatively affects your ability to get a grip with the subject as a whole. Do not give in to it. Whenever you sit down to study a topic, restrict yourself to one document/text/judgement/whatever class notes you're handed. Do not try to look up something, and get trapped in the hyperlink loop.

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TLDR;

1. I use pdf readers to highlight topics by different colors so I can break up the text into topics and learn how the different ideas are linked.

2. I then make my own framework from the text with my own words and put that in my notes

Started using Forest

I wrote the last exam of my undergraduate degree. It's only going to get more surreal from here but I hope the next couple of months go as planned so I can get to where I wanna go next year 🤞🏻

Hii, do you have any tips on how to take notes for law subject?

Taking good notes for law subjects has a lot to do with how well you can study the text. To take good notes you must know:

The steps to studying a textbook/judgement/anything : First, you skim through it. Then read it a second time to understand what the concepts are and why they're important. Third reading is where you try to break down the text into bite size info: make diagrams, highlight with different colors, etc. you'll find more resources on how to study a text online.

It is important that your notes are not a copy from your text. Use your own words. Make your own little flowchart or diagram. Don't copy/paste.

While I encourage you to use your own words while writing notes, I also should warn against terminological inexactitude: you must know the significance of each word you're writing. A void contract, for example, is not the same thing as a voidable contract. Sale deed is different from an agreement to Sale. You must pay attention to detail.

These are what come to mind. But if you have any specific questions, or anything in particular you're having trouble with, feel free to shoot me a DM or ask another ask.

Cafe day! Yay ❤️

Private international law 💀