reading and briefing cases - tip I wish I knew my first year

When reading and briefing cases I wish someone had told me the benefits of color coding my notes and what I highlight.
I suggest using the green for the plaintiff/state/group that initiated the suit, orange for the defendant/accused/one being sued.  I also use pink to highlight the issue/question that the case decides and the rule or take away.  Blue can be used for noting the cases that are cited in the case you are reading or dissent if it is important.  I use yellow to highlight anything important that is not one of the above (such as another rule that I may want to remember or use the wording for it in an essay).  Purple is what I use to note what my professor feels is important in the case (either staring my previous notes or adding to them).

Notes for briefing the case can be color coded the same. My favorite pens to use for this are
Pentel Wow
Staedtler Maxum
PaperMate

Yes, there are extra colors in the above mentioned packs, but that is OK, you can use them to for other notes or if you want to note definitions or material from other sources.
A great free legal dictionary is Nolo's Free Dictionary of Law Terms and Legal Definitions

Don't forget highlighters if you are highlighting or book briefing (I am in my last year of law school and was one that never felt confident with book briefing, but I know people who can do it).
Ticonderoga
PaperMate
Sharpie

I wish I would have been given these hints earlier, I am hoping by sharing it may help others as they go through law school.

Michael H. v. Gerald D. afterwards

Michael H. v. Gerald D., 491 U.S. 110 (1989)
I have now read this case twice, once in Family Law and once in Constitutional Law.  Justia has the opinion that can be read here for free.  https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/491/110/

The case amazes me, mainly because there is DNA genetic evidence that the husband is not the girl's biological father.  In each class discussion the question of what would be different if this had been a divorced mother whose daughter had visitation to her dad compared to what happened here?
In 1989 maybe the definition of family was different than it is now, but divorce and shared custody was occurring at this time.

In any case, the aftermath is what usually interests me.
While I think I found the mother and who the husband and daughter are, it is not appropriate to post their photos or information here.  At the time this happened the girl was a child and her privacy should be respected.
However, what impresses me was that Michael kept fighting to see his daughter, and the court continued to rule against him. (http://articles.latimes.com/1992-06-21/magazine/tm-1114_1_supreme-court)

Johnson v. California = strict scrutiny - after remand

In Constitutional Law you may read a case about the California prison system and an unwritten policy that upon entering a new facility prisoners were racially segregated for up to 60 days while backgrounds were checked.  California claimed it was to try and reduce racially based gangs from fighting. This would seem like a compelling state interest based on the historic background with California Prisons and gang violence (http://www.businessinsider.com/most-dangerous-prison-gangs-in-the-us-2014-2).

However the Supreme Court determined that no matter what when there is racial classifications the strict scrutiny test must be used.
Supreme Court opinion can be found https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/541/428/
and the definition of strict scrutiny you can visit http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/strict_scrutiny

What happened after Johnson v. California was reserved and remanded was slightly harder to find out.  On page 294 of the following article Racial Desegregation in Prisons from The Prison Journal it is stated that on remand the matter was settled through mediation and the California Prison System policy would change.

Some meditation videos for law school stress reduction

29 Minutes of Guided Meditation followed by waves to help you relax and fall asleep:

10 Minutes of Guided Meditation for anxiety and worry

1 Hour of Zen Music for Studying

30 Minutes of Ocean Waves and Flute Music

1 Hour of Gregorian Chants

words are really what law school comes down to

"Words are the tools of our trade."

One of my professors repeated this so much that it became an automatic response back to her once she started it.

She is right, but not just about what lawyers write.  She is right in that words are how law school students learn and the difference in wording could mean the difference in understanding a concept or not.  I am starting to study for finals and I realize why over the last three years I consult multiple study aides when studying for exams.  The way different people present concepts may help me understand it better than the way I read it from the casebook or heard my professor explain it.  Words help students understand - this is not shocking, it is not a new discovery or profound new wisdom.

For any future law school student, don't just get one study aide, get multiple study aides.  The study aid that worked for you in one class may not be as helpful in another subject.  The library is a great place to borrow material to see what will work for you in each subject area.  If you can afford it (or if you have points that you can use on Lexis) buy the un-used (meaning new) study material.  You will need it when you review for the bar.

Graduation looms

Graduation is now under 200 days away, and I have been told I am not nice and not patient.  The stress is finally getting to me and showing.  I realize that I am freaking out, but I am not able to stop myself - I am feeling overwhelmed and don't know how to get out of it.  I try to do things that are fun, but I am still worried all the time about school and graduating and everything that it entails.  I am freaking out and people are pointing it out to me.  I don't know how to stop worrying.  The light at the end of the tunnel is starting to be seen and it scares me more than I am able to deal with.

The fear is real, and as much as I try I can't hold my fears at bay.  I am trying to be nice and my normal bubbly self, but it seems to be cracking and I can't keep it up.  I am afraid of many things and now the change in personality might be one of them.  I am really trying to stay my bubbly nice self and I will continue to try, but according to my mom I am not doing a good job at it.

I promise to try and stay nice and positive even as the stress closes down on me and scaring me just as badly as I was when I first started this journey just a few short years ago.

Almost there, but still so far to go

This weekend, I saw I glimpse of what will happen in one year for me.  I see the finish line, but feel like I am still just starting the marathon.  There are so many cliches that I could write, but it all boils down to this: I have come so far in three years, but feel like it has just started because there is still so far to go.  I am constantly in this weird place, where time is flying by so fast yet at the same time go so slow.  If I am lucky and I can keep working hard I will be graduating law school in one year.  This means that my life will be in this wibbly wobbly time flux that will make the year fly by faster than the concord, yet drag on so slow it will feel like a slug's pace for parts of it.  I do not know what my future holds, but I am on the treadmill that I started on three years ago and I intend to see this to the end.

I have much to do, and hope to write more.