Taking good notes is a listening challenge. As a first-year law student, I started out with a “leave no statement behind” mentality, attempting to write everything down. As my legal knowledge evolved, my note-taking technique evolved as well. I began using a label in my notes, “Professor Says.” This label helped me to distinguish general notes from points the professor particularly emphasized. It helped me with my focus during class, and it helped with studying for exams as well. Here, in a guest post at The Girl’s Guide to Law School, I expand on the “Professor Says” note-taking method.

For more information on listening and note-taking (particularly for 1Ls), please see the Listening check-up for first-year law students from Listen Like a Lawyer. And please use the comments to share your own techniques for listening during law school. What worked for you? What did you try and abandon? How did you use law school to work on your listening skills?