Outlining: How Substance Determines Style

In creating your outline, you need to consider form as well as substance. Different subjects lend themselves to different formats; different learning styles do so as well. Although it’s a safe choice to follow a basic hierarchical scheme, other models can make your outline work “visually” as well as “substantively.” For example, tables, flowcharts, and timelines can present material in a way that allows you to see relationships between concepts that might not be so readily apparent from a typical line-style format. For many, charts facilitate the learning process by organizing the material visually and illustrating the links between the “if, then” scenarios so common in legal analysis.

Outlines can be tables and charts, purely text, or a combination of both: you get to decide. What must be common to all is the presentation of the material in an organized, logical manner that allows you to learn it specifically and accurately — for practice and for the exam.

1. Basic outline forms
   
   The basic outline form is text-driven and hierarchical. While useful for summarizing the material, it has limitations. Words alone are not always sufficient to let you see the relationships between concepts and navigate the sequence of questions necessary to resolve legal questions. Sometimes flowcharts and tables can be a more effective means of presenting the material.
2. Charts, tables, and time-lines

   The hierarchical nature of flowcharts is an almost perfect fit with the hierarchical structure of legal analysis. While all good outlines function as roadmaps by organizing and linking the course material in a meaningful way, flowcharts have a unique advantage: they arrange the material visually allowing you to see relationships between concepts which might not otherwise be clear.

   Flowcharts need not be fancy: paper and pencil and your own thought process is often all you need. Text, boxes, and arrows are sufficient to identify and show the links between concepts. What’s critical is how you put the pieces together and the process of putting them together.

   Constitutional Law Chart of Concepts and Cases

   The following excerpt is from a Constitutional Law outline. It is Part One of the Due Process outline. Part II, which would follow, would be cases involving the topic of Personal Autonomy: Abortion, Intimate Relationships, Right to Refuse Medical Treatment, Right to Die. The entire course was outlined in this format and made the concepts and cases of Constitutional Law clear and easy to study when it came time to prepare for finals. I should know because it was my outline.

   As you’ll notice, the format is based on a table but plays with its form to incorporate additional text at the beginning of each topic. Each section begins with a summary of basic doctrine, applicable tests, and definitions and is followed by case support. This makes the connection between cases and principles clear and aids in the memory process by a clear visual depiction of the relationship. The case support includes the relevant facts, holding, and reasoning of each case — the essentials of a case required for analysis. I recommend this format for any course that is case-sensitive.