What are the best "canned brief" sources?

[Churchill]

I've heard about "canned briefs" as a way to streamline the case reading process (or the case review process shortly before exams). I'm looking for information on the best sources of these briefs. Which books/software programs/other sources provide the most useful briefs? Or if that's too subjective...what criteria should I consider when choosing what source for canned briefs to use?

Thanks!

[ymmv]

I've heard about "canned briefs" as a way to streamline the case reading process (or the case review process shortly before exams). I'm looking for information on the best sources of these briefs. Which books/software programs/other sources provide the most useful briefs? Or if that's too subjective...what criteria should I consider when choosing what source for canned briefs to use?

Thanks!

Definitely outlines from more senior classmates who’ve taken the class. Canned briefs on the web are often way over-verbose and often miss out on the takeaways your particular professor hammered in class.

If you’re part of any student clubs or groups, there’s a good chance they have an outline database you can pull from.

[pancakes3]

ppl don't (or shouldn't) use canned briefs to build their outline. your prof will go over the takeaway for the cases they assign, and it's not always the holding. it could be in the dicta, the dissent, concurrence, or something unique about the case procedurally.

ppl use canned briefs to skip readings but be quasi-prepared for cold calls. it's really not all that useful.

some ppl have a "Case List" section in their outlines

[ymmv]

yeah partly what I mean is, just don’t use canned briefs. they’re a crapshoot for class prep and they aren’t particularly helpful for exam study

all the ones I tried in LS were really bad, and usually by the time I’d find a half-decent one I could’ve just skimmed the actual case with more thorough comprehension

[waldorf]

^ agreed with the above.

I found canned briefs more helpful for 2L/3L because I was often too lazy to do the reading and wanted to be able to get through a cold call if necessary. I wouldn’t really recommend them for 1L.

[Churchill]

@ymmv, @pancakes3, and @waldorf: Thanks for the replies. It sounds like your experience suggests that canned briefs are not helpful during 1L. I'll definitely keep this perspective in mind. Thanks again!

[rww37]

@ymmv, @pancakes3, and @waldorf: Thanks for the replies. It sounds like your experience suggests that canned briefs are not helpful during 1L. I'll definitely keep this perspective in mind. Thanks again!

For another perspective, I didn't use them my first semester of 1L and did very well (top 10%). I did use them (almost exclusively from Quimbee) second semester of 1L and also did very well (top 5%). This reduced my workload a bit second semester, but I never totally skipped the reading. So I think as long as you use them for what they are, and don't expect to coast by solely on canned briefs, they can be a nice supplement.

[Dimic Law]

yeah partly what I mean is, just don’t use canned briefs. they’re a crapshoot for class prep and they aren’t particularly helpful for exam study

all the ones I tried in LS were really bad, and usually by the time I’d find a half-decent one I could’ve just skimmed the actual case with more thorough comprehension

agree

[Story]

Don’t use canned briefs. Try to find an old outline for the class/professor you have, then tailor and edit it thoroughly to your personal notes and lectures. That is what I did.

[Nebby]

Look up the case on Westlaw and read the headnotes

[BlendedUnicorn]

best canned brief is whatever pops up first on google when you didn't do the reading and prof calls on you

as a general rule anything important about a case can be summed up in two sentences or less. really so long as you remember that a concept exists you can apply common sense to get close enough to the correct application of the concept for a law school exam, i took a few classes in law school i was too lazy to find an outline for and just used the syllabus instead, it's fine.