What They Are: Commercial law school outlines are comprehensive guides that cover the specific cases and legal rules typically covered in standard courses. Compared to overview references, commercial law school outlines are more exhaustive in coverage, yet not as effective in providing “big picture” accounts of the particular courses. Commercial outlines also present material in a condensed, highly structured fashion, and they are often designed to parallel the materials presented in popular casebooks. Commercial law school outlines are useful for class preparation and because they supply the structure and the “black letter” principles of the courses they cover, they can lay the foundation for more comprehensive information to be used in exam preparation. As exhaustive as it may be, a commercial law school outline is no substitute for a course outline specifically tailored to the materials and lectures presented by your professor. The editors of commercial law school outlines can never anticipate all of the materials presented by an individual professor or the topics that receive special attention in a particular course.
When To Buy: The best time to buy commercial law school outlines is during the early to middle part of a semester (September 15-November 15 in the Fall, or January 31-April 15 in the Spring), so you can use them both to understand black-letter law and to assist in preparing and refining your skills.
