(Rule 14)
Study the Legal Dictionary
Dictionaries-you might remember them as the things you never used because you could Google the same definition online. The same is true with legal dictionaries, but they are more important.
Imagine going to a country where you could not understand every tenth word. Imagine living in that country permanently. You could, obviously, ignore one-tenth of the substance of what anyone was talking about. Or you could teach yourself the words that you did not understand.
In the olden days, people would read 1 L cases with a legal dictionary next to them, looking up every Latin phrase or old-fashioned term of art. They learned the language by looking up definition after definition. What they did not do was remain ignorant or merely skip the words. They taught themselves, and whether in print or online, the point is to learn these old-fashioned legal terms. This is your new language-all lawyers speak it-and you need to become fluent fast.
Law is language. Language is power. And mastering legal language gives you an even greater power. Part of what you are learning in law school is the terms of art of the profession. These words are the key to the secrets of your future, and you need to learn them early.
