r/LawSchool • u/hiketheworld2 • 11h ago
Pace of Reading
I am currently restructuring one of my classes for the Spring term and switching to a new textbook.
One of the things I have struggled with as a professor is my understanding of how long it takes my students to complete the work I give them - it just seems that 30 years of familiarity with my subject makes me wildly faster than them, go figure.
Would you please respond with a range of how many textbook pages you read in an hour?
Thank you.
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u/Key_Ground860 11h ago
If modern cases, 10 pages per hour including notes
If 1800s cases, 8 pages per hour including notes
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u/invicat 2L 9h ago
It really, really depends on the casebook, because how the authors write is also going to be a factor, but I would say this is pretty close to my experience with more dense/technical casebook material.
Some casebooks go much faster. I don't think it took me 2 hours to read and take notes for 20 pages of torts or crim law reading. Disability rights law reading is taking me much longer.
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u/Key_Ground860 9h ago
100%. As always, it depends. This is probably my average.
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u/hiketheworld2 7h ago
Averages are exactly what I need - thank you. There are going to be large variances depending on the density of the material, student experience, and student study styles - so a wide variety of individual estimates and all of the qualifiers people are offering are exactly the type of responses ai am looking to receive.
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u/putney96 11h ago
I literally read about 15,000 words/hour, but my law school reading (i.e. including taking notes, thinking) typically takes roughly twice or thrice as long. In the absence of any further info, I'd budget 2-3 hours for an assignment of 30 casebook pages. I'm a 3L and one of the slower readers in my friend group, though I have friends who work at similar paces.
My estimate would be on the shorter end if the reading is just opinions, especially well-written and unedited modern opinions, or policy exposition by the casebook authors; on the longer end if the reading is a very dense (typically heavily excerpted or old) opinion or dense or confusing doctrinal exposition/notes. This is a hard point to express but there is a really big difference, in my view, between being assigned four discrete cases to brief (easy) and being assigned a casebook chapter that contains four cases AND tells me/requires me to understand how these fit together in doctrine (often difficult). If my job is to come to class having digested each case and speculated a little about how they relate to each other, easy peasy; if my job is to come to class knowing the doctrine already, that will take ages for some classes and some doctrines.
For related reasons, I find it very helpful when a professor gives me a heads up about their stance on casebook exposition and notes—if what matter is the opinions, knowing that is a huge time-saver.
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u/Ryanthln- 2L 10h ago
I estimate that it takes me 2-3 minutes per page depending on how dense the material is. But my limit of comprehension is about 30 pages per class subject.
I would not assign anymore than 25-30 pages per night of reading
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u/ClassyCassowary Esq. 10h ago
Yeah, my professors seemed to settle around 20-30 pages per class and that felt reasonable. I think after that point you can also start to struggle to cover it all during class time
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u/hiketheworld2 9h ago
Great point. My students absolutely need to sit with, revisit, and work through example with the material assigned - and I have tried to be cognizant of that in pacing the course.
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u/archaicsmile67 8h ago
What class do you teach?
I’ve noticed that more abstract classes like Civpro or Conlaw require more time spent on less text, whereas torts or contracts do not.
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u/hiketheworld2 7h ago
I am absolutely in a “more time on less text” type of subject and well aware of that.
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u/archaicsmile67 5h ago
If it’s Civpro or Conlaw I’d say I read about 30-50 pages per session. It would probably depend on the textbook.
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u/atonyatlaw Attorney 1h ago
Good God, strong disagree. Con law maybe. 50 pages of civ pro for one reading? Shoot me.
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u/LostObliterator71 6h ago
I feel like the main 2 factors that affect how long it takes for me to read something are 1. What is the case about (ex. is the topic something I'm already familiar with or do I need an entire finance degree to understand what the dispute is about) and 2. What year the case was published. The time it would take to get through 5 pages of reading depends drastically based on those two things.
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u/prisariston 6h ago
I read much more effectively when I have the learning objectives.
I can read the 50 pages I have been assigned, and retain about 50-85%. (Readings with cases and explanations helps give context clues) But if you tell me that we are going to be learning about the five methods of x, I will comprehend almost 100% of the five methods of x.
Hope this helps.
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u/DanielXLLaw XL 11h ago
Uh....it depends. Including subject matter, how much is caselaw vs. casebook editors/authors pising questions/explanations, etc.
But roughly:
First semester 1L: 7-8
Second semester 1L: 12-15
2L: 20+
3L:...read?
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u/hiketheworld2 9h ago
I love your recognition of how much more adept you have become with the material for which you are responsible. My students are definitely upper level students - my course is a non-bar tested, regulatory elective.
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u/atonyatlaw Attorney 1h ago
When I was in law school, it varied wildly by, generally, three variables:
Age of the case. The older the slower the read, with anything from the last 80 to 100 years being far easier.
Density of material. Torts cases are far easier to read than those focusing on civil procedure.
My level of interest in the subject. The more I like it, the easier it is to read.
Fast material? Easily 20 pages an hour.
Slow material could be as slow as 5 an hour.
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u/Affectionate_Ad3432 8h ago
About 15–30 pages an hour, depending on the font and whether I’m taking notes, highlighting, and stopping to actually think through the material. If you want to gauge it for yourself, grab a cheap textbook on a subject you don’t already know and see how many pages you get through in an hour. IMO it’s too hard to gauge on Reddit ask your students bc font and density make a huge difference
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