This post was originally posted at i don't wear skinny jeans, a blog written by a current NYU 1L.
Reposted here with permission.

I've always heard good things about OneNote, but I never used it myself. I used a Mac all through law school. I just used the note taking layout in Word. I liked it; it worked well. For 1L year, when I would read/brief all the time, I would do one tab for briefs, then the next tab for notes. How we’re taught in class makes learning harder. Try Glean, the notetaking app that helps students become better learners. Take notes online with a free trial! Yet another open-source note taking app that offers encryption for your notes and attachments. Unlike Laverna, Standard Notes is being actively developed. While it offers a great deal of features, some of them are limited to paid subscribers as “extended features” or extensions which is on the expensive side (for monthly subscription). Mar 25, 2019 Quiver ($9.99) is another Mac note taking app that's aimed at programmers. It uses cells for storing various types of text, including code snippets, Markdown, and LaTeX, within a single note. It's got a lot of the same features as Boostnote including syntax highlighting, multiple theming options, and sync via cloud storage.

The comments on his post may have more useful shortcuts added since he wrote this text. You should check it out. Also, you should read his blog.

It can be tiring to take lengthy class notes and write briefs on your computer (for those of us that still brief). To make it easier, we use shorthand. I thought it would be useful to compile a list of the keyboard shortcuts and typing shorthand that people find helpful.

Typing Shorthand

• Attorney = atty
• Common Law = c/l OR cLAW
• Consideration = ø or cx
• Constitution = C
• Contract = K
• Court = ct
• Defendant = D or ∆
• Federal = fed
• General Rule = GRULE
• Jurisdiction = jdx or juris
• Majority Rule = majR
• Minority Rule = minR
• Negligence = neg or negc
• Plaintiff = P or π
• Rule Against Perpetuity = rap
• Standard of Review = sor
• State = st
• Statute of Fraud = sof
• Statute of Limitations = sol
• Strict Liability = SL
• Summary Judgment = sj
• Supreme Court of the United States = SCOTUS OR SCt
• Two part words (e.g., affirmative action) = x/y (e.g., a/a)
• About = a/b
• Amendment = ame
• Argument = arg
• Because = b/c
• Between = btw or b/w
• Commercial = comm
• Different = diff
• Discrimination = disc
• Each = ea
• Employee = EE
• Employer = ER
• Employment = emp
• Ending with “-ion” = ^n
• Especially = esp
• For = 4
• From = f/
• Government = gov OR govt
• Not = ! or ≠ or %
• Point = pt
• President = pres
• Probably = prob
• Property = prop
• Reaction = rxn
• Required = req’d
• Review = rev
• Should = sd
• Something = sthg
• Standard = std
• Statement = stmnt
• Within = w/in
• Without = w/out
• With Respect To = w.r.t.
• Would = wd

Keyboard Shortcuts
OneNote

• Ctrl + (Shift + L) OR . = Bullet point
• Ctrl + / = Numbering
• Alt + Shift + (Left Arrow OR Right Arrow) = tab line left or right
• Ctrl + 2 = Star
• Ctrl + 3 = Question Mark
• Ctrl + 4 = Yellow Highlight (of the entire line of text)
• Ctrl + 5 = Green Highlight (of the entire line of text)
• Text + Tab = Creates a table

Microsoft Office (for Macs, Ctrl = Apple button)

• Alt + 0167 (or customize as Ctrl + Shift + S) / Mac: Option + 6 = §
• Alt + 8710 (or customize as Alt + P or Ctrl + Shift + P) / Mac: Option + J= ∆
• Alt + 227 (or customize as Alt + D or Ctrl + Shift + D) / Mac: Option + P = π
• Alt + 0248 / Mac: Option + O = ø
• Ctrl + (B or I or U) = Bold OR Italics OR Underline
• Ctrl + (C or V) = Copy OR Paste
• Ctrl + (Z or Y) = Undo OR Redo

If you have any to add, leave it in the comments and I’ll update this post. I realize I may be a minority in doing stuff like this.

Law School Note Taking Software Mac

Obsessive and compulsive,
i.don’t.wear.skinny.jeans

You often see lists online with the title “Best apps for doctors” or “Best apps for lawyers.” Those lists are filled with helpful apps for professionals, but they may leave you saying

“This is great, but I’m not a lawyer yet! I’m in law school!”

If this is you, you are in luck. Today we have a post for you law students who need some help organizing yourselves. Staying organized is critical in law school, especially when the handouts, books, and pamphlets start to pile up around exam time. If you think you are organized with binders, dividers, and folders, we still encourage you to embrace that thing sitting next to you right now: your smartphone and/or tablet!

Here are some great apps that can help you stay organized in law school:

Genius Scan

Genius Scan turns your mobile device into a pocket scanner. It’s really easy to use: just take a picture of a paper document, adjust the borders of the picture, and, magic, the app scans the document to your phone. The result is a PDF or JPEG scan that you can send to anyone.

No more trips to the library scanner!

As a law student you may want to convert your handwritten notes to digital format (read why hand writing your notes in class is a good idea) or you may be drowning in hand-outs from all your classes. With Genius Scan, you can easily scan all your paper documents to your phone, which is why we highly recommend you getting this FREE app!

Dropbox

We have talked about the importance of backing up your work in law school, and Dropbox is a great app for that. A free Dropbox account gives you 2GB of storage, but you can get up to 16GB more for free by just recommending your friends. If you want to go all out and use Dropbox as your main online storage, you can sign up for 1TB (1,000GB!) for $99 dollars a year (a worthwhile investment!)

In this post we want to talk about Dropbox’s value as an organizational tool. We have all run into the problem of trying to email attachments that are too large… Dropbox is a solution to this problem because you can upload large files and share links to access the files online. You can make and share folders, collaborate in real time, and the best part is that all your work is synced automatically.

Online storage is pointless without easy access, but Dropbox excels at providing both. Getting into the cloud storage game is easy to do with Dropbox. Check it out here.

Law in a Flash

Law school is studying. There is no way around it. We all have our preferred study methods and tools, but let’s be honest, we try and use the method that takes the shortest amount of time. That may be why you’ve never tried flash cards. Well the Law in a Flash apps want to change that! Law in a Flash apps are sets of (pre-made!) digital flashcards organized into specific law school topics. But the cards don’t just test terms! There are actual hypothetical situations like you would find on a law school exam. Additionally, you can add your own notes to each card to tailor the information or answers to your professor’s preferences.

There are several card packs you can download, each filled with quality questions and answers: 1L courses, 2L + 3L courses, and an Electives pack that covers topics like transactions law and environmental law. Given their breadth, quality, and ease of use, the Law in a Flash apps can help you study for law exams without having to create and keep track of piles of flashcards. Get this app!

Evernote

While we strongly recommend handwriting law school class notes, for those of you who can’t bear the thought of not using your laptop, there’s Evernote. Evernote is perhaps the best note taking application out there because of the things you can add to your typed notes: insert pictures, clip pages from the web, and checklists just to name a few. The result is a rich note taking experience that, of course, automatically syncs across all your devices. You could type notes on your computer and study them on your tablet later in the day.

Law School Note Taking Software Mac Free

If managing multiple notebooks for your classes is tough for you, consider Evernote for your note taking. It not only helps you create detailed notes, but also helps you organize and share them. Evernote is free, but if you get hooked on it there are two tiers above the free edition that are packed with even more features. Evernote Premium is the top level of Evernote and has some incredible features for $49.99 a year.

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