[blindlaw] Fully Grasping the Factual Matrix of Cases and Effectively Internalizing the Ratio Decidendi

[Rahul Bajaj]

Hi All,

This question does not have anything to do with blind lawyers in
particular, but with acquiring good lawyering skills in general. One
of the things that I often struggle with is understanding the factual
matrix of cases, especially when I am reading an appellate court
judgment in which it is difficult to understand which party has
appealed against a lower court  decision and on what ground. It is
never very difficult to cull out the broad propositions of law from a
given case, but it is a lot harder to acquire a nuanced understanding
of the set of facts which resulted in the dispute and/or the appeal.
Similarly, most textbooks throw facts after facts in decided cases at
you on any given issue, and I typically waste a lot of time in reading
and re-reading the same facts because of my inability to fully grasp
them in the first instance. What strategies can I adopt to better
appreciate the facts of the cases that I read which is a sine qua non
for digesting large volumes of information in an expeditious manner?
How much time, as a screen reader user, should I ideally take to read
an average 20-30 para judgment?
Second, even if one is able to fully grasp the ratio in a given case,
I sometimes struggle to effectively enunciate the same or to apply the
ratio to a new set of facts especially after reading more than one
case on a given issue. Therefore, even if I read a long judgment which
I am able to fully understand, I struggle to recall the ratio in the
judgment when I remember it after the efflux of a considerable amount
of time. I believe it is imperative to deal with these issues as a
student, for this is the time to lay a solid foundation which I would
be able to build upon as I go along. I unfortunately don't have the
benefit of receiving the guidance of well-qualified professors who can
play a critical role in suggesting coping strategies. Look forward to
reading your responses.

Best,
Rahul