A few months ago I finished my double degree in Law and Psychology (with First Class Honours). Don’t think for a second that it was easy for me to do – it took me 8 years and every assignment/exam was difficult. Every step of the way was a challenge.

When I received my graduation certificate I thought to myself “How did I do it? What helped me get through the past 8 years of study?”

One thing automatically sprung to my mind: Mind Maps.

Anything that I was required to learn at university, I had to mind map. Why? Because rote learning no longer worked at Law school. For my legal units I had to really understand the information and mind mapping it all out allowed me to do this.

Interestingly, a few weeks ago someone sent me this question:

“I know the mind maps with a main idea on each branch can give a great review of the most essential ideas but the point is that law is full of data, definitions and I’m not sure how to present them….
So could you share with us some of your legal masterpieces?”

I would hardly call my mind maps ‘legal masterpieces’ but I’m happy to share them with everyone if it will help to break the illusion that legal mind maps need to be works of art or look a certain way.

Unlike my legal mind maps, the mind maps on this site (under the resources section) contain very few words. Ideally this is how you want your mind maps to be. Tony Buzan states in his book ‘How to Mind Map’:

“Use one key word per line. Why? Because single key words give your mind map more power and flexibility. Each single word or image is like a multiplier, generating its own special array of associations and connections…Phrases or sentences dampen this triggering effect.”

In theory, I really like this idea, but when it comes to the reality of studying several subjects at University and having a heavy workload, I just don’t think many of us would feel totally confident creating mind maps with only one keyword word per line. Speaking for myself, there is this fear that when it comes time to revise these mind maps just before exams, there may not be much triggering action taking place (and instead just a whole heap of confusion and stress).

How to Mind Map Legal Subjects

Let me show you one of the mind maps I did for my favourite unit, International Environmental Law (click on image to enlarge).

You’ll notice I haven’t stuck strictly to Tony Buzan’s advice of writing one key word per line. Based on my experience, I believe that for subjects that require you to learn large amounts of complex information in a short space of time you want to put down important points of law (in more than one word) and perhaps even write whole definitions. If you feel the need to write out a definition on your mind map, make sure that you break it down into pictures (the more personalised, humorous and exaggerated the better).

Create a Simplified Mind Map of your Mind Maps

Once you’ve done your detailed mind maps, it’s a good idea to create an overarching mind map that contains significantly less text. You want to do this on one big piece of paper to bring together all the information and clarify things for yourself.

Mind Mapping Legislation

Mind maps will be your savior when it comes to understanding confusing and/or complex legislation. Often statutory laws are worded in convoluted ways and have a lot of exceptions. In order to fully understand these laws, I found I had to break down each law into different parts using pictures and coloured pens.

For example, section 48(1) of the Sale of Goods Act 1895 states:

48 Action for price
(1) Where, under a contract of sale, the property in the goods has passed to the buyer, and the buyer wrongfully neglects or refuses to pay for the goods according to the terms of the contract, the seller may maintain an action against him for the price of the goods.

This is how I broke down section 48(1) using pictures and different coloured pens:

Breaking Down Tough Assignments

It’s very easy to get overwhelmed by hypothetical legal problems that our lecturers throw at us. In order to decrease my stress levels and get clear on the facts of the scenario, I would always mind map out my assignment questions.

Not Sure How to Mind Map?

If you are new to mind mapping and not so sure how to go about creating mind maps, I recommend that you read my blog post on How to mind map for study success and also try to get a copy of Tony Buzan’s brilliant little book ‘How to mind map’. Tony Buzan has written several books on mind mapping (some of which are incredibly thick and contain a bit too much waffle). In my opinion ‘How to mind map’ is his best book by far as it is a simple, easy read and gets to the heart of mind mapping (it took me about 30 minutes to read).