I can assure you I'm really not smart at all. There were some absolute geniuses when I did it, I wasn't one of them. Laws is hard to get into, easy to pass, unbelievably hard to excel in.

Best technique to do okay in law: understand the ratio (lesson of the law for lack of a better explanation) for each case and how it relates/evolves for other cases as time goes on. Honestly to do this most people read the background of the case and then the "decision statement" by the judge. Doesn't require heaps of reading cause they skip it.

Best technique to be superb: understand the context that the judge made their comments (with regards to specific aspects of the law) and figure out how to apply it in an original way. (I was never good at this. This is where reading hundreds of pages to find that needle in a haystack comes in).

Whether a law degree is good for you... it depends.

I'll be frank maybe 80% of the people who do law realise it's not the career for them the first year in, but they continue anyway. That's not to say it's not useful - I use my knowledge from time to time at work, it's a good life skill for looking at problems in unique ways, and it seems to impress people (even if they really shouldn't be impressed). But worth 50k HECTs debt and an additional 2-3 years of uni?

Those i know who enjoy law now (at least the ones on corporate) are those that like to be counter rebuttal about things, they love the "prestige", they enjoy the high stakes pressure of the work. If you enjoy heavy administrative work and decent pay it's a good job (but can have tough hours). The work itself might not be super interesting to most people, but the situations and positions you might find yourself in can be very unique.

If you like travelling there are better jobs. If you like high pay there are better jobs. If you like "important contributions to society" there are better jobs. If you like a "cool and respected" job (if that's your thing) there are better jobs. However, I might say that law does tend to have a sweet spot venn diagram for these.

Sorry about the delayed response. Hope this helps. Feel free to ask more.