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I honestly like the class, but I'm drowning in rules right now as we merge from jurisdiction into complaints, answers, motions to dismiss, etc. I'm a 2L, and unfortunately, this is the only Civil Procedure class we'll get, and it is so much material for one semester. Just out of curiosity, how many days is sufficient to study for Civ. Pro. come exam time?? Our exam period is from Dec. 9 to Dec. 15, and I have 4 exams....3 exams are back-to-back-to-back (which is just awful in itself). I've managed to set aside 3 full days for Civ Pro during read week, and 2 full days during Thanksgiving on top of studying for other exams. Other than that I plan to shove in a full day of studying CivPro every weekend until Thanksgiving. Thankfully, CivPro is my first exam. I've started outlining, and I have a pretty good grasp of all the jurisdictional stuff we've done so far. I plan to really start getting into studying next weekend with supplements because I am just losing my mind with all the rules, and I feel like I'm getting a little lost in pleadings.

Last year, I had a ton more time between exams...but this year I'm just dying.

Also, what are some of the ways you've incorporated the massive number of rules into an outline? Do you just reference them in the outline and tab the rule in the FRCP book? Or do you dissect the rule and put it in your outline? Or do you just copy the whole rule into the outline?

Thanks for the advice!

I spent a day to memorize all the rules. I was familiar with them when I memorized them (week before finals) so it did not take too long. Our Civ Pro class was split over two semesters though.

Break down the rules to the important components. Memorize those components and you are set. Civ pro requires some memorization, but overall it is not too bad.

I have the same problem. My Civ Pro exam is going to be open book, but I hear that you have so little time to write everything out in that exam that it might as well be a closed book exam. I'm pretty scared of Civ Pro right now too. I feel like I understand the class after doing readings, then go to class, and BOOM the professor gives us all this weird extra stuff no one else saw in the reading.

Metaread: our class is the same. exact. way. Are you sure you're not in my class? It'll be okay though....we'll survive one way or another. I'm just concerned about how much study time I have since I'm taking too many classes this semester. Such an epic fail.

Random: thanks for the advice. Breaking up the rules into components is sort of what I have been doing, and it does help...so I may just keep up with that. Thanks! And, I wish our Civ Pro class was broken up into two semesters.