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I find the actual material to be fairly easy so far. I have way more stress from my job than from actually understanding the material so far. I find that the most stressful part of law school is being worried about looking like a fool in a class, because of the Socratic Method. I feel like I might be spending too much time memorizing the cases instead of studying the black letter law.

As a night student I have three graded classes(torts, contracts, legal writing). I understand you cant give me a specific answer, but what is a good general guideline? Should I just do the assigned reading for now? Or should I read a supplement as well?

I think reading is enough, plus some form of outlining. Just don't sound like you completely skipped over the reading when called on in class.

Exam counts for 100% of your grade (assuming no participation bumps). Accurately regurgitating case facts when called on in class does not help you write an exam. Ergo, do not concern yourself with it. Worrying about how you look when called on should not change your study methods; just focus on what you think will best help you prepare for the final. There are lots of threads on how best to go about studying for 1L, so I'll leave you to peruse those. Some people swear by reading only supplements and never reading the case book, others do the exact opposite; you'll need to figure out what works best for you. But try not to let Professor Kingsfield's intimidating questions sway you from what helps you best prepare for the exam.

Besides, as long as you at least skim the case before class, you can usually say enough about it to make the professor just think you're dumb instead of unprepared.

zomginternets wrote:Exam counts for 100% of your grade (assuming no participation bumps).

That is a significant assumption, given that many professors do give points for participation or have graded in-term assignments (e.g. reaction papers, mid-terms etc). But in general I agree; unless you are egregiously bad in a class where participation is a graded factor (e.g. disruptive or disrespectful or have no clue whatsoever about any of the cases when called on) then your grade still boils down to the exam and any other written assignments.