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Hey guys, 0L soon to be 1L here. In order to succeed in civ pro- should I plan to memorize the federal rules, or just understand how they work and count on always having a reference to look at?

You should enjoy the rest of your summer and not waste it by trying to get ahead now.

I agree with the above post. Relax and enjoy the summer!

Also, it'd be really dumb to try to memorize federal rules right now. When you start 1L, part of the challenge of law school is recognizing what your professor is teaching. There can be considerable differences in what is taught in a civil procedure class. Some schools might deal with the Erie doctrine, while others leave it to Civil Procedure II. Some professors want to explore service of process, others never touch it. Further, you might get a professor who wants to be very theoretical, and you only deal with 3 rules, or you may get a professor that's rule crazy, and you'll need to memorize those 50 rules that the professor indicates.

Go read a book, go outside, or do something you like. This year will suck enough without stressing about it now.

Yes, you pretty much need to have them all memorized. Get started now. I wish I had.