Familiarize yourself with the layout and techniques of the final exam. In many law schools, the grade you receive on the final is the only grade you’ll get. Review old exams and study both the format and the types of questions each professor likes to ask. Use an old exam to take a practice test, mimicking the testing conditions as closely as you can.
Ask an older student to evaluate your test responses or join a study group and swap practice exams, as there are often no obvious right or wrong answers. Grades are frequently based on the ability of the student to identify legal issues, analyze the facts and predict the possible outcomes of the situation.
Begin studying before the first day of class and do not fall behind. If you do it will be difficult, if not impossible to catch up. Skim each assigned case, focusing on the basic facts. Then go back and read for detail, committing the main elements to memory (who was involved, what happened, the issues, the rationale, the analysis, the outcome).
Make a flash card for each case using large index cards. Write the case name on one side and the most relevant facts on the other. Use your computer to generate a short brief to tape to the flip side of the card. Once a week, review all of the cards in the stack.
Participate in class to the best of your ability. However, do not spend valuable study time ‘reading for class’. Answering a question correctly in class does nothing to improve your grade. If you miss a question, make a note of why you missed it so you won’t make the same mistake on the exam.
Stay for the after-class review. Use this time to clarify any points you were not clear on and to write up an outline of the day's discussion. If possible, use an existing outline as a guide for your own. This will save time and could possibly highlight material you overlooked.