To join or not to join – that is the question. Study groups seem as ubiquitous for the law school experience as the Socratic method, outlining, and briefing. But are they helpful?
As with so many other hard questions in life, the answer is: it depends.
There are certainly dangers in study groups: it is important not to confuse what you have learned and can do as a group with what you have learned and can do individually. Study groups also don’t guarantee you a good grade, and can sometimes increase your stress or anxiety.
With all of those potential pitfalls, are study groups even worth it? How can they possibly be helpful? The answer comes in knowing yourself, knowing your group, and setting expectations. Here are five ways that study groups can be beneficial, if you form them with specific purposes in mind.
Law school presents a host of time management struggles. Between attending class, preparing for class, outlining for exams, reviewing supplements, practicing exam questions, writing papers, participating in pro bono and extracurriculars like mock trial, compiling applications for summer jobs, it’s a wonder anyone finds time to eat, sleep, exercise or socialize! In this environment it is especially important to study smart and efficiently. 
Most of us know that terrible feeling of opening up an exam question, reading it, feeling our mind spinning out of control, and just… freezing. It’s what I like to call “exam-freeze.” Sometimes we recover quickly, only losing a few minutes, other times we are off to a rocky start and never feel like we hit our groove during the exam. Either way, it’s a terrible feeling, but also a terribly common one. Fortunately there are strategies you can try to help you fight exam-freeze. 
Many law schools offer legal clinics, where law students get course credit for engaging in substantive legal work under the direction of a licensed attorney. These usually offer free legal services to underserved populations and may be focused on local communities (such as local legal aid) or far-flung populations (such as international human rights clinics). Those law schools that offer clinics structure their programs differently, but clinics are usually only available to 2Ls and 
Maybe you’re taking 
Law school exams