What students said on Reddit
A first-year on r/LawSchool was putting their time into the assigned reading instead of paid study aids, and asked whether that was setting them up to fail. The replies split, and the library came up more than once. This page is LexCases summarising a public Reddit discussion in our own words. It is not Reddit, no username appears here, and the students in the thread do not speak for us.
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We read the question and every reply the page showed. A few nested replies were folded away and are not included.
Refusing to buy supplemental sources like Quimbee, etc. am I setting up for failure?, on r/LawSchool, posted 12 September 2026.
Most of the replies in favour argued for using them alongside the reading, not instead of it.
Do the reading, then add whatever helps. Some days you will only have time for the supplement, and one reply said that is fine.
One reply pointed out that these subscriptions also carry practice essays, multiple-choice quizzes and explainer videos, naming Quimbee, Lexplug and Studicata, and said refusing them outright may not be the intellectual flex it feels like.
One student called Quimbee a lifesaver for the time and stress it saves. Another uses Lexplug to fill gaps after doing the reading, and called it immensely worthwhile.
One student was using study guides almost exclusively by third year, and said you can do without them, but they are like a mushroom in Mario.
Several students said they had never paid for one, and had done well without it.
A third-year with straight As had not used them during the semester, and said nothing worked as well as reading the cases, partly because every professor wants something different from a cold call.
The student who asked has a professor with word-for-word preferred answers, who gets upset when students bring in material that is not in the casebook's shortened version of a case. Following a study aid there could cost marks.
One graduate who finished top of their class without supplements put it simply: there are no study aids in the real world, so learn to work without them now.
Several students only used a paid aid near exams, for multiple-choice practice. One bought a subscription two weeks before finals, for the questions alone.
The most practical advice in the thread cost nothing.
More than one student said their law library already gives them study aid series and online quizzes. Ask what you have before you buy anything.
One student said some of their professors had written primers on their subject, and most of the finals were built around them.
A second-year who never used paid aids recommended past students' outlines when exams come round, without hesitation.
A couple of students use AI for exam prep, but only after writing their own outline. The student who asked said they would never trust it to write their notes.
We build LexCases, so we are not neutral on the cost question. It has a free plan with no card needed to start, and it is built to help you find and understand cases, not to replace the reading this thread argued for.