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Essay Exam Skills Refresher

Essay Exam Skills Refresher. Jeff Minneti Associate Professor of Legal Skills and Director of Academic Success minneti@law.stetson.edu. Objectives. Understand your job on essay exams. Appreciate the kind of essay exam questions you will face.

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Essay Exam Skills Refresher

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  1. Essay Exam Skills Refresher Jeff Minneti Associate Professor of Legal Skills and Director of Academic Success minneti@law.stetson.edu

  2. Objectives • Understand your job on essay exams. • Appreciate the kind of essay exam questions you will face. • Understand the steps required for crafting effective legal analysis. • Appreciate the attributes of effective legal analysis.

  3. Your Job on Exams • Accrue points • Answer the question asked • Policy/theory • Issue spotter • Use legal analysis to answer the question asked • Syllogism • IRAC • CRAC • CREAC

  4. Types of Essay Exam Questions • Policy • Issue spotting

  5. Policy Question • Identify the policy interests that arise from the question presented • Critical Legal Studies • Law and Economics • Separation of Powers • Judicial efficiency • Explain the connection between the policy interests and the question • Consider the implication of the policy on other social institutions • Sociology • History • Business interests • Education

  6. Policy Interest Assessments

  7. Issue Spotting • Read the call of the question • Identify and list the legal or factual issues presented   • Skim the facts • Critically read each sentence • Identify those facts that have legal significance • The facts that have legal significance are those that affect the way the law gets applied to the fact pattern • Circle, underline, or highlight the facts that have legal significance

  8. Do you see the shark?

  9. Issue Spotting • In the margin, list the rule structure or portion of rule structure (element or factor) that the fact connects with  • Evaluate whether there are any sentences or sections of the fact pattern where you have not identified any legally significant facts  • If there are, review your topical or skeletal outline to see whether any topics listed there trigger issues you may have missed  • Review the rules/rule structures you have written in the margins; organize and strategize how to best analyze those rules • Outline your response, ordering the issues you will address

  10. Think of the law as a magnet. . .

  11. Legal Analysis • Two step Process: • (1) Explain the law; • (2) Apply the law

  12. Legal Analysis • http://movieclips.com/9iWog-the-karate-kid-movie-wax-on-wax-off/

  13. Legal Analysis • First step: Explain the law (think in terms of rule structures for each topic—explain the structure) • Accurate • Complete • To the level of detail covered in course • Reach the “tests” in the rule structure of the law • Factors, elements, if thens, hybrids, exceptions • Concise • Allows you to get more words on page, yielding more points • Precise • Detail matters

  14. Legal Analysis • Second Step: Apply the Law • One test at a time, discuss whether the facts satisfy the test the rule structure provides • Consider both parties’ perspectives • Set up as arguments • Plaintiff will argue that test z is satisfied because of facts 1, 2, and 3 • Alternatively, Defendant will argue that Test z is not satisfied because of facts 1, 4, and 5. • A court will likely agree with . . . because . . . • Explain the legal significance of your conclusion • Test satisfied results in element satisfied • Once all elements satisfied consider affirmative defenses • Answer the reader’s questions • How do you know? • So what?

  15. Lawyer in a Lab coat

  16. Attributes of Effective Legal Analysis • Explain law • Accurate • Complete • Precise • Concise • Apply law • Discuss the link between the legal test and the facts • Use because • Address counter argument • Discuss legal significance of conclusion

  17. Legal Analysis • Use of Case Law • Analogy is NOT argument • If the facts of the test question run closely parallel to a case that you read, consider discussing the case as an example of how the rule is applied • Avoid raising a case just to show you know the case dealt with the same issue raised in the question

  18. Essay Exam Skills Refresher Review • Your job? • How do you do it? • Steps in Legal Analysis? • Attributes of strong Legal Analysis?

  19. Practice • Frequently respond to practice questions • Use questions in case book, from professor, from materials professor recommends, and/or from supplemental materials • Seek feedback on responses from professors, teaching assistants, and/or classmates • Revise responses in light of feedback • Complete at least one essay question each week; try to get feedback on at least one response from each professor before exams

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