Writing a First Class Law Essay

Writing a decent essay in law school is essential for getting the best grades. It’s crucial to keep in mind that there’s rarely every one method that is the best for them. There’s no guideline that could be followed step-by-step in order for a superior result.

There is, however, a structure for success in law essays that could be followed.

From the moment we get given our essay title to the moment we hand it in, there are some basic principles that we need to be aware of that are the basis of good essay writing. That’s exactly what this article is all about. If you stick around until the end, I’ll also give you a free guide to help you even more.

Research

Before we begin thinking about writing our essay there are a few initial steps. The most important of which is research.

First of all, we have to have two clearly designated areas to write our essay and take our research notes. So simply open up two files on your computer (e.g. Word), with one titled “essay” and the other called notes. Separate BOTH documents into sections with four parts: Introduction, main body and conclusion, and references.

In this phase – the research phase – we’re only interested in our notes’ document.

What’s the question that is you are asking?

To research effectively we need to know exactly what the question wants from us.

Many students fall into the trap of trying to solve the question they wish to answer (because they are sure that is more effective), rather than the actual question asked. Take some time to think about the question, and consider whether it expects you to ‘discuss”, “evaluate, ‘critically analyse’, etc

What resources should you read?

If you’ve understood the issue then it’s time to begin reading appropriate and relevant academic and other academic materials.

My suggestion is to begin by reading the relevant chapters of two textbooks to ensure you have a full appreciation of the topic. Based on this, you will be able form an answer that is high-level for the query. That is, your basic knowledge from textbooks will allow you to make a rough assessment of the question that drives your deeper research and preparations.

By having a rough understanding of the question, it makes it easy to locate relevant cases, journal articles, statutes, treaties, and other relevant documents. Furthermore, it makes your search through Westlaw, LexisNexis, or another legal research database faster and more efficient.

If you stumble across any piece of information that could prove helpful, be sure to place it into the correct section of our notes document. And remember to give it a reference right away. In reality, references can be extremely painful If you don’t take the time to list your sources right away. (The quantity of time that I’ve wasted hunting through a reference simply because I didn’t record it down in the first place is ridiculous).

We now have all the information we need We can now think about the structure of the essay and then write the main part of our essay within our “essay” document.

Introduction

The introduction to your essay should be brief.

The purpose of the introduction is to make sure you are aware of what the question is asking you, to give your essay the proper attention and have provided an organized outline of what you’re planning to do in response to the question.

Simply, you’ll have to tell the reader what you’re planning to talk about and how they’re going to be led from start to finish, leading them to the end.

Many students will use the introduction incorrectly, seeing it as an opportunity to intrigue rather than inform. Many students think of an essay as an ad-hoc story, in which the final outcome won’t be known until the conclusion. But an essay isn’t like the story in any way. Effective essays can hint at the conclusion immediately.

Main Body

The principal body requires you to show three important points:

Analysis
Personal expression
The appropriate style and tone

Analysis

Although you need to demonstrate that you have a thorough understanding of the law as well as the relevant legal concepts behind the essay topic (i.e. describe), the most crucial element of writing a first-class essay is analysis and evaluation.

You need to demonstrate that you can identify the limitation of a particular law or point of view take a look at where the judgment is illogical or incomplete and develop your own viewpoint through the entire essay.

Many students do not finish their analysis to the conclusion which is too late. Analytical thinking should be intertwined throughout the essay itself. Learn what your personal opinion is and challenge legal assumptions and refrain from repeating the opinions of academics.

I’ve observed that it doesn’t matter how awkward your opinion may be so long as you’ve got an opinion. There’s no right or wrong method to deal with legal grey areas, which is why it is best to form an opinion and provide sufficient amounts of supporting evidence (from cases, journals etc. ).

Be sure to make sure that each of your points are clearly defined. If students aren’t in their comfort zone, they’ll demonstrate this by moving on to a new subject quickly without understanding the point they’re trying to achieve. Therefore, be confident about the legal issues concerning your essay, and be comfortable enough to give an opinion and back it up.

Expressing Yourself

First class essays are truly distinctive. As readers, you can not only observe that the student is fully aware of the law, but has also made a clear effort to be themselves.

The most important thing is to explain fundamental concepts or concepts in your own language. This shows that you actually know what the key concepts or ideas are , without using someone else’s definition.

Students are often convinced that their view or perception is less important compared to academics or professors. The truth is, your view is just as valid. If you view the legal meaning of a legal idea from a different perspective, don’t be afraid to share your thoughts. You’ll be rewarded.

Similarly, quotations should be rarely used and – when they are utilized, with justification. If you’re using academics’ quotes too often, you will water down your own opinions and thoughts. Excessive quotations makes your essay into a patchwork and reformulation of thoughts from other people, and doesn’t effectively demonstrate your capacity to think critically about the law.

There are really only three situations where you need to include quotes directly in your essay:

It reinforces something you’ve already stated in your own words.
It’s difficult to summarise an issue by using your own personal words because of certain technicalities or complexities
It’s less efficient to do so (perhaps since the original quotation is very famous)

Tone and Style

When you write legal essays, you are given the option of making your writing first-person (e.g. ‘I argue that . . .’) or the third person (e.g. “It is claimed that . . . ‘). It’s entirely your decision.

Like the two previous points I’ve mentioned It’s vital that the tone you choose conveys your message. The issue with the third person , is the phrase “it is argued that” can mean “I say the point that” as well as “others are arguing that”. So, if you do select”third-person” (or your institution prefers to use it this way) be mindful of the limits in helping you effectively communicate your message.

In addition, make sure that your essay is concise, clear and precise. You must be aware of the law as well as you can before writing your essay. If you’re not certain about the meaning of law or what it means not have a chance of being able to analyze it in a way that is effective. It really is as simple as this.

Conclusion

The aim of your conclusion is to convince the reader to bring together and summarize all you’ve already said. The common error here is to attempt to add a fresh piece of information which could be a fresh idea, material, or a viewpoint. But, this is likely to lower the value of the conclusion and diminish its impact.

Your goal with the conclusion therefore is simple: make your argument concise in the form of a brief paragraph and explain how it answers the original essay question.

References

Every claim you make must be supported with an appropriate reference.

In most cases, you’ll have to point the reader to a law of origin (e.g. an instance or statute) However, other times the academic opinions in journals or in books is sufficient.

The university you attend will probably have its own guidelines for reference – like OSCOLA So make sure you check these out to ensure that you’ve done yours right (and you’ll get a penalty for doing it incorrectly). However, in the case of an exam no full reference is required. Just give the most context you can to provide some attempt to reference any source (e.g. Evans mentioned X about this topic or Denning stated Y regarding this subject as in Tom Jerry vs. Jerry [2001(2001)).

Final Words

There’s no one way to do it all’ when it comes to creating a top law essay however, following the structure and guidance from this article will get you many steps toward where you’re supposed be.