Writing the Exam Answer at Law School

With your outline complete, you are ready to write your answer. Beginning with the first issue, you should state the issue, identify the relevant legal rule, apply the law to the facts, and state your conclusion. Then address the next issue in the same way and continue to follow the same format until you have addressed each issue. After discussing all the issues, you should state your final conclusion concerning the problem. Unlike a legal memorandum, you should not restate the facts at the beginning of the problem or include an introductory statement of issues and conclusions.

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In many, if not most, exams, you will feel significant time pressure. Therefore, you should not expect to write a brilliant and polished analysis of each issue. It is more important that you discuss each issue in the format described above and that you not exceed the time you have for each question. If the allotted time for a question is running out faster than your ideas, outline the rest of your answer in as much detail as you can. Your professor then can see that you spotted the issue and that you could give at least a brief statement of the governing law and of your analysis. Normally, you will receive more points on an exam by addressing all the issues than you will by writing an extremely detailed analysis of a limited number of issues.

• Common Errors

In writing exam answers, the two most common errors are over inclusiveness and under inclusiveness. The problem of over inclusiveness is also known as "treatiseitis." The main symptom of treatiseitis is writing a treatise on the law generally surrounding each issue, rather than discussing just the question that has been asked. For example, if the question involves a tenant's right to terminate a lease, the sufferer of treatiseitis will write about the legal requirements for a valid lease, the types of tenancies that may be created by a lease, and the landlord's and tenant's obligations during the lease term, rather than writing only about the situations in which a tenant can terminate a lease.

After working hard all term to learn a subject, a strong desire to show off all that knowledge in the bluebooks is understandable. It is a mistake for two reasons, however. First, you will waste time writing about irrelevant material. Second, students who are suffering from treatiseitis often get so wrapped up in writing a treatise of legal doctrine that they often fail to reach the steps of analyzing the problem and stating a conclusion. This omission is particularly serious because, as described above, analysis is the most important part of an exam answer. Therefore, limit your description of legal rules to those you have identified in your outline as being directly relevant to the issue. Otherwise, the relevant material that you discuss may be lost in a sea of irrelevant material.

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The problem of under inclusiveness also is quite common. This problem occurs when the bluebooks contain only a conclusory statement of the answer to a question. Because your bluebooks are the only means by which your professor can evaluate your exam performance, you should give thorough statements of the relevant issues and legal rules and of your analyses and conclusions.

For example,' assume that a question on your property law exam asks you to classify a future interest and that you conclude it is a contingent remainder. Do not simply state that the interest is a contingent remainder. Instead, describe the relevant rules of law for classifying the interest and describe the analytic steps that you took to determine, first, that the interest is a remainder and, second, that the remainder is contingent. Otherwise, your professor may think that you simply made a lucky guess and will not award you the points allocated for your statement of the law and for your analysis. Similarly, do not substitute a statement that a conclusion is "clear" or "obvious" for a description of your analysis in reaching that conclusion. Unless you explain why the conclusion is apparent, your professor will not know whether you can perform the necessary analysis.

• Form of the Answer

Although the substance of your answer is of primary importance, the form also can play an important role. If your professor cannot decipher the flow of your logic, your discussion will be pointless. To help ensure that the form of your answer is comprehensible, observe the following recommendations:

i. Begin your discussion of each issue with a heading that briefly identifies it. By doing so, you will provide a clear guidepost for your professor and flag your discussion of the major points.

ii. If you use abbreviations, include a description of them at the beginning of your answer. Otherwise, your professor may be unable to follow your answer.

iii. Define a term of art when the result in a problem turns on the precise meaning of the term. For example, if the question involves an issue of fraud, define that term to demonstrate your understanding of the concept and to help focus your discussion of the issue. Similarly, if a relevant legal rule involves more than one element, state the elements and address each one in your discussion.

iv. o Do not expect your professor to refer to your answer to another question. Even if you think that the same issue has been raised in a previous question, do not write: "See my discussion of this issue in Question 1." Instead, you should state a legal rule in each problem in which it is relevant and should present your analysis of the rule's application to the particular facts of the problem.

v. If you have difficulty writing legibly, type your answers. Although a professor usually will not consciously reduce your grade for illegible blue-books, you run the risk that parts of your answer will be difficult or impossible to read. If you plan to use a personal computer, check your school's policies to determine whether you can do so.

vi. Do not misspell words, especially terms of art. If you cannot spell a term, a question arises as to whether you really understand the concept it represents. If you have difficulty with spelling, treat English as you would a foreign language that you are trying to learn. When you are uncertain about the spelling of a word, look it up in the dictionary. It is no answer to say that, when you are a practicing lawyer, you will have a secretary who will worry about the spelling for you. Your secretary will not always be available, and, besides, your secretary may not spell very well either! Two commonly misspelled words are judgment (only one "e") and "defendant" (only two "e"s).

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