Everything about Law Exams

Perhaps no subject strikes as much terror into the heart of a law student as exams. In most law school courses, the final examination will be the only written test of your knowledge and skills. Some professors may base your grade in part on your classroom performance and on written or oral exercises, but in most classes your grade will depend largely on your final examination. After working so hard to master the subject matter of a course, you owe it to yourself to acquire the skills necessary to write a successful exam. Contrary to many students' belief, exam taking skills can be learned, just as you have learned to brief a case and to prepare a course outline.

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Although the questions on a law school exam may take a variety of forms, the most common is the essay question. An essay question gives a fact pattern and requires you to apply the law you have learned to the fact pattern to reach a legal conclusion. The methods that you must use are the same as those you will use as a practicing lawyer. When a client tells you about a problem, s/he will describe the facts of the situation to you. Your job as a legal counselor is to analyze your client's situation in light of the governing law. To do so, you must understand the relevant body of law, determine the legally relevant facts, elicit any additional necessary information, and determine the outcome of applying the law to the facts. Therefore, a law school exam tests not only your mastery of the subject matter of the course, but also how well you have learned to think like a lawyer.

Law School Policies

As a first-year student, you also should investigate whether any school policies concerning exams exist. For example, your school may have an honor code that includes provisions about taking exams. If so, you should get a copy of these rules and carefully study them to avoid violating them and facing possible sanctions. Your ethical responsibilities in the legal profession begin when you are a law student, and ignorance of the rules is not a defense.

Policies also may exist to deal with special circumstances. For example, if English is a second language for you or if a physical or other condition makes reading or writing the exam more difficult for you, you may be given additional time for taking the exam. If you unexpectedly cannot take the exam because of a family emergency or because you are ill, you should immediately notify the law school administrator responsible for administering the test. Do not wait until after the exam. Find out what, if any, documentation you will need to excuse your absence from the exam.

Anxiety and Procrastination

Many people, if not all, experience anxiety about law school examinations. Anxiety can be useful as a motivation for studying. If anxiety is interfering with your ability to study, however, you should take time to learn to control it. Many books and audio tapes are available on the subjects of dealing with anxiety and procrastination. Additionally, many schools offer help in dealing with these problems, often through the campus health service or counseling center. If you are experiencing one or both of these problems in law school, the chances are that they will continue to be problems for you when you practice law. Therefore, just as you are learning how to study law and to take law school exams, learn how to master anxiety and procrastination. These patterns of behavior can be changed.

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Assessing an issue's relevance is inextricably linked with analyzing the question. For example, assume that the exam includes the following question:

Adams sold a parcel of land, Blackacre, to Baker and Chen, who are unmarried. The deed stated: "Adams hereby conveys Blackacre to Baker and Chen as joint owners." Chen subsequently transferred his interest to Dale. What is the current state of title to Blackacre?

Recognizing that the deed language may have created either a joint tenancy or a tenancy in common, you might be tempted to address that issue. If you first analyze the problem, however, you will discover that the issue is irrelevant to answering the question. Whether a joint tenancy or tenancy in common was created, Chen had the legal power to transfer his interest to Dale, and Baker and Dale own Blackacre as tenants in common.

When writing your answer to this question, you should state that the deed language is ambiguous with respect to whether a joint tenancy or a tenancy in common was created. A detailed analysis of that issue is unnecessary, however, because it does not affect the current state of title. You simply should state that Chen could transfer his interest regardless of whether he was a joint tenant or a tenant in common and then analyze the state of title after the transfer. By thinking through the problem in this way before beginning to write an answer, you will avoid writing about an irrelevant issue.

No magic formula exists for knowing which issues to discuss. You are better served, however, by erring on the side of over inclusiveness. For example, if you think that a legal principle does not apply clearly to the situation described in the exam problem but that the policies underlying the principle would be served by applying it, you should discuss that issue. Similarly, if you are applying a rule that includes three elements, two of which are clearly satisfied but one of which arguably is not, you should include a discussion of the rule and its elements and explain the ambiguity in the application of the third element. When discussing issues that are not clearly relevant, you should spend less time than you do for the more clearly relevant issues. By including at least a brief discussion, however, you will demonstrate that you considered the issue and will have addressed it in case your professor disagrees with your conclusion that the rule may not apply.

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