​

“How to answer law essay questions?” must be one of the most commonly asked questions by law students. Now, as you can imagine, the answer to this question is quite complex and it’s not something I can cover fully in a short article such as this one. But I will try to give you some basic guidelines, so that you can start learning about how you should approach answering essay questions in law.

Writing essay-style assignments in UK law can be a challenge because it's different from writing answers to problem-style questions, which most law students prefer. Problem-style questions require you to explain and apply specific sections and cases to solve the issues mentioned in the scenario. Essay-style assignments, on the other hand, ask you to present an opinion about a particular area of law, which can be much harder than simply finding the right cases or statute sections and applying them to the scenario. This is why many students make common basic mistakes when answering essay-style questions in law. Those mistakes often lower their grades and prevent them from getting a first. If you're one of those students, then let's see how you can avoid that.

One of the frequently asked questions by students is "How to answer problem-style law questions in the most coherent manner?". The method that is often recommended by lecturers is the IRAC method, which consists of four elements: Issue, Rule, Analysis and Conclusion. The IRAC method allows you to answer problem style questions in law, i.e. questions that involve a real-world scenario and ask you to provide your advice to any parties involved. Although it is not the only method that you can use to answer problem questions in law, its advantage is that it enables you to break down the scenario questions into four comprehensive sections. If you want to learn how to use the IRAC method, keep on reading.

​If you are wondering how to pass your law school exams with flying colours, you are not alone. The reality is that revising several law modules at the same time can be quite a stressful period, especially if you don't have a proper revision strategy in place and attempt to revise everything. What happens is that you end up spending a lot of time on things that aren't as important, and you are left with little time to focus on things that are actually really important. This has a direct impact on your exam performance, as you struggle to reproduce concepts that you haven't spent much time revising.​ ​What students generally experience is that instead of being able to recall everything about a single topic during their exam, they are only able to recall bits and pieces of all topics, which isn’t that useful for tackling the question they are trying to answer. That being said, you can make the revision process far less stressful and ensure that you pass all your exams and get a first by following the tips that I have mentioned below.

Many students get discouraged from getting a law degree because they buy into the myth of not finding a job after law school. It's true that there are many law graduates who struggle to find a decent job after they graduate. But this usually happens in situations where students are only focused on getting the highest grades and don't take any initiative to get some experience in the legal profession. While it is crucial to build a theoretical foundation in law, it is also equally important to familiarise yourself with real-world scenarios and situations, so you can actually apply the law in real life. Some students believe that only grades will define their worth on the job market once they have graduated. But those types of expectations are just unrealistic. If you are keen to make yourself more employable after graduation from law school, don’t fall for the myths mentioned below.

​

Your performance in law exams depends on your ability to revise strategically, and for that you need well-organised law revision notes. While you may not pay a lot of attention to this at the beginning of your law school journey, having a proper system for how to organise law notes can be very useful. Without having organised revision notes you will struggle to revise properly for your modules, and that will definitely affect how you perform in your exams. Fortunately, you can easily learn how to organise your law notes by applying a few easy-to-follow tips.

Even if you are excited about a legal career that requires you to argue before courts, negotiate deals or resolve disputes, studying the law may be a bit disappointing at times. Before you can do all those exciting “lawyerly” things, you actually need to learn the basics, which involves a lot of tedious work, such as memorising statute sections for your exams. While you can’t avoid memorising statute sections, there are steps you can follow to tackle this seemingly boring task strategically and perform better in your law school exams.

How difficult is it to study law? This is a question you might be asking yourself not only before starting your degree, but also during the course of your law education. Now, you might think that law school is extremely difficult and may question your abilities, thinking about whether you should continue with your LLB law degree or not. But the truth is that passing law school isn't that difficult. In fact, even getting a first class degree in law isn't that big of a challenge as it is made out to be – as long as you follow an organised plan and implement smart studying techniques. So once again, how hard is law school? Not that hard. Let me prove it to you. Below are a few myths about law school that make law students think that law school is difficult.

Law students mainly struggle with writing law essay introductions because there is little to no guidance available out there. Textbooks hardly ever discuss the details of writing a law essay introduction, and lecturers are fully focused on teaching their subject and just don't have the time to guide students. But not knowing how to write the introduction is what stops many students from making any progress with their essay and leaving everything to the last minute. If this happens to you when you work on your assignments, here are a few tips that can get you started.

The main objective behind studying law isn't just to memorise legal rules. You also need to be able to critically evaluate and analyse the law in your law essays. Many students struggle to perform critical analysis and evaluation because of a few common mistakes. But as a law student it is essential that you learn the skill of correct, thorough and precise critical evaluation and analysis so you can do well in your essays and exams. Also, if you are good at analysing and assessing legal documents, you are more likely to become a good lawyer. Once you have graduated from your law school, you will soon realise that most of the law practice is based on your interpretation and analysis. That's why these skills also prepare you for the real world. If you cannot perform a critical analysis of documents and events in the context of law, you will struggle during your law practice as well. That’s why I prepared a list of three major mistakes that many law students make when they critically evaluate their law essays.

​Law school exams are very different from any exams you might have taken before university. Because of that, in order to get a first you will have to use different study techniques and strategies than those you used in the past. But it's definitely worth the try, as getting a first in law can open a lot of doors for you in the future. Here are some law school study techniques and tips to help you achieve first class grades.

The challenge with reading case law reports is that the language they use can be quite complicated and confusing. Because of the lengthy sentences with complex legal reasoning of the judges and the technical terms that are different in every case many students give up on reading case law reports in their course altogether. They have trouble understanding who the parties in the case are, what the case is about, and the rulings of the judge. But as hard as it is, reading case law reports is an important skill which you might be forced to use during your degree, for example if you are set an assignment question about one specific case. Also, learning how to read case reports will prepare you to practice law in real life. Here are a few useful tips that will help you read case law reports and understand them more easily.

Wondering how you can get a first class degree in law? You are not alone. Getting a first in law school isn't just an intrinsic reward that you are going to cherish all your life, it also has real advantages that you can capitalise on in your career. Higher grades might open up more professional opportunities for you, especially if you are just starting out in law, and provide you with a springboard that helps you get ahead of the curve. Here are a few practical tips you can implement to get a first class degree in law school.

There are several strategies that you can use when trying to memorise law cases from your revision notes before exams. The general rule is that different revision strategies work for different students so in order to discover what works for you, you need to try out a variety of case memorising techniques early on in your LLB course to figure out which of them work best for you. Below you will find a suggestion of three key memorising techniques for cases which have been successfully used in the past by first class law students during exam preparation.

​Law students often fall into the trap of thinking that they will not be able to get a first in their exams unless they literally revise everything that is mentioned in the textbook. Because of that, when taking notes they try to copy the textbook word-by-word, which is a lot of (unnecessary) hard work. If you want to learn how to take notes in law school quickly and effectively, check out the advice I provided below.

Starting your law essay can be the most tricky part of the writing process. Yet, based on my experience lecturing and tutoring law students I am confident that the beginning of the writing process is what matters the most when it comes to getting a first. If you want to find out how to set yourself up for success from the start, check out the tips I shared below.

If you are thinking of pursuing a career in academia after your law degree, you should definitely try to get your first journal article published before graduating. Although it might seem like too distant a dream to come true, plenty of LLB students have in the past managed to get their first publication. The key is to submit your essays-turned-articles to the right legal journals that accept submissions from law students. This article contains a few suggestions for where to publish your legal articles.

Law students are often clueless as to how they can find new case law simply because universities hardly ever provide the right guidance on this. Although looking for new cases might appear to be complicated, it is actually quite simple. Here are four steps that will help you to quickly find the relevant case law for your exam revisions and law papers.

Writing case notes and summaries is one of the very first tasks you learn in law school. Most students are confused about how to write a case summary because lecturers often cover this topic during lectures only briefly. There is also a massive misconception among law students who believe that they can only create a good case note if they read the case report in full. That’s definitely not true and this article will prove it to you, so keep reading!

Although it might not seem this way, knowing how to structure a law essay even before starting the writing process is the key to getting a 1st in your assignment. A clear essay outline helps you to focus on the reading of textbooks and journal articles, saving you a lot of time. It also saves you from waffling and makes you stick to the point, so you don’t have to rewrite the essay several times. If you’re interested in learning how to plan a law essay quickly and effectively, keep reading.