How to Write a Law Essay Introduction

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.

Writing an Introduction to a Law Essay-Style Question​

Define the key legal concept
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Key legal concept is the main concept which you will be discussing throughout your essay. It will often be mentioned in the essay question set by your lecturer. If it is not, you can easily identify it by asking yourself the following question: “What area of public law/contract law/tort law/criminal law (etc.) is this essay about?". For example, in your public law essay your key legal concept could be "parliamentary sovereignty". Starting your law essay by explaining the key legal concept shows that you understand well the area of law that you will be discussing. It also ensures that you explain that area to your readers, so that they can also understand what you will be writing about. In general, starting an essay-style assignment by discussing the key legal concept is very good practice that will improve your marks.

Introduce the central argument
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Now, on to the next part of the introduction - the central argument. Central argument is the main argument which you will be arguing throughout your essay. It is typically a part of the essay question set by your lecturer, or a paraphrase of that question. It helps the reader to understand what aspect of the key legal concept you will be discussing and how you are planning to approach the discussion. For example, your central argument could be: "Parliamentary sovereignty in the UK has ultimately been preserved despite the limitations imposed on it". When the reader sees this, they will immediately understand that you will be discussing whether parliamentary sovereignty (your key legal concept) can be said to exist in the UK or not.

Present the structure
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Once you have defined your key legal concept and introduced your central argument, it's time to present the structure of your essay. This typically means listing the headings that your essay will have in the order that they will show up in your essay. For example, in an essay on parliamentary supremacy your headings could be as follows: "Interpretation of legislation by UK courts, Implied repeal doctrine, Judicial review of legislation". In short essays you will only have a short sentence or two to present your structure, which means that you will only mention the names of the headings in your essay. But in longer essays, where the introduction will be longer too, you might have enough space to explain what each heading will be about.

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Writing an Introduction to a Law Problem-Style Question​

Restate the key facts

Key facts are the most important facts mentioned in the problem scenario which are relevant to the legal issues you will be discussing in your essay. In shorter essays, you might have to select fewer key facts to mention, as you will only be able to devote one or two short sentences of your introduction to this. But in longer essays you might provide a more detailed paraphrase of the key facts from the scenario. The most important thing to remember here is that - even in long essays - your lecturer doesn't want to see you devoting your entire introduction to paraphrasing the problem scenario. Your task is merely to mention the most important things that happened in the scenario, i.e. the things that will later on lead you to identify the legal issues that you will be dealing with in the main body of the essay.

Introduce the purpose

After the key facts it's time to introduce the purpose of your essay. In the case of a problem-style essay, the essay purpose is to ADVISE someone on something. Therefore, in this next part of your introduction you need to explain WHO will be advised on WHAT in your essay. For example, you might be advising James on whether he committed any criminal offences, or Jessica on whether she concluded a legally binding contract. Introducing the purpose of your essay in the introduction will show your lecturer that you understand what the problem scenario is asking you to do. It will also help your readers gauge what the essay will be about.

Present the structure
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As with essay-style assignments, the last part of your introduction should be devoted to presenting the structure of your essay. Again, this means that you will have to list the headings of your essay in the order that they will show up in your essay. In problem-style essays, each heading is typically devoted to one legal issue, which makes naming the headings much easier. For example, in a tort law essay with three legal issues, your headings could be as follows: "Liability for Peter’s physical injuries, Liability for Mary’s physical injuries and death, Liability for Jade’s financial loss". As with introductions to essay-style assignments, in short essays your headings will be listed in only a sentence or two. But in longer essays, you might be able to discuss a bit about what will be included in each heading.

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