How to Write a Law Essay (UK): The Ultimate LLB Guide

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Step 1: Recognise the type of question

The first thing you need to do is recognise the type of question you are dealing with. If you are in your first year of law school this can be quite hard. The two basic types of law essay questions are essay-style questions and problem-style questions, and each of them needs a different answer.

Essay-style questions

An essay-style question is usually a sentence you are asked to comment on, a proper question with a question mark, or a quotation you are asked to give your opinion on. To answer it, you need to evaluate the law, that is to discuss its pros, cons and complexities.

There are three key types of essay-style questions. In a general essay question, you are asked to evaluate an area of law, but no particular issue within that area is pointed out. A specific essay question tells you which issue within that area you should focus on. A quotation essay question asks you to comment on a quote presenting an opinion about an area of law or an issue within it.

Problem-style questions

A problem-style question is a scenario. Sometimes it describes something that happened to one person, and other times several people are involved, with different things happening to each of them. Your first task is to work out how many legal issues there are. In other words, which of the things mentioned in the scenario actually require a legal response?

Let’s say you are dealing with a criminal law scenario in which somebody was shot while wearing a red coat. The red coat has nothing to do with the law. But how exactly they were shot and what the shooter was thinking when they fired the gun are both relevant legal questions. You will need to consider them to assess whether the shooter will be convicted of murder.

Step 2: Pick the relevant cases and statute sections

I know this step seems very simple at first. But this is where most students get stuck. To select the relevant cases and statute sections for your essay, you first need to answer several important questions:

What are the most important things about this topic?
Which cases and statute sections currently apply to this area of law?
Which cases and statute sections are outdated and no longer apply?
How many cases and statute sections should I include?

There are a few common mistakes here. Some students don’t include enough cases and statute sections. Others include the right number, but they are not really relevant to the topic. And some pepper their essays with far too many legal sources in the hope of getting a higher grade. To write a good law essay, you need the right amount of relevant cases and statute sections for every single part of your essay.

TIP: I explain how to pick the right cases and statute sections in my 1st Class Law Essay Writing Course.

Step 3: Plan the structure of your law essay

Knowing how to structure your law essay before you start writing is the key to getting a first. A clear structure lets you focus your reading of textbooks and journal articles, which saves you a lot of time. It also stops you from waffling, so you don’t have to rewrite the essay several times.

Every law essay has three parts: the Introduction, the Main body and the Conclusion. The Introduction and the Conclusion follow the same pattern in almost every essay, and I explain them in Steps 4 and 6. The Main body is where your planning really matters, so let’s plan it step by step.

Make a list of key arguments OR legal issues

In an essay-style assignment, the central argument is the key argument you make in your essay. To convince your readers to agree with it, your essay should be full of supporting arguments. Typically, an essay of 2,500 words will have around 3-4 supporting arguments, each with a detailed discussion of the relevant cases and/or statute sections. To find them, skim through the lecture slides, the textbook chapter and the relevant journal articles, and ask yourself: How can I divide this material into 3-4 groups?

In a problem-style assignment, this task is much simpler. Instead of looking for supporting arguments, all you have to do is identify the legal issues in the scenario. If there are several people you need to advise, you can also structure the main body around the advice for each of them.

Decide on the order of discussion

Now arrange your supporting arguments in the way that supports your central argument best. Remember that you want your reader to agree with your central argument by the end of your essay. Think about which supporting argument you would discuss first, second and third to do that in the best possible way. In a problem-style assignment, simply arrange the legal issues in the order in which they show up in the scenario.

Come up with headings

Each supporting argument should get its own heading. Headings should be short and clearly explain what the paragraphs under them are about. The best headings are usually between 3 and 6 words. In a problem-style essay, each heading should either summarise the legal issue discussed in it or include the name of the person you are advising there. Sometimes these two can be joined together, for example: “Martha’s misrepresentation”.

List the content of each heading

Finally, think about how many paragraphs each heading will contain and what each paragraph will consist of. If you are struggling with the details at this stage, simply list the cases and/or statute sections you will discuss in each paragraph. This will help you stick to the point once you start writing.

If you are working on a problem-style assignment, this is also the moment to plan how you will apply the IRAC method. Write down the Issue, Rule, Application and Conclusion in relation to each case. This will give you a lot of clarity when you write up your essay later on.

TIP: If structuring essays is not your strong side, my Law Essay Builder sets the right structure for you, whether you are working on an essay-style or a problem-style question.

Step 4: Write the Introduction

Your introduction should do three things, and they are slightly different in essay-style and problem-style assignments.

Define the key legal concept OR restate the key facts

In an essay-style assignment, start by defining the key legal concept, which is the main concept you will be discussing throughout your essay. To identify it, ask yourself: What area of public law/contract law/tort law/criminal law (etc.) is this essay about? In a problem-style assignment, start by restating the key facts from the scenario, i.e. the facts most relevant to the legal issues you will be writing about.

Introduce the central argument OR essay purpose

In an essay-style assignment, the next thing you need to write is your central argument. For example: This essay will evaluate the extent to which the UK parliament remains supreme. In a problem-style assignment, introduce the essay purpose instead, which is to advise someone. Explain to WHOM your essay will give advice and on WHAT. For example: This essay will advise James on whether he committed a criminal offence.

Present the outline

Finish your introduction by listing your headings in the order they will appear in the main body. For example: The arguments will be considered in the following order: Interpretation of legislation by UK courts, Implied repeal doctrine, and Judicial review of legislation. In short essays, a sentence or two is enough. In longer essays, you can briefly explain what each heading includes.

Step 5: Write the Main body

Briefly explain each supporting argument OR key facts and legal issues

In an essay-style assignment, begin each heading by briefly introducing the supporting argument you will be arguing in it. This part shouldn't be longer than 1-2 short sentences. For example:

The difference between the court's approach to establishing leases before and after the decision in Street v Mountford becomes clear when examining non-commercial agreements. Courts traditionally considered the parties' intentions in determining whether an agreement was a lease. Since Street, however, intention is typically only considered in light of the three requirements set out in the case.

At this point, details or evaluations are not required. You only want to set the scene for the evaluation that will take place further down.

In a problem-style assignment, the beginning of each heading should do two things: (1) explain the key facts from the scenario that are relevant to that heading and (2) restate the legal issues you identified based on those facts. If you are using the IRAC method, this is the Issue part.

Critically evaluate cases and statute sections

The main bulk of each heading should be a critical evaluation of the right cases and statute sections. Simply stating the legal rules will not bring you any closer to getting a first. In an essay-style assignment, you need to point out the strengths and weaknesses of the cases and statute sections behind your supporting argument. For example:

Do the legal rules established by those cases or statute sections fulfil their purpose?
Do they have any unintended negative consequences? What are they?
Could they be improved in any way? How?

In a problem-style assignment, your critical evaluation should focus on what each case or statute section tells us about the legal issue under your heading. If you are using the IRAC method, this is where you do the Rule, Application and Conclusion parts. For example:

Does the rule established in the case or statute section apply to the legal issue? Why? In what way?
Does it make the contract more likely to be considered valid by the court? Why?
Does it make it more likely that the person mentioned in the scenario committed a crime? Why?

Using this approach, you will make the main body of your essay evaluative rather than descriptive. And that’s where the high marks come from.

Step 6: Write the Conclusion

You should never introduce new supporting arguments, cases or statute sections in the conclusion of your law essay. Its task is to restate what the essay was about.

Conclusion in an essay-style assignment

Restate your final opinion about the central argument and give a few reasons why you argued that opinion. The main body of your essay has plenty of those reasons, since each heading contains one supporting argument. Let's say your essay is 1,500 words long and has three headings. You should include four sentences in your conclusion: one restating your central argument and one summarising each heading. Easy, right?

Conclusion in a problem-style assignment

Start by explaining what conclusion you reached on each legal issue. In other words, what advice did you give? For example: As illustrated above, Chris is likely to have committed an assault by hitting Jack on the head with a bottle, whereas Daniel... Then restate the key reason why you reached each of your conclusions. In a 1,500-word essay, that means one sentence referring to the legal issues and three short sentences, one for each key reason.

Step 7: Use the legal academic writing style

The final thing you need to think about is the right format and style. I am referring here to something called the "legal academic writing style". Unfortunately, throughout your degree nobody will really explain its key aspects in detail, such as which phrases you should use in different parts of your essay to make it sound like legal academic writing.

There are specific phrases you should use in the Introduction, the Main body and the Conclusion of your essay. You can find them in journal articles if you look hard enough. But if you would rather have easy-to-follow, step-by-step guidance, I cover them in detail in my 1st Class Law Essay Writing Course.

How to adapt this to a UK law exam answer

Everything above also works in a law exam, but you have much less time and space. Your exam answer is likely to be around 1,000 words, so each part needs to be shorter and more focused.

Introduction

Include a sentence with the background (in an essay-style answer) or the key facts from the scenario (in a problem-style answer). Then state your central argument, or outline the legal issues you will discuss. End with a short outline listing the headings of your answer.

Main body

In an essay-style exam answer, back up your central argument with 2 to 3 supporting arguments, each in a separate paragraph, and order them so they best support your central argument. In a problem-style exam answer, identify 2 to 4 legal issues and devote one paragraph to each, in the order they appear in the scenario. If you are advising several people, give each of them a paragraph.

As with law essays, you won't get a first if you merely state the legal rules. Evaluate each case and statute section in exactly the same way as in Step 5. That’s where the high marks are earned.

Conclusion

Start by restating your central argument, or the conclusion you reached on each legal issue, in 1 to 2 short sentences. Then use the next 2 to 3 sentences to briefly summarise your supporting arguments, or the reasons for your conclusions. Remember, don't repeat the main body word by word. Your task is to summarise it in a succinct way.

TIP: For more advice on writing UK law exam answers check out my 1st Class Law Exam Revision Course.