Essays are important in bar exams and require preparation and practice. Use the IRAC strategy, organize thoughts, and include all important legal arguments. Avoid excessive focus on case law and ensure logical arguments and conclusions.
A bar exam, the comprehensive test that certifies law school graduates and others to practice law, usually includes an essay portion. Essays for the bar exams are just as important as the multiple-choice sections, but there is more room for subjective grading since a person, rather than a computer, grades the answer. Among the best tips, you should prepare in advance for the writing section in a bar exam review course or with a bar exam tutor. On exam day, specify the answers to ensure all important points are included. Don’t get overwhelmed with case law examples; in general, it is more important to demonstrate a legal understanding of the matter at hand than to provide free references.
Practice is vital to successful essays on the bar exams. A prep course or tutor can help prospective attorneys practice the writing skills needed for a great essay, or exam takers can practice on their own. For personal practice, there are many sample bar exam essay questions and answers available on the Internet. In particular, apply the IRAC (question, rule, application, conclusion) strategy taught in many law school legal writing classes. This approach encourages a thorough legal analysis; by rehearsing before the exam, participants are more likely to write acceptable essays.
On test day, read several essay questions several times to ensure maximum comprehension. Then take a few minutes to describe each answer. This provides a chance to properly organize thoughts, insert arguments, and eliminate extraneous information that spoils the answer.
Working from the outline and using the IRAC strategy, write a comprehensive essay that includes all the important legal arguments. Be as complete as possible in your answer, but remember that the essay must flow. Don’t enter dots out of the blue just to impress the grader; instead, make sure the thoughts are relevant to the main argument. Take the time to acknowledge and refute counterpoints to your argument to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the issue.
It is important to cite case law in essays for bar exams, but excessive focus on specific cases can distract the writer from his main arguments. Rather than worrying about citing specific cases, explain and apply the legal concepts relevant to the question. This strategy helps the test writer avoid straying too far from the outline and maintains the essay’s readability.
After completing the essays for the bar exam, read them carefully. Make sure the answers make sense. Above all, confirm that responses include logical arguments and conclusions. Go back and review any material that does not directly address the questions at hand.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
