How To Answer Law Essay Exams
How To Answer Law Essay Exams
How To Answer Law Essay Exams
However, whether your professor wants you to use IREAC or not, this method can be
generally used as the starting point for examination questions. IREAC stands for: Issue,
Rule, Application, Explanation (some professors may combine A and E and call it either
Application or Analysis) Conclusion - is not just for writing legal memoranda.
The first part of any examination is to issue spot and tell the professor what the issue is.
Sounds easy, right? Not necessarily. Many professors have a number of issues in their
essay examinations. The first part of the process is to read the essay several time so that
you can identify issues - note the questions at hand - and then logically order them so that
the professor can follow what you are talking about. Issue spotting is hard because it is not
based on rote memorization of the cases, but rather an understanding of the legal rules.
After noting what legal issues are presented, focus on the rule. Many students mistakenly
write only the basic rule and go on to conclude that it applies or not. Wrong! Think of your
high school algebra equations and problems. Recall that the teacher told you that even if
you got the correct final answer, she would deduct points if you didn't show your work.
Guess what? You need to show your analysis on these essay answers or the professor will
not give you much credit for your answer. Simply knowing the correct answer will not
guarantee an "A" or "B" or "C." Minimally, the professor assumes you know the law (the
rules and exceptions). She further expects that you can pick out the right rules (issue
spotting). What she wants to see is how you get or your progressed from the issue to the
conclusion - that is, the "R," "A" and "E" of IREAC.
So what is the rule? Well, legal issues are decided by first figuring out what the rule of law
is, and then applying that rule to a particular set of facts. This includes an explanation of the
rule that will govern the question. You need to state the applicable rule along with explaining
where the rule comes from and what it means. Remember, you have synthesized your case
briefs and used the class discussion to draw out the important rules of law. Moreover, your
outline not only identified the rule, it also defined terms and concepts, explained the policy
reasons, pointed out the exceptions, etc. So once you have decided on the overall issues,
break them down into the necessary component parts needed to get you to a conclusion
regarding that issue. Sometimes this is easy - five elements for adverse possession - but
many require you to think through the process of how you will arrive at an answer.
Therefore, during the examination, you will need to focus on which rule and which elements
of that rule are relevant. Now let's assume you now have to explain the rule: now explain it
to the professor- just like in an algebraic equation. To do so, you may need to:
1. Describe what the courts said about the rule.
3. Point out any relevant information about how the courts did not apply the rule (the
limitations of that rule).