Exam Writing

by Scott Hardy, 1L

Law School Success

Ann M. Burkhart
KF283 .B871 2008
Nutshell Series

The Nutshell is a basic, run-of-the-mill tool which will give you a solid introduction to what to expect in law school and on the exam. There is nothing surprising here to be discovered, but it is a great way to get a solid overview as to what a professor will look for on an exam. I would recommend this book for the student who wants a basic overview of what each exam will offer and some general writing tips. In a crunch a student can still benefit from the use of this supplement and can learn some useful tips. This book describes IRAC in some detail and gives you some advice on how to write a concise essay. It also has a solid section about how to approach each exam and outlining before writing an answer, which was very helpful information. Everything this book has to offer, however, can be found in much greater detail in Getting To Maybe.

How to Do Your Best On Law School Exams

KF283 .D44 2001

This is a fairly helpful supplement that offered very positive insight on how to stay calm during an exam. It gives relaxation techniques to use during a test, and helps you not to worry about writing million-page answers. The book preaches issue-spotting and efficiency, which is basically what law school exams are about. The best part of this book are the sample essays it offers, so that you can look at thier examples and get a feel about how to write a proper exam.

Writing Essay Exams to Succeed in Law School (Not Just Survive)

John C. Dernbach
KF283 .D47 2010

This is a solid supplement with some very helpful tricks for exams, which had some very useful advice which I used for my Criminal Law exam. It gives a very descriptive run down on how to outline an answer beforehand and also how to formulate and write an answer efficiently. What this did was allow me to write about more issues for each exam and thus gain more points. The main thing was a way to not be too wordy but to get a point or issue across quickly. They take an approach of writing fast and to the point -- a play off IRAC -- but oh, so much more effective. They suggest flowing your analysis and conclusion together, which allowed me to get 2-3 more issues on my essay as time expired. The supplement also offered some practice hypotheticals which I found to be very helpful and definitely used them to my advantage. Definitely worth the read, and a book that should be read by all 1Ls.

Getting to Maybe: How to Excel on Law School Exams

KF283 .F47 1999

I would have to say this is the best law school exam supplement you can ever read. I read this book before school and it not only helped me immensely during Legal Skills but also allowed me to write my exams clearly and efficiently. This book has a great general overview of how to write well in law school and how to formulate ideas clearly and concisely. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone who is looking to learn to write effectively for law school. The best part about Getting to Maybe is the fact that they not only tell you how to write exams, but they also tell you how to study effectively and to purge useless material from your outlines. Getting to Maybe allows the reader to key in on how to find issues on the exams and how to approach them without wasting time. Not only does the book have various chapters that describe a variety of law school issues but also addresses the most common exam mistakes that students make. Reading this chapter alone can help the reader learn how to avoid these mistakes and get an advantage over their classmates.

Wentworth Miller's Legal Essay Exam Writing System (LEEWS)

Wentworth Miller
KF283 .Z9 M555 2000 AUDIO
Audi Cassettes (Cassette player available at the Circulation Desk.)

LEEWS is bar none the most effective writing tool any law student can use. This writing system is the best supplement I have ever used and was a great tool for school. This is a 12 hour program that can really give a user a huge advantage going into law school and exams. The best part is that they teach you from beginning to end how to write a proper law school exam. After they teach you how to write they also provide short hypos for all 1L subjects that allow the student to use the new writing system and grasp the concepts before approaching their exams. The hypos they provide are great because they give the student a solid amount of confidence before the exams and allow the student the chance to do a smaller hypo and learn the concepts. LEEWS takes a new approach to writing and provides a better and more efficient way to write than IRAC or CREAC. Overall, this is the best program I have ever used and it helped me learn how to write and gave me a great deal of confidence before the exams.