Anyway to get better at applying the law Forum

[corporatelaw87]

The reason I ask this is because, I hear people on here reading all these different supplements and whatnot, but I feel even if you memorize everything from every book, if you can't apply what you learned to the hypo on the exam then you won't do well. So, besides taking practice tests, whats the best way to apply what you learned on an exam.

[macattaq]

I am very partial to E&Es. The hypos they give you break down what you are testing into discrete, manageable chunks. This way, you are not burdened with pulling out say, 10 or 12 issues. Instead, you are looking at one issue (generally) and some of the hypos tend to give you rather nuanced issues.

Besides the E&Es, CALI lessons help, but can be rather hit-or-miss when it comes to actual application. Many of the lessons will give you fact patterns with multiple choice questions, but they usually are not as nuanced as practice tests or E&E questions.

[Aeroplane]

One of my profs said something like this (paraphrasing, probably badly since it was a while ago): Put as many facts as you can "in their place" in your answer. Most of the facts are legally relevant. Explain why/how they affect the outcome.

I think exam-writing is not about spotting as many issues as possible per se, but is about "using" as many facts as possible. Recognizing the implications and importance of the facts inevitably leads to spotting lots of issues, but approaching it from a facts-first perspective instead of issue-spotting first prevents what I think is a common mistake: spotting lots of tangential/major-reach issues (inspired by their presence in one's outline more than by the actual test hypo) and ending up with an answer that's light on application to the actual facts of the hypo.

I think I poorly worded that. Maybe someone more eloquent can explain better.

[Lawrence]

One of my profs said something like this (paraphrasing, probably badly since it was a while ago): Put as many facts as you can "in their place" in your answer. Most of the facts are legally relevant. Explain why/how they affect the outcome.

I think exam-writing is not about spotting as many issues as possible per se, but is about "using" as many facts as possible. Recognizing the implications and importance of the facts inevitably leads to spotting lots of issues, but approaching it from a facts-first perspective instead of issue-spotting first prevents what I think is a common mistake: spotting lots of tangential/major-reach issues (inspired by their presence in one's outline more than by the actual test hypo) and ending up with an answer that's light on application to the actual facts of the hypo.

I think I poorly worded that. Maybe someone more eloquent can explain better.

I think it makes a little sense to look at it like this. Some professors put some facts in a question through you off, but from my one semster of classes it was pretty rare. So, most of the facts in the question are there for a reason. They are either to create an issue or could be used in support of an issue. So if your answer is missing analysis of a fact, chances are there is something else you are missing that you could have talked about.