From Getting to Maybe: How to Excel on Law School Exams, by Richard Michael Fischl and Jeremy Paul (Carolina Academic Press 1999).
Tip #1: Exam preparation takes all semester
- Regular class attendance is crucial to exam performance
- The better your preparation for class, the more you’ll get out of class
Tip #2: Focus your exam study on your class notes
- Most professors test what they teach
- Your class notes can help you predict questions likely to appear on the exam
Tip #3: Prepare your own outline of the course
- Law exams test rule application, not memorization
- Commercial outlines are a poor substitute
- Outlines prepared by other students are only marginally better
Tip #4: Review the professor's old exams
- Go over old exams with a study group as often as possible
- Simulate the exam experience at least once
Tip #5: Consider what questions you would ask
- Identify the major issues covered in class, and the main points the professor made about them
- Look for important cases pointing in opposite directions
- Identify underlying conflicts, trends, and limits
Tip #6: Carefully read the exam instructions and follow them to the letter
- If you have a question about the instructions, ask
Tip #7: Read each question carefully, and answer the question asked
- Read each question at least twice
- Avoid the "information dump" and don't B.S.
Tip #8: Organize and outline before writing your answer
- Outlining keeps you focused on the main ideas
- Outlining helps you think sequentially
Tip #9: Provide the reader with a brief roadmap
- Create a strong first impression
- Organize your own thoughts at the beginning and the end
Tip #10: Explain your reasoning
- Explain the facts underlying your assumptions and conclusions
- Explain to show what you're thinking
- Explain to help your analysis
Tip #11: Draw conclusions when they're called for
- Explain why you chose the result you did, and also why you rejected alternatives
Tip #12: Argue both sides
- Consider each person's perspective
- Seize on contradictory facts and tensions in the law
Tip #13: Stick to the facts and circumstances presented
- Don't create new facts
- Don't write treatises about the law
Tip #14: Remember who your "judge" is
- Follow your professor's advice
- Look for course themes
Tip #15: Watch time/credit allocations
- When you're out of time on a question, force yourself to move on
- When you must, provide an outline in lieu of a complete answer
Tip #16: Don't regurgitate legal rules and principles unless your professor wants you to
- You get credit for applying hte law, not regurgitating it
- An ounce of analysis is worth a pound of law
Tip #17: Don't repeat the facts
- Use the facts to support your points
- You get credit for analysing the facts, not for copying them
Tip #18: Don't be conclusory
- Be wary of conclusory terms like "it is obvious that" or "clearly"
- Don't say what, say why
- Always anticipate counter arguments
Tip #19: Avois disquisitions on topics outside the course
- Know your topics well, and use your syllabus as a guide
- You can't afford to waste time
Tip #20: Don't leave your common sense at the door
- If rote application of a rule would lead to an absurd result, question the application
- Distinguish what the law "is" from what the law "ought to be"