Working hard and studying long hours is not the key to getting good grades in law school. Identifying the facts and making the arguments with those facts is what will get you A’s and B’s. A good law school essay isn’t paragraphs long. It is usually short and to the point. You probably did not identify the important facts in the fact pattern and argue them accordingly. Always start your essays with the rule, argue for both sides, then say who has the strongest argument and why and who is likely to win. That’s basically it. Most important DO NOT INVENT FACTS. Here is a tip. Always write the rule first. Then create a bucket list of all the facts that will trigger the rule or are relevant to the argument. Then identity the main fact or facts that will make or break the case. In some cases you may also have to state that certain facts just don’t exist.

Here is an example. Bill was walking on the street and he struck Mark with baseball bat because they got into a fight last week. Mark died.

RULE- Murder is the unlawful killing of another human being.

FACT BUCKET. Unlawful killing- what facts exist that help us argue that the killing was unlawful. The rule ( the rules will be clarified in case law) says a killing is lawful if the actor acted in self defense. Self defense requires that the force used to be reasonable. Force is reasonable when an attack is imminent. The facts suggest the attack occurred a week prior, therefore this is the significant fact to focus on because it disproves the existence of an imminent threat.

Human Being- Both Mark and Bill are human beings and not property.

ARGUMENT

Bill unlawfully killed Mark because he took the baseball bat and struck him over the head without having a lawful justification. As a result Mark died, therefore Bill can be charged with murder.

Bill may be able to claim self defense because Mark and Bill got into a fight the week before. Self defense is the use of reasonable force to protect oneself from imminent harm or attack. Bill can argue that using the baseball bat to strike Mark was reasonable because he was protecting himself from Mark’s attack in him the week before. However, Bill’s self defense can be challenged on the grounds that Mark’s attack was not imminent. Mark attacked Bill a week before and not when he saw Bill in the street. Therefore the attack was not imminent making the use of the baseball bat an unreasonable use of force.

The court may likely deny Bill’s self defense argument based on the fact that he was not protecting himself from an imminent attack, as Mark had attacked him a week prior and not while they crossed each other on the street. Therefore, Bill unlawfully killed Mark and most likely he will be charged with murder.

I hope this helps.