Studying with Hypotheticals

Writing out hypotheticals is an important way to study during the course of the semester – not just during finals time. As you prepare for class by reading and briefing the assignment, you need to prepare for exams by writing out essays. Familiarity with the structure of essay questions and how to respond to them will go a long way in alleviating your anxiety on exam day. The key to success on exams is to engage in this practice on a regular basis and to begin well before the final examination.

By now, you should know that your law professors expect an exam answer that is a well-reasoned and well-organized, and should contain an articulate analysis of the relevant rules of law with respect to the facts. This demonstrates your mastery of the material covered during the course of the semester and your ability to write in the language of the law. The best way to do get adequate preparation is by writing out and practicing from prior exams – this is why many professors have copies of their old exams on file. You should begin writing sample answers as soon as you have covered enough “law” to analyze a factual situation. This practice should continue throughout your law school career; it is not simply for first year law students.

When asked if it is too soon to start working through hypothicals, remember:

1. Don’t delay. Begin working with practice questions as soon as you have covered a topic.

2. Start simple and build to the complex. Begin with single issue problems and work your way to increasingly more complex problems until you have covered every principle that has been studied in your course.

3. Vary the type of essay that you answer when practicing. Be sure to work with both short essays and long, complex fact patterns with multiple issues and parties. Each presents a different challenge in issue spotting and organization.

4. Use exam questions to let you see the relationships between concepts and how topics come together. As you proceed through each area of doctrinal law, you’ll often find it necessary to take a very narrow, focused approach because there is only so much information you can assimilate at a time. But the same tunnel-vision that lets you navigate enormous amounts of knowledge limits your consideration of other perspectives. Here’s where hypotheticals can help by showing you the connections where all you’ve been focused on are the distinctions.

5. Develop your reading skills as carefully as your writing skills. Pay attention to the directions that accompany exams – specifically with respect to what you are asked to do in the question. The only way to know exactly how your professor expects you to address a question comes from experience in reading your professor’s exams and in asking what she expects in an answer.