This week's 1L Life Hack

Brilliance in the Basics:

Mastering IRAC for Exam Writing

As midterms are fast approaching, it is probably a good time to bring up IRAC.  Most of your professors will want you to write your answers in the IRAC format.  Here are the basics:

Issue:  Spot the correct issue being discussed in the question and restate it in a sentence or two.  

Rule:  Recall the appropriate rule and state it in the terms that your professor requires in order to give you  all of the available points. (Some professors like verbatim rule statements, so ask and see what his or her preference is for each class). 

Analysis:  Restate the elements of the rule and why each is satisfied using the facts from the exam question.  Use a highlighter or a pen to note when you have used each fact.  Most facts in the questions or hypotheticals will be pertinent to the call of the question, so make sure you try to use all of the facts. You may also be able to use one fact for multiple elements of one rule.

Conclusion:  Use one or two sentences to answer the call of the question and tell the professor which way the court would find.  Be decisive, avoid using words like should or may.

Ensure that each part of IRAC is a separate paragraph. A one sentence paragraph for the issue is perfectly appropriate for a law school exam. The Analysis part may take several paragraphs-- use a new paragraph for each element or sub element.

Use signposts in your exam answer for the professor to easily identify each part of your answer. Law students commonly use Under, Here, and Therefore as signposts to direct the reader to the different portions of the exam answer.  Under is for the rule statement; Here is for the analysis of the facts to the elements of the rule; and Therefore is for the conclusion statement. The easier you make it for the professor to read your exam, the more points you will likely get on the exam.

If your professor has asked that you use the CRAC (Conclusion, Rule, Analysis, Conclusion) format, it is an easy transition from IRAC.  Instead of making an issue statement, just answer the call of the question first.  You can use the same idea for the conclusion sentences that you need at the end of your answer. 

Remember that practice makes perfect. Do NOT let the midterm be the first time that you write an exam answer.  Practice at home under exam timelines so that you are prepared for the actual midterm.

Until next week -

Meggan