Essay Planning

Even the most brilliant student will not be able to sit down and write an essay without making a plan. Planning the essay is laborious but it is time well spent and the finished essay will be better than one written off the hoof. The plan may take quite a few minutes but it is not wasted time and it will enable you to think of things you might want to include in the essay.

It is critical to read the title of the essay thoroughly and then read it again. It is amazing how many people read what they want to read probably because they know the answer. But reflecting on the title is worthwhile as you may have missed a word the first time of reading or interpreted the question in the wrong way.

In a Law problem question you might have complicated scenarios, with several characters involved, usually in the realms of criminal law. In this case, incidents take place involving several people and usually with a final instruction “advise A. B and C on their respective criminal liability (if any)”. It is a good idea to extract each individual and summarise the timing of their actions in the sequence of events.

After a second reading of the facts you should write down the main areas of law involved such as assault, battery, grievous bodily harm, encompassing offences against the person.

In a problem case you need to scrutinise the words used. So describing A as walking back towards his seat in a restaurant in a zig zag manner should lead you to explore the possibility that he is under the influence of alcohol. You need to make a note of any little nuances or ambiguities and what bearing they have on the liability.

Next you need to consider whether any defences might be available in respect of any liability of the characters. The defences should be noted and then any exceptions explored with reasons why the defence may not be available.

You need to write down your corroborating authorities, the majority of which will be decided cases. If you make a statement concerning a principle of law you should quote an authority. Make sure that you use the latest case law available and extract the reasoning for the decision. Write down the cases that come to mind and then retain the ones that are most suiting to the facts of the essay and always include any cases that have gone to appeal or mention if they are in the process of being appealed.

After exploring the “meat” of the essay where all the arguments are set out in a logical and coherent manner, you must note your conclusions. Leave these to the end as they will often become clearer as you progress through the plan. Often your answer will not be dogmatic but may involve a combination of outcomes based on the ambiguities within your given scenario.

In addition to court cases, note down titles of other authorities such as books, articles, law commission reports, including page numbers and dates so that your bibliography is taking shape.

Noting down an essay plan will help you focus and write the answer in a systematic and logical way.