How to Structure Applications of Legal Rules

Structure is the Best Way to Level Up in Writing Applications.

Law students tend to write a muddle for the application. A bit of this, a bit of that. A bit of this element, a bit of that one, back to the first one. I often tell my students that in reading, I feel like a rotisserie chicken: I’m constantly leaving one thing and coming back to it again, then the same with another. It’s not fun for the reader. It’s not a persuasive argument. And it’s not good for your exam score if your professor can’t follow you.

Nested-IRAC: A solution for muddled applications.

The solution is simple. Use a strong structure. The good news is that one simple repeatable pattern works wonderfully. And it works across virtually any issue and any class. It’s just shifted to fit the structure of the rule you have: the list of elements to prove for the claim. You can expand it a line above or below to add a procedural sub-issue or an affirmative defense. Here’s an editable Word document with examples of this structure altered slightly for single-element tests, multiple element tests (as in the infographic above), and multiple elements with only one disputed. Or you can download a .pdf version to use as a handout.