Creating confident, successful law students
1
Why don’t law students get robust opportunities to practice before exams?
You wouldn’t jump in the deep end without some practice in the shallow water. Hypotheticals are unique to law school and students don’t have experience with this type of exam. To create a fair system that promotes economic and social diversity students should have robust opportunities to practice.
Rhetoric & Rubrics is about creating those opportunities.
2
Why doesn’t someone give law students steps for writing an IRAC Application?
Doctrinal classes tend to focus on teaching the basics of each subject. Legal writing has to tackle citations, persuasiveness, and punctuation. Professors model applying rules in class, but usually don’t provide a step-by-step, simple, repeatable pattern.
Rhetoric & Rubrics is about teaching clear, simple methods of writing organized, thorough legal analyses.
3
Why don’t professors share detailed grading rubrics that naturally provide actionable feedback?
Exam feedback in law school can be limited. It often comes in the form of “you could have done more with x” or “your applications weren’t as thorough as other students’ exams.” It’s hard to turn that into actionable changes for the next time around.
Rhetoric & Rubrics advocates for and shares detailed grading rubrics that naturally provide actionable feedback, along with strategies for diagnosing patterns of error and correcting them.
"Law school has extraordinary rates of anxiety and depression. I think much of that is caused by not understanding how grading happens or how to do better."
— Dr. Jill M. Fraley
FAQs
Where can I find hypotheticals and grading rubrics?
Professor Fraley has some free resources. Her book of property hypotheticals and rubrics will be available in February of 2021. Her book of constitutional law hypotheticals should follow shortly.
Will you help faculty with writing detailed grading rubrics that promote actionable feedback?
Professor Fraley has taught faculty groups about how to write detailed grading rubrics. Such talks or workshops include discussions of strategy regarding distributions of grades and time spent writing exams and grading exams. Get in touch if you are interested in booking a talk or workshop or for individual consulting.
Can I use your materials when teaching my class?
The property hypotheticals book works great as a supplement for a basic property law class for 1Ls or for an academic success course. If you would like to use other materials found here, please get in touch for permission.