As a former law student, the number 1 issue in answering legal question paper is to identify the issue arise from the problem-solving questions.
A great tip for any law students out there is to read your question thoroughly before even attempt to draft a diagram of your answer. It's a common mistake by a law student to merely skimmed through the question sheet and missed out vital points that require your undivided attention.
After you've gone through the question you must be able to identify the statement of issues that your "legal eagle" eyes able to identify. A statement of issue is a question from a legal perspective that require analysis from the student point of view and his or her ability to weed it out from the rest of non-legal issue exist in the problem solving question.
It is advisable for the student to take out the statement of issue and list it down in the answer sheet like this...
The statement of an issue here is whether there is a contract between A and B?
Whether the contract made between A and B is null and void due to the illegality of the terms?
The point is, the examiner will know that the student was able to identify legal issue arises from the question paper. It's the most valuable skill set to be acquired by a law student and future lawyers to be able to identify legal issue in a blink of an eye. Like an eagle hunting for its prey.
After the statement of issue has been listed, the student are required to identify the list of authority, legal precedents or statutes that are relevant in governing that area of law.
This ability is important for a law student because the examiner will know that the student is familiar with the governing authority in a specific area of law. For example, if a law student facing a law of tort question paper he or she will know the legal precedents binding in certain law of tort case examples and didn't confuse with other legal authority such as law of contract or mercantile law, just to give a perspective.
After the legal authority governing a specific legal issue has been established, the student must apply that legal authority to the statement of issue identified earlier. This is one of the most important skill set that must be attain by a law student and future legal practitioners because this ability seperates them from the rest of the non legally trained people.
In order to this, the law student must mentioned in the answer sheet his or her intention to apply a specific law to the given situation and see whether the legal tools fit the given situation or otherwise.
Finally, the conclusion part. This part is where you should conclude your findings based on what you've analyzed and applied earlier. It must be note that you must give your legal opinion on this part and whether the situation could be resolved or whether there are other alternative disputes resolution methods available to resolve the conflict as it seem fits. On this part the examiner will see whether you truly understands the legal issue arise, the legal tools and authority available, the methodoligical approach in applying those legal tools and authority to the legal issue arise and your findings after applying what you discovered to the relevant laws available at your disposal.
I hope my article will able to help new aspiring law student to get a fine grasp on what he or she will face in the final exam's question paper. Good luck!
