It’s important to write practice essays in law school, starting at the beginning of the semester.
The problem is not having questions that test material as it’s covered in class.
Today I am going to show you where to find questions, which cover almost every topic
in the first year curriculum and many topics in upper level courses.
Stay to the end and learn how to use a simple four step process to find and then use questions
hiding in plain sight.
Hello lawlings, this is Professor Beau Baez.
The way to learn the law better and to earn higher grades is to write practice essays.
Many students ignore this advice, or wait till the end of the semester.
During the semester there isn’t time to write long essays, but you should have time
to write at least one short 30 minute essay every week.
Ideally, at least one for each doctrinal course.
What I am about to show you will help you learn the nested IRAC method, helping it to
become second nature before exam time.
Step one: find bar exam style multiple choice questions.
There are dozens, if not hundreds of resources out there, including books and online services.
For today’s demonstration I’m going to use a Barbri 2015-16 First Year Outlines book, which
happened to be close to my desk.
Step two: find a question that covers the topic on which you want to write an essay.
I’ve decided I want practice on the tort of Conversion, so I found a multiple choice
question testing this tort.
Step three: answer the multiple choice question, look at the answer key, and make sure you
understand why the correct answer is correct.
Step four: convert the multiple choice question into an essay question and then answer the
question using IRAC.
Let me demonstrate how to do this by first reading the question.
A homeowner who regularly borrowed garden tools from his neighbor went to the neighbor’s
house to borrow the neighbor’s leaf blower.
The neighbor was not at home, but the leaf blower was in his unlocked garage with his
other garden tools, and so the homeowner took it.
Unbeknownst to the homeowner, the neighbor had drained the oil from the leaf blower’s
motor.
The homeowner ran the leaf blower for an hour; the motor was totally destroyed because it
had no oil.
The value of the leaf blower at the time that the homeowner took it was $300.
An identical, new leaf blower costs $500.
The cost of repairing the motor is $150.
A new motor will cost $250.
If the neighbor sues the homeowner on a theory of conversion and is successful, what damages
can he recover?
A. $300, but the homeowner will keep the leaf blower.
B. $500, but the homeowner will keep the leaf blower.
C. $150.
D. $250.
This question is testing on the damages available for Conversion, which are different from damages
available for Trespass to Chattels.
Keep in mind that tort law is designed to restore the victim to where he was before
the tort occurred.
Conversion, if successful, acts as a forced sale of the product and the damages are the
fair market value of the property at the time the defendant interfered with the property.
Also, since this is a forced sale, the defendant can keep the property.
With this understanding, this leaves “A” as the right answer choice because the leaf
blower was worth $300 when the motor was destroyed.
“B” is wrong as that would make Neighbor better off than he was before the motor was destroyed.
“C” and “D” are wrong because those contemplate a repair of the leaf blower,
not a forced sale.
Now for the magic, where we convert this multiple choice question into a short essay.
First, let’s look at the rule and its elements: Conversion occurs when there is the intent
to exercise dominion and control over the personal property of another in a manner that
so seriously interferes with the property that the tortfeasor must pay for the full
value of the property.
The five elements to Conversion are intent, dominion and control, personal property, possession,
and damages.
Second, let’s write the first paragraph in our short essay.
The issue is whether Neighbor will succeed in a Conversion claim against Homeowner after
he destroyed Neighbor’s leaf blower.
Conversion occurs when there is the intent to exercise dominion and control over the
personal property of another in a manner that so seriously interferes with the property
that the tortfeasor must pay for the full value of the property.
Neighbor will likely prevail.
The first element is intent.
Intent is when the defendant desires to exercise control over property or knows to a substantial
certainty they will exercise control over property.
Homeowner regularly borrows Neighbor’s tools with his permission.
Homeowner walked into Neighbor’s unlocked garage, took the leaf blower, and then used
the leaf blower for an hour.
Unfortunately, the leaf blower did not have oil, resulting in the motor being destroyed.
Though Homeowner was unaware of this, his honest mistake does not alter the fact that
he intended to use the leaf blower.
His desire to use the leaf blower establishes the intent element.
The second element is dominion and control.
To qualify for Conversion, the dominion and control over the property must be serious
or permanent.
Homeowner’s use of the leaf blower resulted in a destroyed motor.
This destruction meets the dominion and control element.
The third element is personal property.
Personal property is movable and not attached to the land.
The leaf blower was light enough to be carried.
This element is met.
The fourth element is possession.
Possession is measured by examining who lawfully possessed the property.
Neighbor owned the leaf blower, which Neighbor kept in his garage.
The fourth element is met.
The fifth element involves damages.
Conversion acts as a forced sale for serious or complete destruction of property, allowing
the defendant to keep the property.
When Homeowner used the leaf blower, he destroyed the motor.
The cost of repairing the motor was $150 and the fair market value for a replacement leaf
blower was $300.
The question is whether the court will find the leaf blower was converted when the motor
can be repaired.
Homeowner will argue that the replacement value for the leaf blower is 100% more than
the repair price.
However, Neighbor will counter that given the relative low value for a used leaf blower,
a forced sale is the fairer result.
If the court rules against Neighbor on the Conversion claim, Neighbor can prevail in
a Trespass to Chattels claim for the repair.
And there we have converted a multiple choice question into an essay question, pun intended.
With thousands of questions out there, you can do this with any topic you are struggling
to master.
Again, I recommend doing several a week, at least one for each doctrinal course.
I should add there is one more step to the process.
You need feedback on your essay.
While getting feedback from the course professor would be ideal, very few faculty will provide
feedback on essay questions they didn’t create.
A more likely scenario is getting feedback from the law school’s academic success department,
but those don’t exist at every law school and many are severely understaffed.
Third, find a study buddy, somebody to work through these exercises, where you swap each other's essays,
you grade them, and that's one way of getting feedback.
Finally, there are many private tutoring services you can reach out to.
Let me know in the comments what you are doing to prepare for your law school exams, including
tips you have for finding practice essay questions.
Don’t forget to hit the like button, and check out my other videos to help you become
a better student and a better lawyer.