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Are you worried about your upcoming exams?
Have you heard about the IRAC method but don’t know how to use it?
In this episode I will explain IRAC and show you how to use it on a law school exam.
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Hi, this is Beau Baez, and today I want to explain how to use the IRAC method, which
is an organizational system for essay exams.
By using this method, your essay will be written in a way that will earn you more points on
an exam.
Why you ask?
Because IRAC, used properly, will help you to focus your attention on the analysis that
exam graders are looking for.
IRAC stands for Issue, Rule, Analysis, and Conclusion.
The issue statement is what you are going to discuss.
For example, in a criminal law essay, you might create the following issue statement:
the issue is whether Frank is liable for the first degree murder of Carla when he stabbed
her with a knife.
Or in Torts, you might have an issue like this: “Did Carlos commit the tort of negligence
when he drove down the highway at night without his headlights, hitting Mariah.
As you can see, the issue statement should provide the primary issue, the names of the
plaintiff and the name of the defendant.
The Rule statement is where you define the rule of law, legal term, or legal concept.
In a contracts essay dealing with formation, the rule might read like this: “To form
a valid contract, there must be an offer, acceptance, and consideration.”
Or in Civil Procedure, you might see something like this: “An out of state defendant being
sued in the state must have personal jurisdiction in the forum state.
The defendant can he haled into the jurisdiction if the defendant has minimum contacts with
that State.”
The key here is to clearly articulate whatever rule you will be analyzing in the next section.
The analysis, also called, application section, is where you take the facts that you were provided
in the essay question, and you weave them with the rule of law to support whatever conclusion
you have reached.
In other words, you need to prove to the grader that you know how and why the facts apply
to the legal rule.
Going back to our negligence example, the analysis section might read: “Carlos was
driving his car at night without headlights.
Though he could see by moon light, his car was not visible to others on the road.
So when Mariah pulled out from a side street, she did not see Carlos’ car, resulting in
severe injury to Mariah.
When you write this section, assume the grader is a sceptic, but can be persuaded by a good
argument.
Throwing out facts, without making logical connections to the law is merely a story.
Don’t write a story.
Finally, end with a short conclusion.
Something like: because all of the elements are met, Frank is liable for first degree murder.
Now w hat I have provided you with is an overview of the IRAC method.
To use it better, make sure to watch my episode on Nested IRAC.
Otherwise, you may end up with a jumbled mess.
Some final notes.
IRAC is an organizational method, which can help you get better grades.
The genius behind this approach is that you can quickly determine if the paragraph is
missing something.
Suppose that you are writing a paragraph dealing with a valid offer in contracts.
If the paragraph only has two sentences, you know something is missing.
After all, a paragraph using this method will have at least four sentences.
Also, this method is not a guarantee that you will get A’s.
I have seen students get F’s on my exam, even though they used the IRAC method.
They flunked because they either did not know the law, spotted the wrong issues, or babbled
on about their opinions.
On the other hand, an A paper almost always uses the IRAC method.
This means you still need to do the hard work of preparing for the final by using flashcards
and doing practice exams.
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Thanks for watching.