What are 7 Common Mistakes in Writing Law Essays and How to Avoid Them

Writing college essays has never been an easy task because it challenges you to show your depth of knowledge about a specific subject. Sometimes, you have to fit all that you know about a topic within a limited word count, and the same goes for law essays. Law is a sensitive field with various subtleties involved, and to write a legal paper excellently, you must prove that you understand the subject at hand without bias.

One of the solutions is to contact a college essay writing service if you are too busy to write a legal essay. However, if you want to go ahead and write the paper yourself, there are mistakes some tend to make when writing legal papers. So to avoid repeating history, keep reading to learn about these mistakes and how to avoid them.

Common mistakes people make when writing legal essays and how to avoid them

1.   Writing a law essay without understanding peculiarities of the essay type

There are three types of legal essays:

• Essay on a quote. This type of essay requires you to reasonably explain certain expressions in agreement or disagreement.
• Essay on legal theory. When writing this kind of essay, your task is to expound a specific idea of law or the direction of jurisprudence.
• Essay from legal practice. In this type, you should write an essay based on a specific legal experience or critically assess a document.

One common mistake law students make is that they don’t bother to find out which essay type fits the topic of their project. When you are required to write a legal essay, you should research the case to understand which of the essay types above will fit it. If you can’t decide, you can always ask your professor or other more experienced colleagues for guidance.

2.   Writing an essay without carrying out adequate research

Research is a pivotal aspect of essay writing. Some students fail to recognize this fact and write essays unrelated to the topic given to them. So, to avoid submitting subpar papers, you should do an in-depth study of the idea you are writing about. Find the expressions and words to avoid in essays, the peculiarities of the topic, the essay type that fits it, and cases around the subject. Knowing these factors will give you a scope of what your professor expects to see in your essay.

3.   Making an essay too long or short

One major factor influencing your essay’s length is if it is used in a legal case. Ideally, regular legal papers can be between 300 – 2000 words because of the specificity of law. But if you are writing for college, you should keep it within your suggested word count.

If it’s shorter, your professor will likely consider it as you not having in-depth knowledge about the subject. On the other hand, if your essay is lengthier, this may mean that you have included unnecessary information or too many fluff words.

4.   Straying too far from the topic

The feeling of finally having that lightbulb moment while writing is euphoric; but, before adding your fresh ideas to your legal report, analyze them to see if they correspond to your topic. If they don’t, then you should not put them down. Putting fancy ideas unrelated to your essay is not a show of intelligence ― it just explains that you didn’t understand the task.

5.   Drafting a legal essay without arguments

Knowing how to analyse in an essay and argue is an essential skill for writing legal papers. When you fail to present each section of your essay’s body with reasonable arguments and certainties, you may as well be writing a work of fiction. So for every paragraph in the body of your essay, gather facts and information that will help your reader get an in-depth understanding of the subject.

6.   Submitting an essay without a bibliography

A bibliography is a list of your sources of information, and every legal essay must have one. Ideally, you should credit the authors of the different materials you used for your legal writing. When you don’t cite your sources, you could lose marks or be penalized for plagiarism when your professor can’t confirm your claims.

7.   Fluffing the conclusion

Another common mistake you can make in a law essay is submitting your paper without a conclusion. Your report should contain a section to tie up your claims in the essay’s body. In this section of your legal document, try not to introduce new ideas, ensure it’s concise and give the reader something to think about after going through your essay.

Conclusion

Writing legal essays may not always be easy, but you will get used to it with constant practice. Knowing the mistakes to look out for will improve your chances of impressing your professor or readers. So, utilize the information in this article to ace your legal essays.