How to Get Better at Applying Law to Fact? Forum

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carsondalywashere

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How to Get Better at Applying Law to Fact?

Post by carsondalywashere » Thu Oct 19, 2017 11:04 am

Started outlining a couple of weeks ago. It's been somewhat helpful, but there are still large gaps in my knowledge, and I don't know how to apply these concepts to a fact pattern (especially for a class like civ pro).

I am getting very mixed responses about hypos from E&Es. People on TLS seem to think doing them are a good idea, but I asked my professors if these would be good practice, and all of them said no. Are they saying "no" because they are professors who don't want me to use an E&E or should I heed their advice?

In addition, if anyone has advice on how to get better at applying law to fact, I am all ears.

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pancakes3

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Re: How to Get Better at Applying Law to Fact?

Post by pancakes3 » Thu Oct 19, 2017 11:18 am

professor-specific past exams and model answers are your best bet. e&e's help you wrap your head around the core concept but they really don't simulate exam fact patterns.

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White Dwarf

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Re: How to Get Better at Applying Law to Fact?

Post by White Dwarf » Thu Oct 19, 2017 7:32 pm

Try and find cases that apply the law in question. Seeing how courts distinguish in borderline cases with similar fact-patterns is very useful for learning how the law works. Sometimes the major cases on a particular subject don't really get into the nuances, and it can be hard to tell where the lines are (or what specific factors make the difference) if you've never seen a similar case that the court went a different way on.

This won't always be possible, but it's a good place to start.

carsondalywashere

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Re: How to Get Better at Applying Law to Fact?

Post by carsondalywashere » Fri Oct 20, 2017 2:13 pm

pancakes3 wrote:professor-specific past exams and model answers are your best bet. e&e's help you wrap your head around the core concept but they really don't simulate exam fact patterns.
Are they still worth doing? It looks like I have about 5 past exams for each class (except one where I have zero lol).

carsondalywashere

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Re: How to Get Better at Applying Law to Fact?

Post by carsondalywashere » Fri Oct 20, 2017 2:14 pm

White Dwarf wrote:Try and find cases that apply the law in question. Seeing how courts distinguish in borderline cases with similar fact-patterns is very useful for learning how the law works. Sometimes the major cases on a particular subject don't really get into the nuances, and it can be hard to tell where the lines are (or what specific factors make the difference) if you've never seen a similar case that the court went a different way on.

This won't always be possible, but it's a good place to start.
I'll definitely dig into this

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ball is life

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Re: How to Get Better at Applying Law to Fact?

Post by ball is life » Fri Oct 20, 2017 2:30 pm

carsondalywashere wrote:
pancakes3 wrote:professor-specific past exams and model answers are your best bet. e&e's help you wrap your head around the core concept but they really don't simulate exam fact patterns.
Are they still worth doing? It looks like I have about 5 past exams for each class (except one where I have zero lol).
Yes. TLS wisdom seems to be that you should do as many of your professor's old practice exams as possible.

carsondalywashere

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Re: How to Get Better at Applying Law to Fact?

Post by carsondalywashere » Fri Oct 20, 2017 6:53 pm

ball is life wrote:
carsondalywashere wrote:
pancakes3 wrote:professor-specific past exams and model answers are your best bet. e&e's help you wrap your head around the core concept but they really don't simulate exam fact patterns.
Are they still worth doing? It looks like I have about 5 past exams for each class (except one where I have zero lol).
Yes. TLS wisdom seems to be that you should do as many of your professor's old practice exams as possible.
Oh, I'll definitely do all available old exams. What I meant was are hypos from E&Es still worth doing?

LockBox

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Re: How to Get Better at Applying Law to Fact?

Post by LockBox » Thu Nov 02, 2017 7:31 pm

BECAUSE - that is what you need to be seeing/using. It should go issue...blah blah rule of law BECAUSE facts, facts, facts. Rule 1 because facts, rule 2 because facts...etc.

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