Forget long paragraphs!

In this blog post, we will be discussing how a law student can work towards writing in a way that is both concise and to the point.

One of the sins I was guilty of myself, when I first arrived as a law student in Oxford, was writing in suuuper long sentences and paragraphs. In fact, sometimes my sentences would be four or five lines long, and my paragraphs would cover most of the page! It was a nightmare for the reader, but I did not know any better. I think this is a sin that continental students commit more than UK students, but it needs to be stressed regardless.  

Try to remember a few rules:

·  Rule Number 1: your reader/marker/professor is already very tired. She has read dozens of essays on the same topic and will read many more. Avoid making her life harder by having her go back to the beginning of your sentence just to remember what its subject was! You need to help her understand you, not torture her (please…disregard any possible animosity you might have against her; just kidding!).

·  Rule Number 2: Never write a sentence that is more than three lines long! Break it into two or more sentences, thus keeping it short and sweet.

· Rule Number 3: Try to use more simple sentences and fewer complex sentences. For example, you could say: Tort law changed a lot after the Roy case, which was decided in 1976, during a period of unrest, the cause of which was civil war. However, this is overly complicated for no reason. Instead of drafting it this way, kindly consider rephrasing certain parts, in order to make it easier to read and digest. A good example would be this: Tort law changed drastically after the Roy case, a case which was decided in 1976. This was a period of unrest, mainly caused by civil war. 

All of the above is obviously made up, but I just wanted to show you how to break a sentence into numerous smaller sentences. This is very easy and could help you improve your marks in no time. 

This brings me to a broader point. If you ever mark the exam scripts or summative assessments of undergraduate students, even at top universities,you will be shocked by the sheer number of grammatical and syntactical errors. Not only do native English speakers make serious mistakes, they keep making them throughout their three or four years of study. Therefore, by simply NOT making such errors, you are standing out from a large majority of students.

So, key takeaways from this post. First, respect your reader and value their time and effort. Their job is hard enough, don't make it harder. They will reward you for it. Second, break your sentences into shorter sentences, and your paragraphs into more paragraphs. Your essay will be easier to read and understand. Third, proofread your essays before submitting! This way you will avoid making grammatical and syntactical errors and thus improve your overall marks.

For more advice on how to write good legal essays and achieve excellent marks, you can grab a copy of my book here.