How to Start a Legal Essay Text

Jonathan Friesen - Writing Coach

Structure and organisation how you structure and organise your essay is just as important as the research you have done. If your essay does not flow or your material is presented in a haphazard fashion, not even exhaustive research will improve your grade. It should clearly inform the reader of the essays purpose or central thesis, providing a compelling reason to read the paper. Good titles can be those that are straightforward, clearly identifying the legal question using terminology familiar to a particular audience.

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Anthony duggan, romalpa agreements post ppsa 2011 33 sydney law review 645 sometimes a more lyrical approach is appropriate to create interest or appeal to a more general audience. Anthony mason, the rule of law in the shadow of the giant: the hong kong experience 2011 33 sydney law review 622 as well as setting out a good structure in the introduction, it is useful, along the way, to further signpost your argument by using subheadings. These can serve to explaining whats to come in each specific section of the essay. This makes the separate points easy to identify and allows the reader to track the progress of the argument. It provides a context to your discussion, primarily by articulating the question that the essay is designed to answer. Finally, it offers a brief outline of the structure of your essay signposting or guiding the reader through your various arguments.

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In addition, it is possible in an introduction to indicate what answer or conclusion the essay will put forward. state the question the essay is designed to answer sign posting guiding your reader

state the question the essay is designed to answer

is important to set out the purpose of your essay in your introduction or abstract. This is so even when an essay topic has been prescribed for an assignment and you note on a cover sheet which question youre addressing. Is the purpose to answer a question? if so, set out that question in the introduction and explain how you propose to answer it. Whether your essay is answering a question, or doing something else like reviewing anothers work, the important thing is to make the terms of your inquiry clear for your reader. By making the purpose of your essay clear in your introduction you help your reader to follow your argument. We have provided citations below to articles that clearly set out their purpose in the introduction or abstract.

Kimberlee weatherall, politics, compromise, text and the failures of the anti counterfeiting trade agreement 2011 33 sydney law review 229 this article clearly sets out in its abstract that it will conduct a close reading of the anti counterfeiting trade agreement as a way to test the veracity of two key claims made about the agreement. Mary dowell jones and david kinley, minding the gap: global finance and human rights 2011 25 ethics and international affairs 183 this article, in its introduction, establishes its academic context and identifies the absence of meaningful work which considers the human rights implications of financial crises. It clearly sets out four aspects of the global financial system as objects of study: bonds derivatives risk management and procyclicality. Arlie loughnan, understanding the criminal trial: a response to hl ho 2010 32 sydney law review 533 where the purpose of an article or paper is to respond to another authors argument, it is necessary for the abstract to characterise the nature of the argument which is the subject of study and briefly indicate how the present article engages with it. This articles abstract is a good example of a brief but accurate characterisation of the nature of another authors approach, together with a succinct guide to how the article will engage with it.

sign posting guiding your reader

a hallmark of good essays is that they set out clearly in their introduction or abstract not only what question they are addressing, or what their purpose is, but also how it is they will answer the question posed. By putting in your introduction a description of how the essay will proceed, you alert readers to what to expect, and introduce them to the contours of the argument to come.

We have provided citations below to articles that flag their structure in the introduction. Alex steel, issues with the use of the theft offence to protect intangible property 2008 30 sydney law review 575 this article clearly sets out in its abstract that it seeks to question whether the crime of theft should apply to intangible property. It then goes on to set out the route the article will take: first, an overview of the traditional model of theft then, an examination of different types of intangible property against the requirements of a theft charge and finally, a judgement as to what value there is in using theft in this context.

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The body paragraphs of an essay provide the context and analysis of your legal issue or situation. You will need to demonstrate that you have a sound understanding of the topic being discussed, and your arguments should be presented clearly and persuasively. Alternative positions or sides to the arguments you present should not be ignored these may offer a rich counterpoint to your own viewpoint.

They also indicate to the marker that you have considered the various contested aspects of an issue but have nonetheless come to a reasoned position pursuing a particular argument. You should experiment with different structures as you develop your ideas and choose a structure that supports your analysis. This section provides suggestions about how to guide your reader through the body of your essay. topic sentence transitions and paragraph conclusions it is important to indicate at the beginning of a paragraph the focus of the paragraph. As well as signposting to the reader what the paragraph is about, a topic sentence is a useful device for the writer to assess whether all the content in the paragraph is relevant. Bronwyn naylor and johannes schmidt, do prisoners have a right to fairness before the parole board? 2010 32 sydney law review 437, 442.

In this article, a section providing an overview of parole practice in different jurisdictions is introduced by three sentences which set out the key criteria for determining parole and making a general claim about jurisdictional practice which will be substantiated in what follows. Topic sentences can also be used to summarise a general position reflected in academic commentary, with the following paragraph going on to discuss the specific approaches taken or the finer details of divergence. Andrew keay, tackling the issue of the corporate objective: an analysis of the united kingdoms enlightened shareholder value approach 2007 29 sydney law review 577, 586 in this article, topic sentences are used to set out that some theorists have questioned the normative value of shareholder value, for instance, before getting into the specific views of individual commentators.

transitions and paragraph conclusions

body paragraphs may canvass a variety of subjects, but the transitions between them should be seamless. A good writer should not need to use specific transition words, but there are some that can be used for this purpose. For example, if a paragraph furthers a point previously made, transition words or phrases such as moreover or in addition may be useful if the paragraph covers different ground, or poses the alternative argument, however or in contrast may be more appropriate. Each paragraph should also conclude, in a way related to the original question or topic posed in the paragraphs topic sentence. It should contain no new material and be relatively short when compared to the rest of the essay. Your conclusion is your last opportunity to remind the reader what your essay set out to do, and how you accomplished it.

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Your conclusion should, therefore, revisit the question posed, and, briefly, summarise how you answered it. Whereas your introduction will set out what you proposed to do or show, your conclusion will talk of what you did achieve through the course of your essay. Example of a good conclusion amelia simpson, the high courts conception of discrimination: origins, applications, and implications 2007 29 sydney law review 263, 295. The conclusion to this article recaps the purpose, notes the main points made and what is new about the approach taken. It makes a comment on how others might employ the argument it sets out, and how the article fits with other observations in the field.