Writing About Law

Contract Law Exam Briefing

Art, Law & Business

Winter 2017
Lauren Crais
Exam Basics
—  Exams
are scored out of 22 points as per
the Handbook:
Primary Grade Gloss Secondary Band Aggregation Score
A Excellent 1 22
2 21
3 20
4 19
5 18
B Very Good 1 17
2 16
3 15
C Good 1 14
2 13
3 12
D Satisfactory 1 11
2 10
3 9
E Weak 1 8
2 7
3 6
F Poor 1 5
2 4
3 3
G Very Poor 1 2
2 1
H No credit
CR Credit Refused
General Writing Tips
•  Referencing/citation: you should reference all your answers in the same way you would for
any other academic piece of writing. Whether you get information from a book, a case, or a
piece of legislation, you must properly footnote it or cite it in the text (footnoting saves
words)

•  An OSCOLA referencing cheat sheet is on Canvas under “Writing About Law”; for cases,
feel free to use the citation I list on the syllabus or as printed in the book or on the first
page of the case decision

•  SHOW YOUR WORK. It is not nearly enough to write, for instance, “Bob can return the
sword” or even “Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, Bob has the right to return the
sword.” Think of this like a math exam: show your work. These exams aren’t about
reaching the right answer so much as they are about proving your solution by working
through your argument.

•  You are generally allowed +/- 10% on the word count but be aware that too low in law
typically means you’re not doing enough analysis. The target word count is just about
where you want to be.

•  Pay attention to weighting. Definitional questions and short answers will generally be
worth less than issue spotters; weight your responses accordingly.

•  I highly recommend headings and subheadings to help organize your analysis.

Types of Questions
—  (1) Definitional
—  (2) Short Answer
—  (3) Issue Spotter
Definitional Questions
—  Relate to class and to the readings
—  Likely some combination of legal definition and “in your own words”:
explain what the legal definition means
—  Give the relevant citation
—  At most, a couple of these
—  Example:

“What is the legal definition of a ‘trader’ for the purposes of the Consumer Rights
Act 2015? What does that mean in plain English?”

A ‘trader’ for the purposes of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 is “a person acting
for purposes relating to that person’s trade, business, craft or profession, whether
acting personally or through another person acting in the trader’s name or on the
trader’s behalf.” (CRA s 2(2)) This means someone who is transacting in the
course of their business or in a manner related to their business. This applies
whether the person is conducting business himself, or someone is acting on his
instructions.
Short Answer Questions
—  These questions will give you a little more information and will
require some analytical effort from you.
—  Example:

[1] Rob saw a sword advertised in an antiques magazine which was

described as “Sword ‘Game of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire’: Ice – Valyrian
Steel Blade.”
[2] He does not watch Game of Thrones but knows his father Ned is a
big fan and thought he would buy Ned a present.
[3] Rob contacted the seller company, ‘The Wall Ltd.,’ explaining that he
had seen the advertisement and wished to buy the sword. He paid £2,500
(including delivery) and was sent the sword. He gave it to Ned, who told
him that it was not a Valyrian steel blade, but rather was made of stainless
steel.
 
With reference to the Sale of Goods Act 1979, can Rob return the sword
to the seller? What about with reference to the Consumer Rights Act
2015?
Structuring a Short Answer
—  (1) Does SOGA apply in this case? Why or why not?
—  (2) If SOGA applies, what does it say about this type of transaction?
—  (3) Does CRA apply in this case? Why or why not?
—  (4) If CRA applies, what does it say about this type of transaction?
—  (5) Can Bob return the sword?

The Sale of Goods Act 1979 (SOGA) likely has no application in this situation. It applies
to sales of goods between traders and between consumers, but not to sales of goods
from traders to consumers. This is regulated by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA).
The seller, ‘The Wall Ltd,’ appears to be a business or trader. Bob appears to be a
consumer for the purposes of this transaction, as he is purchasing the sword as a gift
for his father and not for a business purpose. Therefore, SOGA likely does not apply.
Under CRA, there is an implied term that goods sold by description will match the
description. (SGA s 11). This appears to be a sale by description, as there is no evidence
to suggest otherwise. Therefore, The Wall Ltd must sell Bob an item that matches their
advertising description. By sending a sword made out of stainless steel instead of
Valyrian steel, they are likely in breach of this implied term. Under sections 20, 22, and
24 of the CRA, Bob has the right to reject the stainless steel sword for a full refund. He
additionally has the right to a replacement under section 23, or a price reduction under
sections 20 and 24, should he choose to do so.*
Issue Spotters
—  The bulk of your examinations will be issue spotter-type questions,
where you are given a set of facts and asked to apply the law to
those facts. The question(s) asked might be fairly specific (like with
the Valyrian steel example) or as broad as “with reference to
English law, advise X as to her rights and responsibilities.” It is then
up to you to determine what sources apply to help you figure out
what to do.
Suggested Issue Spotter Structure
—  Introduction
◦  This should be a quick restatement of what the exam is asking you to do. For instance,
“Barbara Bettinghouse (BB) commissioned a sculpture through a gallery, but the
sculpture she received was not what she had requested. The gallery owner has told
her she is not entitled to a refund. This paper will serve to advise BB as to her rights
under English law.”
—  Facts
◦  This should be a brief (try to keep it under a page if you can) summary of the most
relevant facts as relate to the arguments you will make; you can bring in further details
in your analysis section.
—  Goals
◦  This should be a brief section in which you detail the goals of the party you are
advising; these may be reached from a logical interpretation of the facts
—  Analysis
—  Conclusion/recommendation
◦  This should be a brief wrap up of your analysis, in which you give advice to your client
as requested. For instance, “Under English law, assuming BB Can prove X,Y, and Z, she
has the right to return the sculpture for a full refund.”
Analysis Section
—  This is by far the most important part of your writing; I cannot stress enough that it
is your analysis and argument that will earn you the most points, NOT coming to
the “correct” conclusion; the questions may even be designed such that there is no
one “right” answer.
—  Issue spotters are not designed to trick you; you can answer them based upon class
discussion and the mandatory readings. However, appropriately sourcing from the
optional readings may give additional depth to your answers.
—  The facts given will be incomplete or vague; you may make reasonable, logical
inferences from the rest of the information in order to fill in those gaps, but you
may also wish to use an “if A, then X outcome; if B, then Y outcome” format.