The examination

Problem questions
You will be given a set of facts and either asked to advise one or more of the characters or to
discuss issues of tortious liability or otherwise and give the remedy. You must avoid simply
identifying the subject matter of the problem (for example, vicarious liability or breach of
contract) and writing all you know about it. Before writing, you should analyse the facts
carefully to work out the relation between the parties and the legal issues to which they give rise.
You can then select the legal principles which are relevant and marry the facts and the legal
principles into a logically structured answer. You do not literally set out your answer in the form
of advice but you must remember that you are solving a problem and not simply writing an
account of a particular area of law. Most problems contain at least some issues where the law is
not entirely clear; you have to identify these and suggest the solution to which you think a court
will be likely to come and give your reasons for doing so. Problem questions seldom relate only
to material in a single chapter. You may expect to have to answer questions that involve more
than one chapter of civil procedure or involve issues that are discussed in different chapters. If
there is pleading to be drafted, be careful to identify the correct pleading and adhere to the rules
of pleading as provided in the various rules and Acts but in particular, Civil Procedure Rules.
Essay questions
Such questions rarely ask for a straightforward account of a particular topic. They ask you to
write critically about a particular topic, to compare one topic with another, to suggest reforms
and improvements, to analyse the reasons which lie behind particular areas of law and so forth.
In both kinds of question the most common error is irrelevance. You must identify the precise
issues(s) raised and direct your answer to it (them).
Most important
Examination questions DO NOT ask you to write down everything you know about a topic. Your
aim should be to answer the questions that the examiners have asked, and use only material
relevant to those questions.
Why critically?
Because the examiners want to see if you understand the subject well enough to write about it as
a lawyer would sometimes a particular point of view has to be argued and sometimes you have
to write from both sides of the issue.