Answer the question, answer the question, answer the question, answer the question, answer the question - and structure your answer!

Your argument should include a short introduction which captures the reader's interest and indicates what the paper will and will not do. It must include a logical conclusion. By `logical', I mean a conclusion which flows from the argument made in the body of the paper. (The conclusion is not simply the place where you dump the last idea you had before you handed in the paper.)

What comes between the introduction and the conclusion? Not everything else you've photocopied, but rather an argument which answers the question. A surprisingly large number of student papers seem to go out of their way to avoid answering the question.

It is permissible (indeed, advisable) in a law paper to use sub-headings to structure your argument. However, your sub-headings should be worked out in advance so that they assist you in writing the paper. There is no point in tacking headings onto a badly structured paper after it's written.

Irrelevance

Poor papers often contain discussion which is only vaguely relevant to the topic or question. While writing the paper, ask yourself regularly `why am I including this material?' If the best answer you can give is `because I photocopied it', leave it out.

Going nowhere in case it's not safe

Some of the most frustrating student papers are those which simply describe the law without analysing it, or which go out of their way to avoid making an argument in case the argument is `wrong'. Your paper will be much stronger if you take a plausible position on the issue under discussion, and attempt to persuade the reader that yours is the correct position.

The lecturer can see inside my mind

Your meaning should be clear from what you write. Don't leave it up to the reader to discern your meaning by reading the paper over and over, reading it backwards, holding it over ultraviolet light, or some other non-rational means. To test whether or not your meaning is clear, read your paper aloud to someone else before handing it in. If you find yourself stopping to add `what I mean to say is...', your written expression needs to be clearer.

The lecturer needs bombarding with all my ideas at once

No she doesn't. The lecturer may be reading your paper late at night, with her brain on `low'. You increase your chances of being understood if you present distinct ideas separately. Sentences stuffed full of jargon, footnotes, bracketed phrases and suggestions of ideas to come are much less impressive than simple, clear sentences which present one idea at a time.

Don't drink and draft

Your discussion or argument should be plausible. Poor papers often contain lines of argument which no sober person would believe. Read your paper aloud (to yourself or someone who is sober) before submitting it in order to ensure that it meets this test.

High-handedness

Don't try to make up for an implausible or irrelevant argument by lecturing the reader about the correctness of your argument and the stupidity of other points of view.

If I say it (enough times) it must be true

Don't mistake assertions for evidence which supports your argument. Taking such an approach in the court room would get you into serious trouble.

I'm the only person in the world without a brain

Don't write a paper full of material cribbed from other people's articles. Process the material through your own brain before using it to write your paper.

Plagiarism

Always identify your sources. If your sources turn out to be `my best friend's lecture notes and essay', you have a serious problem with your study methods - especially if your best friend's work is full of mistakes.

If you quote material directly from another source, enclose it in quotation marks. Do not simply copy out the quoted material and provide a footnote to the source. When reading directly copied material like this, your lecturer experiences a strange echoing sensation, which leads her to wonder whether you really understand what you are writing. The material should go through your brain before appearing in the paper in your own words, or in a combination of your own words and quotes of important material like the words of a statute or a judicial formulation of a common law test.