Breaking Down the Curve

Acing Law School Exams

This book offers a brass-tacks no-nonsense introduction to the art of persuasive legal argument. In sixty pages and three chapters, it aims to compress essential and often elusive keys to success on law school exams into a short and highly readable primer. Chapter One explains how to read and understand legal arguments, deconstructing their often unstated moral, political, and rhetorical dimensions through anecdotes and examples. Chapter Two offers specific tips on how to apply the tools of rhetoric in the service of effective legal argument. Finally, Chapter Three explains the mechanics of argumentative legal writing, and shows that every great and careful lawyer closely follows the same formula for success.