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    10 Reasons You Didn't Write an Outstanding Opinion
    10 Reasons You Didn't Write an Outstanding Opinion
    10 Reasons You Didn't Write an Outstanding Opinion
    Ebook180 pages2 hours

    10 Reasons You Didn't Write an Outstanding Opinion

    By Suzanne Reece

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    About this ebook

    Suzanne will show you the 10 reasons why some students don’t write outstanding opinions. Follow the advice in this book and you will NOT make the same mistakes. You will improve your opinion writing skills so that you meet the criteria for writing opinions on the BPTC.
    You will improve the way you:
    •Read and record key information
    •Research and find information
    •Enhance your critical thinking skills
    •Improve how you form your ideas
    •Organise your thoughts
    •express your ideas
    AND Write better opinions

    “...a thorough analysis of how an Opinion should be written from start to finish. Suzanne identifies the key fundamentals that are essential to this process using the R.E.D. technique and follows this up with crucial advice to help the reader become an accomplished Opinion writer.”

    District Judge Paul Brooks
    Central London and Bromley County Courts

    “It’s really helpful for opinion writing” Amazon 5-star review

    “...she made me realise that opinion writing would be easy thanks to her methodical and systematic approach. As a result, I started enjoying writing opinions...” Vanessen

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSuzanne Reece
    Release dateJun 27, 2019
    ISBN9780463042038
    10 Reasons You Didn't Write an Outstanding Opinion
    Author

    Suzanne Reece

    Suzanne Reece is an education coach and author.She is a solicitor (non-practising) who worked in legal firms for over 17 years. She later moved into education teaching post-graduate law students on the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) at City, University of London for nearly 10 years. In 2017, she established Inspired to Study Ltd to provide bespoke writing and speaking skills to law graduates.Suzanne provides opinion writing, LLM coaching, drafting and advocacy training for law students and coaching and mentoring for new professionals.She runs regular workshops to help students and new professional improve their confidence and speaking skills. Suzanne supports speaking events to motivate and encourage wider access to the legal profession.Suzanne is the author of several books aimed at making it easier for students to understand the complexities of writing essays, legal opinions and LLM dissertations.How to Write a 1st Class Essay10 Reasons Why You Didn’t Write an Outstanding OpinionLLM Dissertation : How to Maximise Your Marks

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      Book preview

      10 Reasons You Didn't Write an Outstanding Opinion - Suzanne Reece

      Dedication

      This book is dedicated to the memory of

      Violet Reece.

      She brought me into this world,

      She protected me,

      She taught me,

      She loved me,

      Mum

      I will always love

      YOU.

      Contents

      Dedication

      Contents

      Foreword

      Chapter 1 Introduction

      Chapter 2 How Do You Prefer to Learn?

      Adult Learning Skills

      Learning Styles

      @Activity No 1

      How to Use Your Preferred Learning Style

      The Maths Haters and Lovers

      THE 5 STEPS OF OPINION READING

      Chapter 3 Reading

      REASON 1:  You didn’t read your instructions and case papers properly.

      How to find what is important in your instructions and case papers

      @Activity No 2

      @Activity No. 3

      Outline answer to Activity No. 3

      Chapter 4 Find the Important Facts in Your Reading

      REASON 2: You didn’t identify the key or important facts.

      Find the Key Facts Using the Build a House Method

      Find the Key Facts Using the Tell a Story Method

      How Will You Know What Is a Key Fact?

      Another Solution for Problem 2:

      Chapter 5 Find ALL the Key Problems

      REASON 3:  You didn’t identify ALL the key factual and legal problems.

      Chapter 6 Understanding the Arguments

      REASON 4: You didn’t understand the arguments.

      FIND and SEPARATE each MAIN ARGUMENT

      Summary

      Chapter 7 Think Like a Barrister

      REASON 5: You didn’t think like a barrister.

      The 5 Assumptions for thinking like a barrister

      Chapter 8 Evaluation - Part 1- The Process

      REASON 6: You didn’t evaluate the law, facts, evidence and issues.

      Chapter 9 Evaluation – Part 2 - The Process

      Chapter 10 Make Your Own Decisions and Find Your Opinion

      REASON 7:  You didn’t get the right answers or express an opinion on key issues.

      Try the Playing Field Approach

      The Prospects for Success

      Chapter 11 Reasons and Conclusions

      REASON 8: You didn’t set out your reasoning and conclusions.

      A Final Conclusion

      Chapter 12 Layout, Structure and Weight

      REASON 9: You didn’t have a clear and logical structure. You didn’t give the right amount of weight to each issue.

      The GENERAL OPINION STRUCTURE (the main frame)

      CONTENT STRUCTURE (the internal arrangement)

      Where Do You Put Your Views in an Opinion Structure

      Weighting Your Opinion

      An Overview on Planning, Structure and Weighting

      Chapter 13 How to Write an Outstanding Opinion

      REASON 10: You didn’t write your opinion in a language and style appropriate for a professional opinion.

      Say What You Mean & Keep It Simple

      How to Find the Right Writing Style for an Opinion

      Follow the Rules – Grammar and Spelling

      Ready to Complete That Opinion

      Chapter 14 Formal Assessments & Plagiarism

      Plagiarism Is Serious Academic Misconduct

      How Do You Use Sample Opinions in an Open Book Assessment

      Should I Get an Opinion Writing Company to Write My Opinion

      Chapter 15 Conclusion

      10 REASONS You wrote  an Outstanding Opinion

      Appendices

      Appendix A - 5 Stages of Opinion Writing

      Appendix B – How to Work Out a Time Estimate

      Appendix C- Recommended Reading for Grammar and Spelling

      Appendix D – The key to good preparation — SLEEP. EAT. EXERCISE. RELAX.

      Bibliography

      About the Author

      Acknowledgements

      Foreword

      I have known Suzanne now for over 20 years and regard her as a dear friend. Our paths first crossed at what was then a well known national firm of solicitors and has since then grown into the large international practise of DACBeachcroft. There she specialised in personal and catastrophic injury work for many years. She is a very able and determined adversary who always put her clients’ needs first. She is very much a results driven person and given that we both practised Law this was not a bad thing. She took all of that experience into teaching and training students who were to become young members of the Bar. Many years later I was fortunate enough to have one of her former students appear in front of me and she had nothing but praise for Suzanne. That praise was, however, tinged with the comment that students who attended her lectures never turned up ill prepared or offered the phrase the dog ate my homework as she is not one to suffer fools gladly.  I was, therefore, surprised and humbled to be asked to write the foreword for this book. Knowing Suzanne as I do, this is an extremely important work to her as she wishes to pass on all her legal knowledge to help others achieve their potential.

      Has she done this? Having read the book, I am in no doubt that she has. The book is written in a relaxed and easy flowing style making it user friendly and very accessible. Over the years I have dipped into my fair share of legal tomes (and still do) and wish all such books would think of the reader first as this book does. The book allows the reader to find their own style of learning using the R.E.D. technique. That is, Read, Evaluate and Decide. Throughout the book Suzanne acknowledges this by referencing the fact that we all have different learning and reading styles. She does not say which one is better but encourages the reader to evaluate which is the best style for them whilst at the same time encouraging the use of structure and analysis. Added to this are exercises to emphasise the points being made and a thorough analysis of how an Opinion should be written from start to finish.

      Suzanne identifies the key fundamentals that are essential to this process using the R.E.D. technique and follows this up with crucial advice to help the reader become an accomplished Opinion writer. See for example the five assumptions Suzanne refers to in the book set out below. These points should always be at the forefront of a student’s mind:

      I have no doubt that used properly this book will be an extremely important work in helping young Barristers of the future make the most of their abilities and ultimately provide the most consistent, thoughtful and helpful advice to their clients.  

      District Judge Paul Brooks

      Central London and Bromley County Courts

      30 August 2017

      Chapter 1

      Introduction

      The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today

      — H. Jackson Brown Jr.

      H

      ave you ever had so much information you cannot work out the right answer or even what to think? Have you ever felt that you are so confused you have no idea where to start to solve that opinion writing problem? Do you have all the law and cases in your head but it doesn’t come out in opinion writing? Is it frustrating?

      I was a City lawyer for over 17 years and a law lecturer for nearly 10 years, teaching students how to read and evaluate case papers on the BPTC. I would sit in my office and speak to students who, having read complicated case papers, could not work out how to write an opinion. I sat in my office one day speaking to a student, we will call him John Bull (you may have met him in your criminal case papers at City, University of London). He was a bright student but very frustrated with his performance. He had received a poor grade for opinion writing.

      We discussed his opinion and how he had answered the mock assessment opinion. I then asked him a series of questions about the opinion problem. John answered my questions confidently and sure of his position. At the end of our discussion his conclusions to the opinion problem were entirely different from those he put in his opinion. John had all the legal knowledge he needed to answer the opinion question. His problem was that he did not understand the right questions to ask himself and how to record his thoughts in a logical way.

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