As you outline for your doctrinal courses, make sure your outline includes the relevant defenses. Defenses are among the most commonly overlooked parts of legal analysis. Students tend to focus on elements and requirements, and there is real satisfaction in spotting each one in a fact pattern. That focus, however, can cause you to miss issues you should address and material you already know.
Most essay answers follow a natural arc: identify the claim, state the rule, apply the rule to the facts, and arrive at a conclusion. Once you have established that all the requirements are satisfied, you can feel that the analysis is complete. It may not be. You may still need to determine if valid defenses apply. Defenses can appear later in the syllabus and may receive less class time. Your goal is to make addressing defenses automatic rather than something you hope to remember under pressure.
Defenses may not be applicable to every fact pattern and that is fine. At a minimum, briefly raise defenses the facts reasonably suggest and explain why they do not apply. This approach demonstrates thoroughness and command of the material. It frequently earns points on the grading rubric that other students leave behind. If you know the defenses, make sure your exam answers show it.
(Goldie Pritchard)
