IRAC Master: A Guide for Foreign Lawyers and LLM Students

Overcoming Language Barriers for LLM Students and Foreign Lawyers

If English is not your first language, crushing the bar can be an intimidating prospect. One student on Reddit wrote that if the bar was in translation, he would be able to answer every question. Unfortunately, one of the goals of the bar is to test your knowledge of American Legal English, ensuring that you not only understand the problem at hand, but can also communicate it in an effective way to other English speaking professionals. While this may be frustrating, especially if you feel that your English is holding you back, there are other ways to conquer legal English then spending hours with your dictionary. Instead, a study plan targeted at black letter law and IRAC is what you need.

The Components of IRAC and Black Letter Law

Identifying the issue is the first and most important step of IRAC. To do so you need a strong understanding of black letter laws—the fundamental legal principles that are clearly articulated in statutes, case law, or regulations—and the fact words that signal them. Being able to spot fact words in the question (“fact pattern”) will come naturally once you master the black letter law. After identifying the issue, you must simply state the rule, or black letter law. The next step is to apply the facts to the rule. This means providing a synopsis of its elements, definitions, exceptions, limitations, and defenses. These building blocks enable you to analyze the issue in conjunction with the rule set out. Finally, you can draw a conclusion based on your previous steps. While this may seem like a daunting process, BarGraders IRAC Master is tailor made to walk you through every part of the process.

How Educato X BarGraders Makes you an IRAC Master

With over 1200 issues to choose from, IRAC Master provides comprehensive coverage of black letter law and IRAC. For each issue, there is a mini lecture that explains the black letter law in question then demonstrates IRAC with multiple practical examples. Beneath this there is a succinct summary that solidifies the lecture and makes it easy to refresh yourself later. To help you dive deeper into each issue, IRAC Masters offers an AI powered tutor with a number of features. In the learn tab you can interact with additional explanations, create mnemonics that aid memorization, and even translate the lesson into your own language. Finally, you can test your knowledge with flashcards and short answer questions. In each part of this process you will familiarize yourself with the language and fact patterns of black letter laws.

All of this will help you bypass the challenge of studying for the Bar in what may be your second or even a third language. Instead of taking a general approach that deviates from the content of the test, IRAC master teaches you the legal language you need to know in the contexts where it is useful.