WHAT IS THE
I.R.A.C. METHOD?

At law school you have to learn how to advise clients by applying what you have learnt and by giving legal advice. Your lecturer will ask you to use the I.R.A.C. method. Just what is the I.R.A.C. Method? It is a methodology or a framework for legal analysis. It ensures your advice is clean and comprehensive. I.R.A.C. is abbreviated as "IRAC" and stands for "Issue, Rule, Application, and Conclusion". For each of the facts provided, i) you must identify the correct legal issue, ii) state the legal rule that covers it, i.e. with the authority. iii) Then you must use that rule to advise the client i.e. apply the rule to your facts. iv) Lastly you must conclude your advice given your client an outcome, i.e. the advice they are paying for.

WHAT WE DO

OUR MISSION

At Private Law Tutor Publishing, our mission is to deliver simplified, clear, and completely comprehensive law textbooks that use the IRAC method, for students and legal education tools like law notes to all students (of all abilities). Private Law Tutor publication is led and managed by a barrister. He has tutored students since 2008 and written books for law students to provide a support mechanism.

OUR ETHOS

We provide students studying law with high-quality how to study law books and IRAC method notes. We firmly believe it is critical to share the knowledge we possess because sharing only helps to strengthen your understanding and allows you to ingrain what you know.

OUR GOAL

Our goal is to offer IRAC method books for law students with all they need in a streamlined format, freeing them up to focus on the critical tasks at hand, such as study, research, analysis, and application, which will ultimately propel the field forward.

OUR VISION

Our vision is to equip law students with the tools they need (IRAC method explained caselaw), without the bother of spending hours pouring over many wordy books on law and long judgments in order to gain a clear sense of how the law applies to any particular situation. Our law books use the IRAC method in their explanation and can help you understand how to study law.

THE LAW BOOKSHOP

WE PUBLISH OUR OWN COLLECTION OF CORE SERIES, Q&A SERIES, AND SUBJECT SERIES LAW TEXTBOOKS

All of our law textbooks are written by highly experienced academics that are Barristers. Above all, our books on law are designed to be user-friendly and represent great value for money for not just law but all students.

The entire approach required for the study of law is extremely methodical, using the IRAC Method. So if you learn the steps and formulas early on, this will enrich your experience and save you time. It will also guarantee that your answer to a problem question is always correct, regardless of the subject in law you are studying or the law module you are enrolled in.

Once you have a plan, this will result in fantastic results. Our law textbooks use a one-size-fits-all approach, so you do not even need to think about how to study to get a first - it is all mapped out for you. Embedded within our law books is the methodical approach you need to adopt.

USING THE I.R.A.C. METHOD

HOW IMPORTANT IS THE IRAC METHOD?

The acronym IRAC stands for a worldwide system which means "Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion" and is referred to as the IRAC Method. The IRAC method for law students is essential to organise answers for law a problem question or essay question and generally law school success.

LAW BOOKSHOP

OUR LAW TEXTBOOKS

HOW THE IRAC METHOD IS USED IN THE LAW BOOKS WE WRITE

The problem that I encountered when studying law is: knowing everything. There is so much to read and so little time to do it. If you skip some material, or a case then you are none the wiser.
So throughout my years teaching law I have devised a system and I am going to share this with you.

You may have encountered different methods or formulas to help when advising a client in a mock scenario. One of example is the IRAC method or another is Celo. These are well documented and you can read about these.

I never used them, because I had a method in my head that worked. It was not until I started teaching that I spoke about it. I call my method the “Fact Law Sandwich”. Let me explain. If you are asked to advise a party as to their legal rights this is how you present it:

Our book use the IRAC tested method and refined the method to what we call the FACT LAW SANDWICH. Using this method students gain marks by explaining the relevant law and then applying it to the facts.

FACTS

GENERAL PRINCIPLE

LAW

APPLY TO FACTS

In Fact: simply state what you have been told, this why you can never be accused of not considering the facts. “Tom pays Dick to strike Harry over the head with a hammer. Harry dies”. You can also frame the facts into a question: i.e. Does Simon have the necessary mens rea or intention to satisfy the offence of murder?

In General principle: you simply state what the general rule of the relevant issue is. You express it as if you are speaking to a child who has no knowledge of law: i.e. Under English law, the intention will be direct whether the Defendant desires an outcome.

In Law: you state “using the authority of…..” and you go on to state which statute or case helps prove your point. In R v Calhaem [1985] 1 QB 808 it was held hiring someone to kill carries a direct intention of a specific outcome which is murder a person.

Lastly in Apply to Facts: You apply the law to the facts. Tom has the necessary intention to murder Harry notwithstanding the act was carried out by Dick. You apply the reasoning of the case to your factual scenario.

By using the “Fact Law Sandwich” your advice will sound and look structured and professional. The reason it is called the “Fact Law Sandwich”, is because the advice contains two outer layers of facts that sandwich the general principle and law in the middle.

My series of books are written to provide the student with a good knowledge of the most important cases on their study. It is written in a way to facilitate the Fact Law Sandwich method. I provide the general principle, the name of the case with full citation, the facts, the Ratio (the thing the lecturers say you always need to use), and application i.e. how the case should be applied. No other book provides this information at your fingertips.

THE AUTHOR

I started Private Law Tutor in 2010. I earned an LLB honors degree and then pursued an Commercial Law LLM Master's degree with an average of 80% and a distinction overall. I went on to read for the Bar Course, earning a Very Competent result. In 2007, I was admitted and called to the Bar. I am a Barrister and a member of Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn. Since then, I has used my legal abilities to help other law students by law tutoring, and writing law books for the LLB, GDL, PGDL, SQE, LPC and the Bar Course.

LAW COURSES WERE YOU CAN USE OUR LAW BOOKS

FACT LAW SANDWICH EXAMPLE

WHERE CAN I USE THE LAW BOOKS?

ONLINE LAW TUTORS

We believe that learning does not stop at the classroom door, but rather that is where it starts. We are law tutors, who are experienced lecturers and barristers so we have designed our law notes and the law books we write to work for all purposes.

Private Law Tutor publish law books that will provide you with far clearer knowledge than your law professor's 60-minute session. Take time to read notes that we provide in our books on law. It is there to expand your knowledge. Thus, when it comes time to revise, your focus can be on memorising and if you decide to do any note-taking this will be on additional information that is really valuable, rather than on fundamental subject or case law summaries. Our law book will help you to construct a knowledge store that might be invaluable come exam time for each subject.

THE BENEFITS OF OUR LAW BOOKS

The law books are focused and straight to the point.
The law books cut through all the irrelevant material and tell you what you really need to know for exams, questions, multiple choice questions and essays.
The law books are comprehensive and concise explanations that are short to get a understanding.
Written by a barrister with input from top students and other law tutors.
We have been through the same law exams and managed to get top marks.
Simplified structure to help you learn efficiently – such as facts, general principle, ratio and application, of all key cases along with academic commentary and examination questions and answers (Q&As).
What you need to create great answers for a great exam result, read our explained summaries of cases, and how to use them.