How to Write a Term Paper in Law: Outline Example

When writing a term paper in law, you will use the same outline techniques you have used for all research papers. The only difference will be the content of your paper is about law, whereas in the past you may have been outlining something different. Your outline is a skeletal structure of your paper’s information. It includes the introduction, body content and conclusion of your paper, and is organized by numerals, roman numerals and letters of the alphabet. This outline will be the roadmap you follow when writing your paper, guiding you step-by-step from start to finish.

The introduction of your law term paper will present the legal issue or matter your paper will explore. You will want to have a strong thesis statement, and this thesis statement will be shown in your term paper. It will look something like this:

Introduction

General information about law topic

Thesis Statement

Breaking up the body content of your paper into each main point about the subject, each matter on your topic will have its own section of the outline. This helps keep all the information on one area of the topic organized into one area of the paper, moving from point to point about the topic seamlessly. You will see what we mean in the example below.

Main Point One

Details about main point one

Support

1. quote, statistic or other information supporting main point one
2. quote, statistic or other information supporting main point one

Transition to main point two

Main Point Two

Details about main point two

Support

1. quote, statistic or other information supporting main point two
2. quote, statistic or other information supporting main point two
3. Transition to main point three

Main Point Three

Details about main point three

Support

1. quote, statistic or other information supporting main point three
2. quote, statistic or other information supporting main point three

Transition to conclusion

Finally, you have arrived at your conclusion. Your outline will be more detailed than the example obviously, but this will provide you with the general format for your next term paper in law. Your conclusion will be where you tie up the loose ends of your term paper, and make your final conclusions about the legal subject. Drive home your point in the conclusion; the outline for it will look like something like this:

Conclusion

Closing thoughts on main point one, two and three

Overall conclusion of paper