Negligence doesn't get any easier on the bar exam. When I was studying negligence for the bar exam, I had a real hard time with the accounting. Superseding intervening cause - is that part of the actual cause element or the proximate cause element? Attractive nuisance doctrine - should that be discussed as a duty or a breach of duty? While I knew the elements of negligence, I didn't know under what element I should put the various doctrines. I've read several negligence essays and, like me, this is something several people have to overcome. How do you know you have a similar problem? You ramble on and eventually you notice you have blended two elements together.
The practice of law is an exercise in killing trees. Well, here is another opportunity. To keep my accounting straight, I had one sheet of paper for each element. I didn't staple or paper clip them together. I treated each element as a separate outline. Not only did it cement where each doctrine or rule should be discussed, it kept me from rambling!
