Fall 2023

FINAL EXAM: TAKE-HOME PORTION

Instructions: The take-home portion of the exam. The remainder of the questions will be provided to

you during the sitting for the final examination. Specific instructions on how to submit the exam appear

on the last page. You must submit the exam using MS Word (i.e. a file with .doc or .rtf.)

You are an associate at the law firm of Engle, Paterno, O'Brien & Franklin. Please prepare a draft letter in

response to the following letter received by counsel for a vendor who sells to your firm's client, Kulal Fruit

Company. Your draft response should respond to the letter's claim that your client is in breach of

contract. Do NOT discuss possible remedies.

A few writing tips:

Be sure to proofread and copy edit. Pretend you are editing someone else's writing because your

English-language skills are superior to theirs.

Use Word to make sure that words are not misspelled.

Use topic sentences effectively: the first sentence of every paragraph should say what you intend

to say in that paragraph.

Avoid the passive voice ("the court decided" not "it was decided").

Do not include unnecessary facts or legal analysis (do not be tricked by facts that are inserted in

the problem but not relevant to your answer)

Try to finish the paper no later than Sunday night 3 December, so you can get a good night's

sleep and do a final edit of the paper on Monday morning.

There is no rigid word limit. I shall read any essay that has less than 575 words with extra care to find

issues you have missed, and I shall read any essay that is longer than 900 words with extra care to find

ways in which your writing could be more concise.