Many, if not most, law professors teach their students the IRAC framework — Issue – Rule – Analysis – Conclusion — to use in addressing legal issues and answering exam essays.

I even teach my undergraduate students the IRAC framework, and find it useful in teaching critical thinking skills.

However, like many of my former law professors, I usually underemphasize the importance of the conclusion. Of course you have to get the issue and rule correct to start, but the meat of the answer is in the fact and rule-based analysis. The conclusion, I often say, can often go either way, especially on the thorny exam issues.

Since I started hearing the term “post truth,” I have been rethinking the way I teach IRAC and the underemphasized conclusion. While it is still clearly important to teach and test analysis, I am starting to realize the value of identifying the strongest and best conclusion. This may prove difficult to test, as law exams often focus on unsettled areas of law, but perhaps I will include a few more settled portions to see if students can identify legal issues with a clearer correct answer.