Could You Explain This Concept to a 5-Year-Old?

The next time you encounter a super-confusing legal topic (if you’re an incoming 1L, this is likely to happen very soon after you start), ask yourself one question: Could I explain this concept to a reasonably intelligent 5-year-old? If the answer’s no, it’s time to simplify!

Isn’t the Law Really Complicated?

I can hear the protest now:

The law is really complicated! It’s SO hard and confusing. That’s why lawyers get paid so much!

Wrong. The big-bucks lawyers get paid a lot because they can take complicated, difficult concepts and explain them in simple, easy-to-understand language.

In other words, they could convince a small child that their position is correct! (This, in turn, generally convinces judges of the same thing.)

How Can You Apply This Idea?

The next time you encounter a concept that seems confusing, start asking yourself very simple questions.

Civ Pro is a great place to start, because it seems incredibly overwhelming in the beginning. Ultimately, however, it’s really all about one question:

Can this case be brought in federal court?

That’s it! From there, you start breaking it down:

• Is there subject matter jurisdiction?
• Is there personal jurisdiction?

And so on. Don’t believe me? Here’s part of my Civ Pro “outline.”

Seems pretty basic, right? I think a 5-year-old child could probably understand this. But, critically, so could I, and so could my professor, when I explained my answers on the exam.

So don’t over-complicate things! Even the most complex legal topics can be broken down into simple questions.

The next time you’re really confused, borrow a small child and have them listen to your explanation. If they basically get it, you know you’re on the right track!

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Want more? Check out this post on simplifying things.

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Image from Cieleke via stock.xchng.