1L subject · Criminal Law
Criminal Law: the 1L exam guide.
Criminal Law turns on two questions repeated across every crime: what mental state did the defendant have, and which elements did the act satisfy? Exams reward precise mens rea analysis and a clean march through the elements of each offense and defense.
Why Criminal Law is hard on exams
Mens rea is the recurring fault line. Most crimes require a specific mental state — purpose, knowledge, recklessness, or negligence — and the Model Penal Code's framework often differs from the common-law categories your professor may also expect. A fact pattern frequently turns on whether the defendant had the required state of mind for each element, and getting the level wrong cascades through the rest of the analysis.
Homicide is the densest tested area because it is graded into degrees: the same killing can be first-degree murder, second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, or involuntary manslaughter depending on premeditation, intent, provocation, and recklessness. Layered on top are defenses (self-defense, insanity, duress) and the inchoate crimes (attempt, conspiracy, solicitation) with their own mental-state requirements. The exam rewards sorting these carefully rather than reaching for the most serious charge.
High-frequency exam topics
The doctrines this subject tests most. In-depth guides are rolling out — start with the tools below in the meantime.
Mens rea
The MPC's four mental states vs. common-law specific/general intent, and how they attach to each element.
Actus reus
Voluntary acts, omissions where a duty exists, and the act/result causation link.
Homicide
Grading murder and manslaughter by premeditation, intent, provocation, and recklessness; felony murder.
Defenses
Self-defense and defense of others, insanity tests, duress, necessity, and mistake.
Inchoate crimes
Attempt, conspiracy, and solicitation — their mental-state requirements and the merger rules.
Practice this subject in the workspace
IRAC Practice Gym
Write timed answers to fact patterns in this subject and self-grade against a rubric.
Open tool →Case Brief Builder
Brief the assigned cases for this subject and extract the rule and reasoning a cold call will probe.
Open tool →Outline Builder
Synthesize the doctrine into an attack outline organized by rule and element.
Open tool →Rule Flashcards
Drill the elements and exceptions with spaced repetition until they come automatically.
Open tool →Free: the Criminal Law attack-outline starter.
A one-page issue checklist for Criminal Law plus our broader 1L study resources. Free — just tell us where to send it.
Turn this subject into exam-ready analysis.
Brief the cases, extract the rules, build your attack outline, and practice timed hypos — with feedback that helps you think, not answers that do the work for you.
Build the skills
How to write an IRAC answer
The structure every exam answer in this subject is built on.
Read the guide →Practice hypos with model answers
Worked fact patterns with model IRAC answers, then try them yourself.
Read the guide →How to build a law school outline
Turn a semester of this subject into an attack outline you can use in the exam room.
Read the guide →How law school exams actually work
Issue-spotting, time budgeting, and what graders reward.
Read the guide →