Conclusions

A Conclusion is a brief summary of the content of the entry and the potential implications of the legal issue. This is the summing up of your findings, argument or point of law. The conclusion should relate back to the Introduction.

The Conclusion should only consist of a few sentences, and should reiterate the information you provided in the body of your text.

Purpose of Conclusions

The purpose of a conclusion is to tie together, or integrate the various points covered in the body of the entry or essay, and to make comments upon the meaning of all of it. This includes noting any implications resulting from your discussion of the topic, as well as recommendations, forecasting future trends, and, if appropiate, the need for further research on the topic.

The conclusion should:
• be a logical ending to what has been previously been discussed. It must pull together all of the parts of the legal points and refer the reader back to the focus you have outlined in your introduction and to the central topic. This gives your essay a sense of unity.
• usually be only a paragraph in length, but in an extended essay (3000+ words) it may be better to have two or three paragraphs to pull together the different parts of the essay.
• add to the overall quality and impact of the essay. This is your final statement about this topic; thus it can make a great impact on the reader.

The conclusion should not:
• just sum up
• end with a long quotation
• focus merely on a minor point in your argument
• introduce new material