Hey,
I got a 93 in Legal for the 2011 HSC and this is my advice, hope it helps. I don't think that there is any set structure for an essay. My essays were always similar in structure regardless of the topic however i know people that had very different structures and got similar marks to me. As long as there is some type of structure and the essay is coherent then it doesn't make too much of a difference. Obviously an introduction and conclusion, however the way you structure the matter is completely up to you.
An example of how i did mine:
For a generic family essay (how has law reform been effective in achieving justic in regards to family) that i had this was the structure:
Introduction: first sentence directly answering question with a thesis. second sentence explaining my 3 points and how they relate to the thesis. third sentence reinforcing the thesis. You really don't need more than that, cuz the essay questions are normally quite straight forward.
1st point: topic was same-sex couples. The whole point (aprox 300 words) explaining that law reform has been reasonably effective, however still reform is needed ie. recognition of same-sex marriages, for true equality. In this i used cases, legislation and media reports to back up my point which subsequently argued the thesis
2nd and 3rd point: these did the same thing, so throughout the paragraph cases, media reports, and legislation explained how effective law reform had been in regards to the issue and thus backed up my thesis that law reform had been reasonably effective however more reform was needed. They were on shared parenting & technological advancements.
