What is the assessment time for attendance note?
25 minutes
What skills are assessed in attendance note?
- Record all relevant information
- Identify appropriate next steps
- Client-focused advice
Is legal content assessed in the attendance note?
Yes
Describe a standard template for an attendance note
- Client
- Matter
- Date of interview
- Client instructions (5 bullet points max)
- Legal advice
- Professional Conduct Issues (if relevant)
- Next steps
What line should you include in the Client Instructions section of the attendance note?
“Please see notes attached at Appendix 1”
What should you do if you think of something when drafting the note that you forgot to ask during the interview?
Indicate this in the note
What should your note include if there are different possible courses of action?
How the legal and non-legal consequences of each alternative affects the client, including the costs, benefits, and risks
What things should be included in the ‘Next Steps’ section of your advice note?
- Confirm your advice in a follow up client letter or email
- Documents for the client to provide
- Instructions the solicitor requires from the client
- Meetings for the solicitor to set up
- Correspondence the solicitor will enter into on client’s behalf (e.g. with buyer/seller, estate agent, PRs, another department in the firm etc.)
Give 4 examples of common professional conduct issues in an interview/attendance note
- Acting for more than 1 client
- Client’s best interests
- Risks and costs associated with a particular course of action
- Misrepresentation on what you said in an interview
What should you always advise if a client wants you to represent them and someone else and there would be a conflict in doing so?
That the other person should seek independent legal advice
What 5 issues should you consider in a property interview/attendance note?
- Stage of transaction
- Registered on unregistered land
- Acting for the seller or buyer (or both)
- Residential or commercial property
- Freehold or leasehold
