SQE2 Tips: The Client Interview

This part of SQE2 requires candidates to interview a client who has come to their firm for advice.  You will be provided with some basic information (likely an email from a law firm colleague) and then given 10 minutes to prepare for a 25 minute interview.

The client interview is different from other portions of SQE2 as you’re only assessed on skills, and not on application of the law.  With this in mind, I’ve shared some tips below to help you approach this unique assessment.  

Interview Prep Before Test Day

In advance of my oral exams, I prepared a short “script” (or skeleton outline) which I then committed to memory (more or less) before each test.  This may seem like overkill for a basic interview – particularly if you regularly interview clients at your job – but I think it’s helpful for a couple of reasons:

1. Unlike real life interviews, this one is an assessment.  It has an artificial format and therefore, should be approached differently.  You ideally want to structure this interview so you can tick each of the assessment’s “skill boxes” easily and completely.  A script can help with this.  Preparing a short introduction and conclusion for your interview allows you to easily get those “trust and rapport” points.  Additionally, it frees up mental bandwidth if you don’t have to come up with pleasantries etc. on the fly.
2. A script helps ensure you don’t miss anything you may have wanted to say at the beginning or end of the meeting (for example, about confidentiality).  It’s possible to forget even basic things if you’re stressed and/or hyper-focused on extracting every legally relevant thing from the client-actor.
3. Related to the above, while you can’t know in advance what questions you’ll need to ask, there are certain things you’ll always want to keep in mind (and very likely want to raise) in most client interviews.  For example, ‘what are you (client) hoping to achieve?’ And the always critical ‘is there anything we’ve not touched on? / anything else you’d like me to know?’  Flagging these in your draft skeleton makes it less likely they’ll slip your mind on test day.

The 10 Minute Pre-Interview Prep

I used my 10 minutes of preparation time to read the documents provided and highlight all key information.  I thought about questions I would need to ask based on potential issues arising from facts given, and based on details that were missing.  I then jotted down my skeleton outline, incorporating these questions as I went.

Conducting the 25 Minute Interview

When it’s go-time, you’ll be led to a private meeting room where your “client / prospective client” is waiting.  You can use your introductory “script” to introduce yourself and get acquainted.  Be friendly, but not too casual.  Be polite and always listen carefully.  You want to put the person at ease as much as possible (remember: you’re being graded on listening, professionalism, and building trust). 

Following pleasantries, let the client know you have very little information about the matter and so will have some questions for them.  Start by asking them to tell you, in their own words, what has brought them to see a lawyer.  Your client-actor will oblige and tell you what’s happened.  It’s important to show that you’re a good listener, so don’t interrupt and try not to jump in – especially early on. 

As a general rule, you’ll want to ask open ended questions to start, before moving on to closed questions.  This is known as the T-funnel (or funnel) technique, and it helps ensure you don’t miss anything a client may have to say – by rushing too quickly into targeted and overly specific questions.  

Once you’ve concluded your open questions – and then your closed questions – on one issue, it’s always a good idea to ask the client ‘is there anything else you’d like to tell me about X?” before moving on to subsequent issues. 

Once you have all the information you think you need (and you’ve asked ‘is there anything else…?’ one final time) you can begin to wrap up the interview on the basis that you’ll be advising the client in detail at a later date.  This means you do not have to give any overly detailed advice, but you should say enough to address any questions the client may raise and to establish trust and confidence. 

A Note on Pauses and Note Taking

Don’t rush or feel pressured to speak as soon as the client stops talking.  When taking notes, for example, feel free to tell the client that you need a moment to write down what they’ve just said or what you’ve just discussed. 

Try to write as neatly as possible.  For the QLTS (Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme), we were allowed to attach our interview notes to the subsequent Attendance Note and (if you wrote legibly) this was a great time saver.   There was no need to rewrite facts, issues and any advice given during the interview.  You could simply label your interview notes, attach them to your Attendance Note, and refer the reader to them where appropriate.  I’d suggest you do the same for the SQE, where possible. 

Other SQE Interview Tips to Keep in Mind

• Make sure to review the SQE2 Assessment Criteria for Client Interviews (listed in a drop-down section near the bottom of the SRA’s SQE2 Assessment Specification).  Pay close attention to what you are actually being assessed on!  Again, you will not be assessed on substantive law, rather you need to listen and to “establish and maintain an effective relationship with the client” (among other things).  Leave the nitty gritty legal bits for the Attendance Note.

• On test day, if you find you don’t need the full 10 minutes to prep your interview questions, there’s nothing to stop you (as far as I know) from starting to write out the basic framework for your Attendance Note.  (This isn’t something I had time for, but I know of others who’ve been able to pre-prep their Attendance Notes a little bit).  This is a great hack if you have spare time (if not, don’t sweat it!)

• When thinking of what to ask a client, there are a couple of overarching things that should inform your lines of questioning.  First, do you have all the relevant background information or are there gaps? Is there anything else you need to find out to give relevant and accurate advice? Second, do you know what the client’s objectives and motivations are? What do they actually want? (and not just from a legal p.o.v.)

• Keep an eye out for professional conduct issues.  These can take different forms and could appear in your initial instructions or as you speak with the client.  Beware of potential conflicts of interest, for example, and ask yourself:  Who will be relying on your advice? Will you be advising anyone other than this one client? If there is another person involved, are their interests different in any way? Will they be represented separately? If you spot any of these issues, be sure to flag them. 

• While I suggest that you should generally allow the client to talk, and avoid interrupting, if you sense that they have gotten side-tracked, or are reluctant to give out more information, you may need to politely interject and try to get things back on track.  

• I used the entire 25 minutes of interview time, but it’s not necessary for candidates to fill all of this time if they don’t need to.  If you think you’ve said and heard all you need to, feel free to bring the interview to an early close.   

I hope that you’ve found this post helpful. You may also want to check out this earlier article, where I wrote about places to find sample interview questions.

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