Our Interview case studies course talks you through eight case studies, with three based on real commercial law interviews, and includes discussion of the role of the firm's key practice areas and various legal and commercial terms and concepts.

Structuring a written submission

Where applicable, I would recommend starting a written piece by briefly summarising back the facts and instructions. This gives helpful context, which can be useful if the recipient isn’t fully up to speed or has forgotten pertinent details. Remember, in practice, the recipient may well be dealing with a broad range of different matters on a daily (if not hourly) basis, so without context, your work might not make much sense. Summarising the facts and instructions can also help to reassure the recipient that you have properly understood what’s needed from you. 

I would then highlight your overall findings – possibly within a short executive summary – so that the recipient can quickly access the key information should they need it. Doing so demonstrates an awareness that recipients such as supervisors and clients are often busy, and will therefore appreciate you giving them the option to access the “answer” – or the reasons why there is no definitive answer – on a quick skim. In practice, this means that they can then decide whether it’s worth ploughing through your more detailed reasoning. Note that you won’t be able to complete the summary of your findings until you’ve finished your analysis, so be sure to leave enough time at the end to go back and add the summary.

You should then adopt a strong and consistent structure when working on the main body of the written piece. For example, where the brief requires you to assess facts or issues in light of a piece of legislation or an extract from a contract, it can be helpful to split the main body into sections relating to each key fact or issue, then in each section: (a) explain the relevant law, and then (b) apply that law to the facts. Note that using headings, subheadings and short paragraphs throughout can help to make the piece easier to read and digest. 

Finally, make sure you cover off anything else that you have been asked to do as part of the brief. For example, you might at this stage need to set out some recommended courses of action based on your analysis, in order to give the recipient a steer on what to do in the current circumstances. It might also be appropriate to flag any additional information that you would want to access before giving any further advice. 

Always tie your analyses into the facts provided

As a general tip, it can be easy to lose sight of the circumstances presented in a case study, so make a conscious effort to tie your points, including the relevance of the law and any contractual provisions that you discuss, to the facts presented. Clients aren’t simply seeking an abstract summary of the law or of sections of a contract; they want to know how the law impacts them and their particular circumstances.

Writing style and tone

Aside from the quality of your legal or commercial analysis, you should be ready to adapt your writing style and tone depending on the recipient. For example, if you are writing to a fictional client, perhaps keep legal and contractual references to a minimum and summarise the relevant provisions in plain English. After all, client’s don’t want to have to wade through statutory provisions and legal jargon – this is partly why they hire lawyers! In contrast, a letter to an in-house lawyer at a client business, or a note to a supervisor, can often be more technical and set out the sources you have used. With this in mind, make a conscious effort not to lose sight of the intended recipient during the writing process.

You might also want to use definitions to help keep your note concise and precise. For example, if you’re referring to a “Joint Venture Shareholders’ Agreement between Party A and Party B” throughout, perhaps include “JV SHA” as a defined term after the longer description (when you first reference the document in full). For example, if you write “Joint Venture Shareholders’ Agreement between Party A and Party B (“JV SHA”)”, you can then use “JV SHA” moving forwards. This is fine when writing to supervisors and might also be fine in client notes, provided that it won’t cause too much confusion or require the client to constantly cross check sections of long and complex documents.

Preparation

In terms of preparation, perhaps practise writing formal reports and analysing and condensing large amounts of information. Our interview case studies course includes a broad range of example case studies and written exercises, complete with model answers and detailed advice on how to approach each. This includes exercises centred on M&A, strategy, legislation analysis, contractual analysis, disputes, brainteasers and more, so give them a go.