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It can be difficult to prepare for written exercises, as they can involve such a broad range of tasks and challenges. 

Written exercises will commonly be somewhat akin to case studies, but with you writing your submissions rather than presenting them to (or discussing them with) interviewers. These types of written exercises could take the form of, for example, a research note, supervisor email or client letter of advice. In this sense, written exercises often test your commercial awareness, problem-solving skills and ­­analytical ability as much as – if not more than – your writing ability. For examples, check out many of the written answers to case studies throughout this course.

Some written exercises do focus more on your writing ability however, and might involve a combination of proofreading, flagging ambiguities, re-writing sections of text to achieve greater clarity, and drafting mock emails to law firm stakeholders. To help with your preparation, you should therefore try to find out as much as you can in advance of completing a written exercise as part of a firm’s recruitment process.

Make sure you fully understand the brief

Whatever the format, you should read and re-read everything - the instructions, background documents, fictional emails and so on - just to make sure you fully understand what any background documents are setting out and what is needed from you. In this context, attention to detail is key, as if you misread part of the brief, you could end up going off on a wrong tangent. In many cases, every detail counts! 

Carefully manage your time

You should also have a clock or timer to hand, as you are usually expected to manage your own time. Make sure you pace yourself in a way that ensures you have the best chance of covering everything you are asked to cover, as this shows that you’re able to assimilate instructions and that you have good time management.

Leave enough time to submit your work

In addition, leave at least a couple of minutes to upload your work at the end of the task, just in case there are technical issues or the upload speed is slow.

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