Practical legal skills (interview)

Topic: Practical legal skills (interview)
Order Description

interview and there are some topics I have to preparing to it.
questions (5open/5close/3specific) of such topic I will put information of the scenario with facts and I will be a solicitor. If you can add conclusion of each one. Please make the work separate not all the questions together I need to know a question related to any workshop and exercise.

Workshop 2 ( trainee and client)
Exercise 2 (1)
Solicitor student scenario
You are a trainee solicitor. You have a client coming to see you about an employment matter. That is all you know. Prepare for the interview. Think about what sort of information you might need and the questions you might need to ask, the structure of the interview and your language and how you will act.

You are NOT expected to know the answer to your client’s problem or to know the law on this area. If the client asks for advice, explain that you will need to consider the matter and will come back to them shortly to give them full advice.

Workshop 2
Exercise 2(1)
Client student scenario

You are a client who has made an appointment with a solicitor’s firm for some advice on an employment matter.

You can give your own name and address, telephone number and date of birth, or you can make these up (e.g. Sam Brown, 44 Regent Street, Coventry, CV1XX 2PP, tel: 024 7799 0000, 21/09/85).

Your problem:

You were sacked last Wednesday.

The facts:

You have worked for Primrose Supermarkets for the last 5 years as a cashier. Two months ago a new cashier was taken on and you do not get on with her. Mrs Todd is very loud and bossy and tells other staff what to do. She has upset several staff, including you. On one occasion she made a younger member of staff cry by telling her she was “a useless waste of space who did not know her pounds from her pence or a grape from a plum.” She has told you you are too slow and you talk too much to the customers and you look a mess. You have complained to your boss but nothing was ever done. You suspect Mrs Todd is having an affair with your boss and he is biased. It is rumoured that Mrs Todd is paid more than every other cashier in the shop. Last Wednesday you were called in to your supervisor who told you that he had received some complaints about your behaviour. You were astounded and swore at him, calling him “a bloody shagging disgrace”. He responded by saying he could not tolerate such language from his staff and he expected more loyalty. You shouted that not everyone was willing to jump into bed with him. He then told you to “leave the building and not bother coming back”.
Ask the solicitor how much money you will be entitled to.

Do not disclose the following details unless specifically asked:

Your workplace address: Civic Square, Unit 2, Shipston Street, Coventry, CV8 4LO. Your boss’s name: Arthur Pickering. Your salary: £10,500 p.a. gross. Your hours: 38 varied over 6 days.
What you want: you do not want your job back since you had already applied for another job. However, you need a reference from your old employer. You also want to know if you will get paid for this month and whether you are entitled to any compensation. You would also like Mrs Todd to be sacked.
Other information: you ‘borrowed’ some money from the till last month and did put it back. No-one knows about this and it is strictly against work rules.
Workshop 2
Exercise 2 (2)
Solicitor student scenario
You are a trainee solicitor. You have a client coming to see you about a contract matter. That is all you know. Prepare for the interview. Think about what sort of information you might need and the questions you might need to ask, the structure of the interview and your language and how you will act.

You are NOT expected to know the answer to your client’s problem or to know the law on this area. If the client asks for advice, explain that you will need to consider the matter and will come back to them shortly to give them full advice.

Workshop 2
Exercise 2(2)
Client student scenario

You are a client who has made an appointment with a solicitor’s firm for some advice on a contract matter.

You can give your own name and address, telephone number and date of birth, or you can make these up (e.g. Jo Barratt, 89 Green Street, Coventry, CV2PP 1XX , tel: 024 7700 9999, 01/05/80).

Your problem:

You were let down by a supplier who failed to deliver some computers to you on time.

The facts:

You own a small but successful computer shop in town. You sell to the general public but also to some larger commercial clients. You order from several different suppliers. Three months ago you placed an order for fifty state of the art laptops with one of your usual suppliers. The order was for delivery to one of your larger commercial clients who specifically requested these models. They needed the order by the end of last month. When placing the order with your supplier you made clear the date when you needed the order. The supplier delivered a day late and as a result you lost the order with your client. They have also said they may withdraw all future business and may enforce a ‘liquidated damages’ clause in the contract against you.
Ask the solicitor whether they can do that.

Do not disclose the following details unless specifically asked:

Your workplace address: Prime Computers, Unit 3a, Tamworth Industrial Estate, Coventry, CV4 8GT.
Your supplier’s name: BromComz. The total cost of the order: £15,000.
Your client’s name: Jard International. The total price you were selling the laptops: £25,000.
What you want: you do not want to take all the laptops since you do not think you will be able to sell them all. You would be happy to take ten. You do not want to pay for the rest of the order. You want to know if you can recover the full profit you have lost from this order, and any future loss of business with Jard. You also want to know if you will have to pay anything under the ‘liquidated damages clause.’ (You have a copy of the contract at work but forgot to bring it today).
Other information: although you mentioned the date to your supplier, it was not written in to the contract.
Workshop 2
Exercise 2 (3)
Solicitor student scenario
You are a trainee solicitor. You have a client coming to see you about a landlord and tenant matter. That is all you know. Prepare for the interview. Think about what sort of information you might need and the questions you might need to ask, the structure of the interview and your language and how you will act.

You are NOT expected to know the answer to your client’s problem or to know the law on this area. If the client asks for advice, explain that you will need to consider the matter and will come back to them shortly to give them full advice.

Workshop 2
Exercise 2(3)
Client student scenario

You are a client who has made an appointment with a solicitor’s firm for some advice on a landlord and tenant matter.

You can give your own name and address, telephone number and date of birth, or you can make these up (e.g. Jo Barratt, 89 Green Street, Coventry, CV2PP 1XX , tel: 024 7700 9999, 01/05/80).

Your problem:

You are a landlord of a small block of flats in Earlsdon in Coventy. You are having some problems with one of your tenants, Ellie Brown. Ellie has not paid the rent for the last 3 months. You have also received some complaints from neighbours in the other flats about noise. Apparently the television is on very late at night and very loud. You also suspect Ellie has pets (several long eared rabbits) in the flat which is not permitted under the tenancy agreement. You have been to see Ellie two or three times but she would not let you in to speak with her.

Do not disclose unless asked:

The rent is £850 per month. There was a deposit of £500.
Ellie’s address is Flat 1C, Greenfields, Civic Avenue, Earlsdon, Coventry, CV2 3DC.
Ellie has been a tenant for about 5 years (you have left the tenancy agreement at home). You cannot remember how long there is left to run on the agreement (this information is at home).
You do not have Ellie’s telephone number with you but have it on file at home.
There are 8 flats in total, 4 on the ground floor and 4 on the 1st floor. Ellie’s flat is on the 1st floor.
Each flat has a small bed-sitting-dining area, a small kitchenette and small shower room.
There are communal stairs and hallways and a communal garden and parking bays.
Bills are not included in the rent (phone, heating, water etc).
You would like your rent paid. You do not want to evict Ellie. You want any pets out and you want the late night noise to stop.
You would also like to increase the rent to £1,000 per month, so as to carry out some improvements and decorations.
It was the neighbours in Flat GC who complained (Mr and Mrs Birke). Their flat is underneath Ellie’s.
Ellie is partially deaf and has recently lost her job. You think she is in her mid forties.

Second topic
Workshop 4

Preparing for interviews, checklists; difficult clients, difficult issues; Exercises

Exercise 1(1)

Workshop 4: Exercise 1(1): Role A

You are a first year student. You have run up a credit card bill of £3,000. Some of this is on books for your course (about £500), but most of it is your social life and includes £1,000 you lost gambling on a night’s visit to a casino. Your parents paid for your accommodation and gave you a further £500 at the start of term.
You have told your parent you want to speak to them about a problem.
You now have to ask your parent for help with paying off the credit card. At first you are reluctant to say what the money was spent on, but in the end you do tell your parent. You have to try and persuade them to help you.

Workshop 4: Exercise 1(1): Role B

You are a parent. Your child is studying in their first year away at university. They have come to speak to you about a problem. When you hear about the problem you are upset and angry and at first refuse to help. Eventually you will agree to help but it takes some persuading.
Exercise 1(2)

Workshop 4: Exercise 1(2): Role A

You are a tutor. You are about to see a first year student to give them their mark back for their first piece of coursework. You have given the work 28%. The work was poorly written, with dreadful spelling and grammar. It was only half the word limit and so did not go into enough depth. In addition, the student had not answered or not understood the question and had missed several key issues.
Workshop 4: Exercise 1(2): Role B

You are a first year student who has come to collect their mark for their first piece of coursework. You think you made a reasonable attempt at the work but left it a bit late. You are hoping you have done quite well. If you have not done well you will be upset and angry and ask if you can have it remarked.
Third topic
Workshop 5

Advice Giving; Post interview steps: Exercises

Exercise 1(1)

Client role

Make up your own name, address and details.

You have come for some advice on an employment matter. Until last week you were employed by Garrisons, a local gym. You were a gym instructor and earned reasonable money: £20,000 p.a. gross. You enjoyed the job and got on with most of the staff. However, there was one other gym instructor, Jo Cannon, who seemed to take an instant dislike to you. You think this was because you were popular with the clients and some clients had swapped from Jo to you as their personal trainer. Last week in the staff room, Jo accused you of ‘pinching’ clients. You laughed, to try and break the tension, but Jo came up and punched you in the face. When you complained to the manager, Al Herbert, he sacked you, which you can’t believe. He gave you one month’s salary and told you not to come back. You want to claim unfair dismissal (a friend of yours claimed this and won several thousand pounds).

Do NOT disclose unless asked that you only started work with Garrisons just over 4 months ago (you started work on 1 June). You never received a written contract.

If the solicitor does not think you have a good case, you will be angry and upset. You will ask for a second opinion and for someone more senior in the firm. It is ridiculous if you do not have a case in the circumstances. You insist that you must have a claim. If you don’t have a case, you don’t think you should have to pay the solicitor their fees.
Workshop 5

Advice Giving; Post interview steps: Exercises
Exercise 1(1)

Solicitor role

You have an appointment with a client for some advice on an employment matter.

You are not an expert on employment law but you know the following for definite.

If someone is dismissed they may be able to claim unfair dismissal where the employer does not have a good reason to sack the employee and / or the decision to dismiss for that reason is unreasonable in all the circumstances. The employer must also follow a fair procedure – carry out investigations before dismissing and so on.
However, the law clearly says you can only claim unfair dismissal after you have been employed for one year or more, or if you started work after 6 April 2012, you need to have two years’ continuous service to be able to claim unfair dismissal.

You are expected to interview the client and find out the basic necessary information and then advise the client on whether there is a possible claim.

Topic four
Scenario 1: divorce

Client role:

You are Jack/ie Fisher. (Make up your address and contact details). You are 36 and have been married to Sam for 16 years. You have a son, Andrew, who is 15 years old. You have a full time job, working in the accounts department of a local company, Bill’s Trucks, earning about £25,000 p.a. You live in a three bedroom semi-detached house. The house is worth about £280,000 and is in the joint names of you and your wife/husband, Sam. There is a mortgage of about £100,000. Sam earns about £30,000 p.a. for a local estate agency

You have come to see the solicitor because you and your husband/wife have not been getting on together for some time. You have recently quarrelled quite a lot and there does not seem to be anything left. You do not talk to each other and if you do, it ends in a row. You don’t do anything together unless it involves Andrew. You seem to lead separate lives and are no longer physically intimate. You and your spouse have moved into separate bedrooms last month. You feel the relationship has now failed and the only reason you have stayed is because of your son. However, he is getting older now and you want to think about your future. You have met someone, initially over the internet, but have since met up with them on several occasions. You are now having an affair with this person. You do not want to hurt your family, but feel it is time to move on and this might be better for everyone.

You think you would like a divorce but you are concerned about the cost of this and any financial settlement. You also do not want your lover brought into all this, if possible.
Do not disclose unless asked:

Your spouse accused you of having an affair but you denied it.
The name of the person with whom you are having an affair: George (Georgetta) Lock.

Your spouse has a company car. You have a ford focus with an outstanding debt of about £4,000.

You have a joint bank account into which both salaries are paid. You think this might have an overdraft at the moment, though you are not sure why.

You have a personal building society account with about £5,000 and an ISA with £3,000.
You do not have a company pension. You are not sure about your partner’s pension.

You have two pet dogs, you would like to keep these.

Topic five
Your name is Jane/John Landau. You are 30 years old and live at (make up your address, personal and contact details).

You work as an independent contractor in the IT sector. You are currently working for a national recruitment firm: HR Solutions Ltd, based in Warwick.

About a month ago you were on your way to work when you were involved in a car crash. It was about 7 a.m in the morning and quite dark and wet (but no ice or fog). You had stopped at a queue at a junction just over the brow of a hill (make up location/ road/ address details). A car had pulled up and stopped behind you. A white van came speeding over the hill and did not see the queue of cars in time to stop and so crashed into the car behind you which shunted the car behind you into your car. You took the registration details and names (the van driver was a Bert Tanner, the car behind you was driven by a woman, Mrs Frieda Sharpe) and contact numbers (you have left some of these details at home). You contacted your insurance company (details at home) and your car needed £2,000 repair to the boot, bumper and paintwork. You had to take the morning off work and so lost pay.

You did not suffer any obvious injuries. However, since then you have been suffering from head pains and back ache. You are in considerable pain and are having to take pain relief. You have seen your GP who is referring you for a scan which you are still waiting for.

You want to recover the cost of repairs to your car and for the pay you lost in taking time off and for the injuries you have suffered.

Do not reveal unless asked:
Your hourly pay is £55 gross.
You have had to take 3 more days off recently due to the pain.
You are unable to play squash at the moment, which you used to play once a week.
The details of your car (VW Passat, 2008, or make up).
You were on your mobile phone when the accident happened.
You did have your handbrake on but the car behind you did not.
You did not damage the car in front of you, since you had your handbrake on.
blem and I have to ask questions open,close and specific. I need 5 close questions, 5 to 7 close and 3 specific then conclusion.
The questions will be come from the above facts of each exercise.

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