SQE2 legal research: format, timing and the six criteria

Sixty minutes to research a problem and write a note to a partner. The sources are supplied, some of them are irrelevant on purpose, and the law may sit outside the Functioning Legal Knowledge.

Published

60 minutes to investigate a problem and produce a written note to a partner, on a computer. Six criteria: three on skills, three on application of law.

Two features make it unlike every other station, and both are deliberate.

The law may be outside what you revised

The specification is explicit: while the subject matter sits within the practice area, it may fall outside the Functioning Legal Knowledge — which is the point. This is the one assessment that tests whether you can find law you do not already know.

So the instinct that serves you elsewhere — recall the principle, apply it — is the wrong instinct here. The competence being measured is recognising that research is required, judging which sources bear on the problem, and reporting what you found accurately.

The sources are supplied, and some are decoys

You are given sources, primary and secondary. Some of them will not be relevant. Identifying which ones are, and applying those, is part of the task rather than a preliminary to it.

You do not need to produce a research trail. The note explains your legal reasoning, the key sources you relied on, and the advice the partner should give the client.

The six criteria

| # | Criterion | Type | | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Identify and use relevant sources and information | Skills | | 2 | Provide advice which is client-focused and addresses the client's problem | Skills | | 3 | Clear, precise, concise and acceptable language | Skills | | 4 | Apply the law correctly | Application of law | | 5 | Apply the law comprehensively | Application of law | | 6 | Identify ethical and professional conduct issues and resolve them | Application of law |

Criterion 2 is worth dwelling on. The note goes to a partner, but the advice inside it is for the client. A note that answers the legal question and never reaches what the client should do has satisfied criterion 4 and failed criterion 2.

How to prepare

Triage the sources first. Ten minutes deciding what is relevant is better spent than ten minutes reading everything at equal weight. The irrelevant ones are there to be set aside.

Cite what you relied on. The note is supposed to name key sources. A conclusion with no visible source reads as recall, which is the one thing this station is not testing.

Answer the partner's actual question. As in every station, the email is the brief.

Finish with the advice. The last thing the partner needs is what to tell the client. If time runs short, that paragraph matters more than another paragraph of analysis.

Legal research is one of four written assessments, alongside legal writing, legal drafting and case and matter analysis.

Sources