SQE2 Client Interviewing & Attendance Notes 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A client who lacks mental capacity at the time of an interview can provide instructions through:
- Their spouse acting informally
- A person holding a registered Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) (Correct answer)
- Any family member present
- A letter of authority from the client's GP
Correct answer: A person holding a registered Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)
Only a person with a registered LPA for property and financial affairs (or a court-appointed deputy) has legal authority to instruct a solicitor on behalf of an incapacitated client.
Question 2: The attendance note of an initial meeting should record all of the following EXCEPT:
- Date, time and duration of meeting
- Parties present
- The solicitor's private personal opinions about the client's credibility (Correct answer)
- Key facts disclosed and advice given
Correct answer: The solicitor's private personal opinions about the client's credibility
Attendance notes should record objective facts, advice and instructions; personal opinions about the client's credibility are inappropriate and should not be included in a professional file note.
Question 3: Under the SRA Code of Conduct 2019, conflicts of interest between two clients:
- Can always be resolved by informed consent
- Cannot be acted on if a significant risk of conflict exists, with limited exceptions (Correct answer)
- Are permitted if both clients are corporate entities
- Are permitted if the matter is non-contentious
Correct answer: Cannot be acted on if a significant risk of conflict exists, with limited exceptions
The SRA Code prohibits acting where there is a significant risk of conflict; limited exceptions exist (e.g. conveyancing in specific circumstances) only with informed consent.
Question 4: Open questions in client interviewing are preferred in the early stages because they:
- Save time by narrowing issues quickly
- Encourage clients to give a narrative in their own words (Correct answer)
- Prevent clients from providing irrelevant information
- Satisfy the requirement for informed consent
Correct answer: Encourage clients to give a narrative in their own words
Open questions ('Tell me what happened') invite a narrative response, giving the client control and ensuring no relevant facts are missed by premature narrowing.
Question 5: Which of the following statements about client confidentiality is correct?
- Confidentiality ends when the retainer ends
- The duty of confidentiality survives the end of the retainer and continues after the client's death (Correct answer)
- Confidentiality can be waived by the solicitor alone
- Confidentiality does not apply to information received from third parties
Correct answer: The duty of confidentiality survives the end of the retainer and continues after the client's death
The SRA Code imposes a continuing duty of confidentiality that persists after the retainer concludes and even after the client dies, subject to very limited exceptions.
Question 6: When advising on costs at the outset of a matter, a solicitor must:
- Provide a guaranteed fixed fee
- Give the best available information about costs and likely total charges (Correct answer)
- Only discuss costs if the client raises the matter
- Decline to estimate costs until the matter concludes
Correct answer: Give the best available information about costs and likely total charges
The SRA Code requires solicitors to provide the best available information about likely costs at the outset and as the matter progresses, enabling informed client decision-making.
SQE2 Client Interviewing & Attendance Notes 2
A client who lacks mental capacity at the time of an interview can provide instructions through: