Monash Law Students' Society

2010 Client Interview Competition

The Client Interview Competition, sponsored by Corrs Chambers Westgarth, is the first competition in 2010. This competition is ideal for law students of any year, as it requires very little legal knowledge and very little preparation. The competition assesses the competitor’s communication skills and their ability to understand and meet their client’s needs.

In pairs, students, acting as solicitors interview a potential client who has found themselves on the wrong side of the law. The solicitors must ask the right questions of the client, and ascertain how the events unfolded. Once you have a clear picture of the factual situation, you can start to think about your client’s next move!

The Rules and Regulations

Each team will be assessed for a total period of forty-five minutes. Within this time, the teams will conduct a thirty-minute consultation with their allocated client (the interview) and a fifteen-minute post consultation conference with the judge (the summation).

During the interview, the competitors should seek to identify the client’s main concern; a chronology of events and to establish the existence of any relevant documentation, including letters, photographs, medical certificates etc. The solicitors should then offer a potential course of action and preliminary advice (e.g. immediate steps the client should take) and a solution to resolve the problem. No points will be awarded for reference to particular points of law; so don’t be scared to think outside the square!

Following the interview, the competitors will hold a fifteen-minute post consultation conference with the judge (the summation). During this period, the competitors should present a brief summary of their performance to the judge in any manner they see fit. For example, the competitors may choose to review and analyze the facts, offer a self-critique, comment on the substance, plan strategy, divide work, write a letter, or use the time creatively.  The competitors should run this as a conversation between themselves and not direct it to the judge.

Providing a Client

• Each team is required to provide a client for each round in which they participate.
• It does not have to be a law student.
• To avoid potential bias, teams will not interview their own client but a client provided by another team.

Further Information

Please find attached below several documents including:

• Entry Form (print and hand in to the LSS Office by Thursday 11th March 5pm)
• Information Pamphlet
• Competitor's Guide
• An example memo
• Example Client Interview Scoresheet