Practical Skills: Legal Writing, Client Interviewing, and Case Analysis
Core rules
This domain tests applied lawyering: legal writing, client interviewing and case analysis. A strong legal memo or claim uses a clear structure: facts, issue, rule, application and conclusion, with citations to the Constitution, codes and statutes. A claim petition must identify the parties, state the facts and legal basis, set out the remedy and attach required documents.
Client interviewing begins with a conflict check and a confidentiality explanation. Use open questions first, then closed questions to fill gaps. Listen actively, confirm facts and dates, explain options, risks and costs, and obtain informed instructions. Case analysis maps the legal relationship, elements of the claim or defence, burden of proof, evidence, limitation periods, jurisdiction and procedural steps.
Worked example
A client says: 'My former partner owes me 5 million tenge under a loan agreement; he stopped paying last year.' The advocate should not draft a claim immediately. First, check conflict and limitation. Then obtain the contract, payment receipts, demand letters and correspondence. Issue: has the debt matured and is there an acknowledgment? Rule: loan obligations and the three-year limitation period. Application: if the last payment was last year, the claim is timely; if the contract requires a written demand, prove it. The advocate drafts a pre-trial demand and then a claim with a calculation, evidence list and state duty.
Traps
Do not use leading questions in the first interview. Do not promise a result. Do not draft before checking jurisdiction and limitation. Do not omit the legal basis or the evidence list. Do not confuse facts with argument.