SKILL ROADMAP 18 · CORE LEGAL SKILLS

Client Interviewing

Preparation → Listening → Fact gathering → Advice → Follow up

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This roadmap has 5 steps, 5 checkpoints and 2 projects.
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1 What this path is

Client interviewing is the skill of meeting a client, understanding their problem, gathering facts and taking clear instructions.

Litigators, legal aid lawyers, family lawyers, in-house counsel and anyone who advises people directly.

Prepare.
Learn: to review documents beforehand and plan your questions.
Practise: by preparing a question list for an imaginary client.
Listen.
Learn: to let the client tell their story without interrupting.
Practise: by role playing as both lawyer and client.
Gather facts carefully.
Learn: to ask open questions first and then precise ones, and to note dates, documents and witnesses.
Practise: by building a chronology from a role play interview.
Explain options and take instructions.
Learn: to explain options honestly, including risks and costs.
Practise: by giving advice in a role play and confirming instructions in writing.
Handle ethics and sensitivity.
Learn: confidentiality, conflicts of interest and how to speak with vulnerable clients.
Practise: at a legal aid clinic under supervision.

Clients trust you, and you gather complete facts efficiently.

These checklists are for honest self assessment. They are not an official certification.

Legal aid clinics, chambers and NGOs give you real client contact.

Role play materials and competition records, never real client details.