Client instruction
Research · Trainee Skills Guide
Research tasks are not academic exercises. A partner asks a specific question, gives you a source pack, and needs a note that explains what the authorities mean for this client, on these facts.
Section 1
Trainee research usually starts with uncertainty. A partner knows the broad area but needs a junior lawyer to check the authorities, identify the point that matters and turn the source material into a usable note.
That note is not judged by how many cases it mentions. It is judged by whether the reader can see the governing principle, the factual comparison, the risk and the next step.
The useful trainee instinct: every paragraph should move the partner closer to an answer. If a case summary does not affect the client's position, cut it or reduce it to the point that does.
Section 2
The method is deliberately simple. It stops the task becoming academic and keeps the research anchored to the live client problem.
Start with the question you have been asked
Before opening the cases, write down the decision the partner needs to make. Your research should answer that question, not collect interesting law.
Separate the rule from the useful fact
A case is not useful because it is famous. It is useful because it gives you a principle, a factual comparison, or a distinction you can apply to the current client.
Find the tension
Most real research tasks are not clean. The stronger note explains why one authority helps, why another cuts the other way, and what fact moves the answer.
Give a preliminary view
A trainee does not need to sound like an associate. But the note must still help the partner decide whether the point is worth pursuing and what needs checking next.
Section 3 · Source pack
This is the part candidates often miss. The source pack is not there to be summarised document by document. Each document has a job. Your answer needs to show that you understood that job.
Client instruction
Statute or rule
Case reports
Agreement or correspondence
Try this as a live task
Section 4
A good trainee note is direct and scannable. It should let the partner understand the likely answer before reading the detail, then show enough authority and application to trust the view.
Answer first
Open with the short view: arguable, weak, strong, not worth pursuing yet, or worth investigating further.
Legal framework
State the governing rule and the two or three authorities that actually control the issue.
Application to the client
Compare the authorities to the client facts. This is where most of the marks sit.
Further evidence
Explain what needs checking before the partner can advise definitively.
Section 5
At trainee level, the standard is not associate perfection. The standard is whether the answer is organised, legally responsible and useful enough for a supervising lawyer to work from.
01 · Structure
Does the note answer the question?
A well-structured research note is not a law essay. It gives the partner a route to a decision.
02 · Authority handling
Are cases used rather than recited?
Strong trainee research extracts the point from each authority and explains why it matters here.
03 · Client facts
Are the current facts doing work?
The answer should repeatedly come back to the client, the documents and the practical decision.
04 · Judgement
Is uncertainty handled honestly?
The best notes identify grey areas without hiding behind them. They say what can and cannot be concluded now.
Section 6
Writing an academic case note. The partner did not ask for a seminar answer. Explain the cases only as far as needed to answer the client question.
Summarising all documents equally. Research tasks reward selection. If the funding agreement is the key document, it should not receive the same weight as background press coverage.
Forgetting the client facts. A note that explains the law but never applies it to the client is usually capped. The reader needs to know what the law means for this matter.
Sounding certain too early. If the evidence is incomplete, say so. A useful preliminary view is allowed to be cautious, provided it explains what would change the advice.
Trainee Research Skills
The TRS exercise puts you inside MiniSeat OS with an inbox, ProjectVault source pack, draft note and feedback pack. The feedback shows what you were supposed to extract from each document, then compares your note to a model answer.
Third-Party Costs Orders — Apex Litigation Finance · Commercial Litigation · 60 minutes
TRS, ACWE and Corporate Track included
For now, Trainee Research Skills is included with the MiniSeat subscription. Standalone TRS pack access will return when the wider TRS pack is ready.
Built around trainee-level judgement: structured notes, authority handling, client application and practical next steps, not academic memorisation.