Fact finding and attendance note drafting - Recording key fa...

Learning Outcomes

This article explains practical techniques for fact finding and attendance note drafting in legal interviews, including:

• Building rapport, managing the interview environment, and listening actively to elicit accurate information
• Using open, closed, and non‑leading questions, and applying the funneling technique to move from narrative to detail
• Distinguishing clearly between factual background, client instructions, and client objectives, and mapping facts to legal issues
• Producing structured, contemporaneous attendance notes in plain English that separate facts, advice, and actions
• Compiling chronologies, topic lists, and action plans to organise information and drive next steps
• Working critically with documents, visual aids, and physical evidence to clarify sequences and resolve inconsistencies
• Identifying gaps, ambiguities, and conflicts in the evidence and planning targeted follow‑up questions
• Recording header details, responsibilities, timescales, and contingencies to ensure reliability and accountability
• Recognising professional and compliance duties, including confidentiality, legal advice privilege, and regulated‑sector risks (e.g., AML), and storing notes securely
• Applying practical accuracy techniques, such as neutral tone, specific dates and ranges, and clear labelling of privileged legal advice

SQE2 Syllabus

For SQE2, you are required to understand the practical steps related to interviewing, fact finding, and recording information, with a focus on the following syllabus points:

• extracting relevant facts from a client or witness efficiently
• formulating and using effective questioning techniques in interviews
• recording client instructions and objectives accurately
• preparing clear, reliable attendance notes that capture factual and legal issues
• understanding the significance of precise note taking for legal advice, compliance, and subsequent drafting
• distinguishing facts from opinion, advice, and objectives in contemporaneous notes
• compiling chronologies and lists of people, places, and dates to structure information
• identifying gaps, conflicts, and ambiguities and planning targeted follow-up questions
• creating action plans with responsibilities, dates, and resource needs

Test Your Knowledge

Attempt these questions before reading this article. If you find some difficult or cannot remember the answers, remember to look more closely at that area during your revision.

1. What is the primary purpose of an attendance note in a legal matter?
2. Name two questioning techniques suitable for eliciting detailed factual information from a client.
3. Why is it important to distinguish between factual background and client objectives in your notes?
4. What legal and practical risks arise from incomplete or inaccurate attendance notes?

Introduction

Effective fact finding is essential for every lawyer. During client interviews, you must uncover all relevant facts, clarify ambiguous points, and identify your client's goals. Following the interview, it is critical to produce a structured attendance note that accurately records key facts, instructions, and agreed next steps. Reliable notes support case preparation, advice, and compliance. Notes also play a risk-management role: they help ensure continuity on the file, protect against later disputes over instructions, and guide subsequent drafting and advocacy. Remaining non‑judgemental and objective underpins the entire process; the lawyer’s task is to obtain and evaluate facts within the applicable legal framework, not to impose personal views on the client’s conduct.

Key Term: fact finding
A structured approach to gathering all relevant factual and background information from a client, witness, or document for legal analysis.

Fact Finding During Client Interviews

Approaching the Interview

An interview aims to obtain relevant facts and instructions. You must allow the client to explain their issue in their own words, while ensuring all necessary details are covered. Manage the environment to aid concentration and confidentiality. Aim for a quiet, private space; at court, ask an usher for a conference room or find a quiet corner that is out of earshot of other parties and potential witnesses. Provide simple comforts if necessary (water, seating), and be alert to distractions such as noise, fatigue, or hunger, which can impair listening.

Build rapport early and set expectations. Explain your role, outline the purpose and broad agenda, and ask for permission to take notes. Encourage the client to “have their say” at the start—clients often arrive with a prepared narrative. Listening to that narrative first increases trust and will make subsequent questioning more productive. Throughout, remain non‑judgemental and objective.

Key Term: open question
A question that invites the client to provide a narrative or explanation, encouraging detailed and unrestricted answers.

Key Term: closed question
A question that restricts the answer, often to “yes” or “no,” or seeks a specific piece of information, for quick clarification or confirmation.

Key Term: leading question
A question that suggests its own answer; generally avoided when seeking genuine, unprompted information on disputed matters.

Key Term: funneling technique
A questioning method that begins with broad, open prompts to elicit a narrative, then narrows to specific, targeted questions to capture detail and confirm key points.

Key Term: topic list
A flexible list of subject headings used to ensure coverage of all relevant issues without imposing a rigid, pre-set questionnaire during the interview.

Types of Questions

Using the right questions helps elicit factual information efficiently. Start with open questions (“Tell me what happened after…”) to gain the narrative, then funnel down to clarify dates, times, distances, identities, and sequences. Closed questions confirm specifics quickly. Avoid leading questions on disputed matters to prevent contaminating the evidence. Semi-closed questions (e.g., “What time roughly?”) can be useful when clients struggle with precision.

Checklists have limits. Over‑detailed lists can stop you listening actively and cause you to impose an agenda. A topic list is safer: it keeps you oriented without constraining the conversation, and it can be updated as new facts emerge.

Listening and Clarification

Active listening is essential. If an answer is unclear or incomplete, follow up with targeted questions. Use summarising to check your understanding, e.g., “So, just to confirm, the contract was signed on…?” Observe non‑verbal communication (posture, facial expression, intonation), which can signal discomfort, uncertainty, or strong emotion. Maintain appropriate eye contact and signal encouragement with short nods or brief verbal prompts. Be ready to pause to take an accurate note of detailed answers, and explain the pause (“I’m just noting the times you gave so I don’t miss any detail”).

Be alert to barriers: noise or interruptions, prejudices (yours or the client’s), unfamiliar accents, jargon, or the persuasive force of printed documents. If written material is used, explain its status, encourage the client to take a critical approach, and use marked passages to focus attention. Avoid allowing documents or photos to distract either party once they have served their immediate purpose.

Key Term: chronology
A structured list of key dates and events in order, used to make sense of sequences, identify gaps, and organise follow‑up questions and actions.

Identifying Instructions and Objectives

Carefully distinguish between factual background, your client's desired outcomes, and any legal issues to be addressed. The client’s “instructions” are what they ask you to do. Their “objectives” are the outcomes they hope to achieve. Do not assume the two are identical; clients may instruct a step that does not best serve their ultimate aims, or objectives may change as more information emerges.

Key Term: client instructions
The specific wishes, requests, or guidance given by the client to the lawyer regarding the management or resolution of their legal matter.

Key Term: client objectives
The outcomes the client hopes to achieve through legal representation, such as compensation, settlement, reinstatement, or another specific goal.

It helps to think in terms of outcomes and constraints. Outcomes are client‑driven goals; constraints include legal limits, evidential realities, time, and resources. Clarify both before advising on options. Avoid jumping to conclusions, particularly when facts appear ambiguous or are in conflict. Identify uncertainties that must be resolved and plan your follow‑up.

Working with documents, visual aids, and physical evidence

Documents can appear authoritative simply because they are printed. Treat them critically. Explain to the client what the document is and why it matters, then test its content with specific questions. Use visual aids (plans, sketches, photos) to prompt accurate recall, especially where sequences or layouts are central (e.g., accident loci, shop floors). Invite clients to draw or mark positions of people, vehicles, or objects; do not lead them to draw the plan you expect. If physical examination is relevant (e.g., injuries), seek express permission, keep any inspection brief, and, where appropriate, have another person present, ideally of the same sex as the client. Consider whether photographs or medical reports would suffice.

Drafting Attendance Notes

After the interview, you must produce a contemporaneous attendance note. Record it promptly—ideally immediately after the interview or call—so detail is not lost. Explain to the client that you are taking a note and why. Keep the language neutral and precise, and separate facts, instructions, and advice.

Key Term: attendance note
A contemporaneous written record of a meeting or call, capturing key facts, instructions, advice given, and agreed actions for the file.

Key Term: contemporaneous note
A note made at or very soon after the relevant event, relied on for accuracy because it captures information while fresh.

Structure and Content

A good attendance note is concise, chronological, and captures:

• factual background and sequence of events (with specific times, dates, places, people)
• key questions and answers (use neutral language; avoid opinions unless clearly marked as advice)
• client instructions and objectives (distinctly labeled and separated from facts)
• any advice given (plain English; state assumptions and limitations)
• next steps and responsibilities (who does what, by when; include contingencies)
• documents reviewed or to be obtained (e.g., contracts, photos, reports)
• outstanding issues or factual gaps to clarify
• costs, risks, or timescales discussed (specific ranges or target dates rather than vague terms)

Include header details (matter name/number, date, start/end time, location, participants, mode: in person/phone/video). Use clear section headings within the note (e.g., Background; Facts; Instructions; Advice; Actions) to reduce ambiguity.

Key Term: action plan
A short, structured table of agreed tasks, responsible persons, completion dates, and resource needs, used to monitor implementation and manage risk.

Importance of Accuracy

Attendance notes may be reviewed by colleagues, relied upon to recall instructions, or form part of disclosure where privilege does not apply. Incomplete or inaccurate notes may result in professional or legal risk, including client complaints, negligence claims, or adverse inferences if inconsistencies later arise.

Record objectively. Avoid vague phrases (“substantial damages,” “soon,” “shortly”); use specific ranges or dates (“damages likely between £X–£Y,” “by Friday 15:00”). Prefer active voice and simple verbs rather than nominalised or overly formal phrasing. If the note contains legal advice, mark the section “Legal advice” and keep it distinct from factual record.

Key Term: legal advice privilege
Confidential communications between lawyer and client for the dominant purpose of giving or receiving legal advice; generally protected from disclosure, subject to exceptions.

Treat attendance notes with the expectation they may be scrutinised by others. Notes of client communications will generally attract legal advice privilege; notes of communications with third parties may not. Where work includes transactions in the regulated sector (e.g., certain financial or real property matters), be alert to duties under money laundering legislation. Avoid tipping off, and seek guidance from your firm’s MLRO where appropriate. Do not include unnecessary speculation about criminal property; record suspicions factually and follow internal reporting procedures.

Practical note-taking tips

• Seek the client’s permission to take notes and explain what you are noting.
• Use a topic list during the interview to keep structure without constraining conversation.
• Do not attempt a verbatim note; capture the essentials for the next stage in the matter (court, drafting, negotiation).
• Mark uncertainties clearly and plan follow‑up questions.
• Keep handwriting or layout neat and intelligible to another practitioner.
• Store notes securely; label privileged sections; avoid sending documents with tracked changes that expose internal thought processes externally.
• Immediately note call details (time, number, participants) and confirm key instructions in writing where appropriate.

Worked Example 1.1

You interview a client whose main concern is a workplace injury but who spends much of the meeting expressing anger about their employer. The client states they slipped on a wet floor at 9:15am, with two witnesses present. The employer claims the area was marked with a warning sign.

Question: How should you record the facts and client instructions in your attendance note?

Answer:
Note the time and nature of the accident, confirm presence of witnesses, and record the employer's assertion about the warning sign. Clearly separate the factual details from the client's emotional comments. Summarise the client's objective (to claim for injury) and any instructions (e.g., to obtain medical records).

Worked Example 1.2

During a telephone call, a client instructs you to settle a dispute on specific terms, but later disputes having agreed to those terms.

Question: How could an attendance note protect both client and solicitor?

Answer:
An immediate, detailed attendance note recording the client's consent and the terms discussed provides contemporaneous evidence of instructions, supporting the solicitor's position in any future disagreement.

Worked Example 1.3

A family client seeks financial relief following divorce. They mention frequent weekend visits from a “friend” and a recent joint holiday, but insist this is irrelevant. The other side’s solicitors have raised concerns about cohabitation and financial contribution.

Question: What targeted fact finding and note structure will best support accurate advice?

Answer:
Use funneling to explore the nature of the relationship without leading: duration, living arrangements, financial contributions, plans to cohabit or remarry, shared expenses, and any impact on needs or resources. Record facts neutrally and chronologically, then separate legal advice on relevance (e.g., how cohabitation or contributions could affect financial orders). Capture the client’s objective and any instructions, and list outstanding evidence (bank statements, utility bills) with an action plan.

Worked Example 1.4

In a road traffic dispute, the client’s recollection of positions and distances is inconsistent. They struggle to describe the junction layout.

Question: How can you improve recall and record reliable detail?

Answer:
Invite the client to mark a simple sketch of the junction, indicating lanes, traffic signals, positions of vehicles, and movement at key moments. Use the sketch to clarify distances (“approx. one car length”), sequence, and sightlines. Record that the client prepared the plan, attach it to the note, and transcribe key points into a chronology.

Worked Example 1.5

You are advising on a property transaction that arguably falls within the regulated sector. During the meeting, the client makes a remark that could suggest proceeds of crime.

Question: How should you handle fact finding and your attendance note?

Answer:
Record the client’s statement factually, without speculation, in a neutral tone. Distinguish factual record from any advice. Do not tip off. Follow your firm’s internal reporting procedures and seek guidance from the MLRO. Mark sections of the note containing legal advice as privileged and store securely. If the work is transactional, consider duties under money laundering laws and your professional guidance; if in litigation, note privilege is generally preserved, but remain cautious.

Common Problems and Good Practice

• Ambiguity and conflicts in facts: enquire methodically about dates, times, identities, and sequences. Where accounts conflict (e.g., a client’s proof differs from an interview record), clarify the differences through targeted questions and record both versions accurately.
• Missing information: list outstanding facts (people involved, prior correspondence, financial details) and decide which gaps can be filled by questioning the client, the opposition, or third parties, then capture this in an action plan.
• Over-reliance on checklists: use a topic list to keep you flexible; listen for cues and be ready to adjust the agenda to pursue relevant lines of questioning.
• Environment and privacy: avoid discussing sensitive matters in public spaces or earshot of other parties or witnesses. Explain constraints if privacy cannot be guaranteed, reassure the client, and mitigate distractions.
• Note quality: avoid jargon and vague terms. Use plain English, specific details, active voice, and a clear structure. Keep advice separate from facts, and label privileged content.
• Witness quality: note indicators relevant to reliability (coherence, consistency, ability to recall sequences and detail, response under pressure), but avoid inserting opinions into the factual record. Keep such assessments within advice or case analysis sections.
• Implementation: end the note with agreed next steps, responsibilities, and dates. Include contingencies where delay or failure is possible, and diarise critical dates.

Revision Tip

When recording notes, always use plain English. Clearly separate factual events, client instructions, and your own legal analysis. Avoid making assumptions; always clarify uncertainties during the interview. Use concrete dates, times, and names, and include an action plan that states who will do what and by when.

Exam Warning

A common SQE2 pitfall is failing to record instructions or objectives accurately. Exams may test your ability to distinguish fact from interpretation, and to avoid including opinions or unsupported conclusions in attendance notes. Always focus on factual accuracy. Note structure, chronological clarity, and separation of facts, advice, and actions are marks of good practice.

Key Point Checklist

This article has covered the following key knowledge points:

• The purpose and core elements of fact finding in client interviews.
• Use of open, closed, and leading questions, and when each is appropriate.
• Funneling and topic lists to control detail while preserving a natural narrative.
• Distinguishing between factual information, client instructions, and objectives.
• Working with documents, visual aids, and physical evidence during interviews.
• How to draft a clear, contemporaneous attendance note.
• Structuring notes with chronologies, advice sections, and action plans.
• The consequences of poor or inaccurate record keeping.
• Professional and compliance considerations, including privilege and regulated-sector risks.
• Best practice for structuring and storing attendance notes for future use.

Key Terms and Concepts

• fact finding
• open question
• closed question
• leading question
• funneling technique
• topic list
• client instructions
• client objectives
• attendance note
• contemporaneous note
• chronology
• action plan
• legal advice privilege