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BPTC Law Notes Conference Notes

BPTC Guide Conferencing Notes

Updated BPTC Guide Conferencing Notes

Conference Notes

Conference

Approximately 35 pages

A guide/script for how to approach criminal conference exams, including ways to discuss key ideas (eg. magistrates court v crown court).

Anyone who has done one of these exams knows that timing is a big issue. These notes not only show what needs to be covered, but gives an idea of how one can discuss them quickly and effectively, ensuring maximum marks. ...

The following is a more accessible plain text extract of the PDF sample above, taken from our Conference Notes. Due to the challenges of extracting text from PDFs, it will have odd formatting:

Introduction

The Conferencing module is taught primarily by holding a series of mock conferences in which one student appears as counsel and a fellow student appears as a client. Initial study sessions will focus on discrete areas of a criminal conference, such as sentencing, before building up to a full, assessment-standard conference. There are relatively few opportunities to conduct a conference on the BPTC, so make the most of each opportunity to participate. This includes preparing thoroughly as a client, as well as counsel.

Although you will be taking the role of client in the early sessions, the practice and final assessments will usually be carried out with an actor playing the client, although this may vary according to BPTC providers. For each conference, you should create a conference plan which you make notes on when your client provides information to you. This conference plan can then be developed and improved as you progress through the course.

The conferences on the BPTC are usually criminal conferences, although please do check with your provider that they will be assessing on the basis of a criminal conference. If this is the case, the assessment format will be a full conference, advising on plea, venue, sentence, and procedure through the criminal courts. You will be notified of the relevant area of law a period of time before the assessment and will be given time to research this and any court procedure. You will then be given a criminal brief to read and analyse 1 hour or so before conducting your conference. The conference at assessment standard should last around 25 minutes, of which at least half should be giving advice to the client. Please verify these timings with your provider.

This section provides guidance on holding a full criminal conference, although the relationship with client and questioning/fact finding sections will be relevant to any conference. There is guidance to approaching sentencing in the advice part of this guide. There is some additional general and structural guidance in the ‘next steps’ section on single-issue conferences, which demonstrates how bail or sentencing conferences might be approached.

Conferencing is, for the most part, a skills-based unit. It will therefore assess your client handling skills, the way in which you build a relationship with your client, your time management skills, and your questioning technique.

However, a good conference will also demonstrate a sound understanding of knowledge-based subjects Criminal Litigation and Evidence and Professional Ethics. The Conferencing assessment allocates a large number of marks to advising a client on law and procedure through the criminal courts. A clear understanding of this process is needed to achieve high marks in the advice section of a conference.

In addition, students should be mindful of the Professional Ethics syllabus. Marks may be deducted in assessment for failing to deal with ethical issues, or for dealing with them inadequately. Common examples include leading a client in questioning, cherry-picking the parts of a client’s account that best serve his case, or failing to explore and challenge the inconsistent aspects of his account.

The Conferencing module is generally assessed by the following criteria. Please check with your provider for their exact percentage allocation of marks.

  1. Relationship with client (circa 20% of total mark);

  2. Fact finding or questioning technique (circa 30% of total mark);

  3. Advice (circa 50% of total mark).

These three elements of the Conferencing unit will be addressed in turn.

Relationship with client

Marks are awarded under this section from the outset. The standard of rapport obtained with the client should then be maintained throughout the Conference. The tone set in the beginning of the conference is therefore crucial to earning the bulk of the marks under this section. You should aim to be polite but not over-friendly; to be clear, and to give the opportunity for the client to ask questions or clarify matters. Always remember you are dealing with a lay client, so explain things in a simple and accessible way, without reliance on legal jargon.

Your introduction to the client should explain who you are and outline the purpose of the conference. In a criminal conference, depending on how many study sessions you have completed, the purpose could be to advise on sentencing, bail, or to advise on venue, plea, and likely sentence on conviction all in one conference.

In your opening few lines to your client, regardless of which stage of study you are at, you should make a reference to confidentiality to your client. This is also one of your ethical duties to your client, so it is important to include in your introduction.

A standard full conference introduction, advising on plea, venue, and sentencing, might, therefore, run along these lines:

<Client’s name>

I’m <Your name> and I’ll be the barrister representing you in the hearing later today.

The purpose of this conference is to advise you on whether to plead guilty or not guilty, to advise on whether your case should be heard in the Crown Court or the Magistrates’ Court, and to advise you on a likely sentence if you were to be found guilty.

Everything that is said in this conference is confidential, but I may need to use some of the information you have given me in order to best represent you. If there is anything you do not want me to mention in court, please say and I will make a note of it.

Finally, please do ask if you have any questions.

The above is simply an example. You must adapt and tailor it to the particular conference you are conducting and tweak it so that it feels natural to you. Your introduction must be delivered with confidence, so that it leaves a good first impression, both for the client and the examiner!

Fact finding/questioning technique

With the introduction over, you can now move on to finding out some basic information from the client....

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