Hi there,
Congrats on getting to that stage! Such a wonderful achievement.
One of the most important things to understand about law firm assessment centres is that how you prepare mentally often matters more than what you produce on the day. That might sound counterintuitive, but solid preparation puts you in a position where you're no longer scrambling for structure or ideas — you already know how to break down the task, filter out what matters, and get your points across under pressure. For case study-type tasks especially, people tend to get overwhelmed because there’s a lot of information and very little time. That’s where your prep really kicks in. If you’ve trained yourself to quickly identify what’s relevant and ignore the noise, you’ll automatically be more efficient and more confident when it counts.
When you’re given a time-limited task — let’s say 20 or 30 minutes — your first instinct might be to dive into the documents and start reading everything. But the smarter move is to stop and read the actual question or task instruction first. That tells you what you’re supposed to be solving.
Once you know what you’re looking for, the rest of the reading becomes purposeful. You’re no longer reading just to understand — you’re reading to extract. You begin to actively look for the risks, issues, commercial angles or client concerns that relate to the task you’ve been set. That saves time and stops you from becoming overwhelmed by irrelevant detail.
If the task ends up being a memo — and often these pre-AC exercises are framed as an internal note or advice to a supervisor — formatting will matter too. Pay attention to structure, clarity and tone. Use headings to break up the content, write in plain English, and get to the point quickly. One piece of feedback candidates often get is that their writing is dense or difficult to follow. Making things easy to read is not about dumbing it down — it’s about being clear and professional. A good memo anticipates what the reader wants to know and delivers it in an accessible format. Also, remember to check how you're addressing the recipient. "Dear Name" or "To: Supervising Associate" is usually safe, and you can sign off with your name or "Trainee Solicitor" depending on the context you're being asked to adopt.
The last thing I’ll say is don’t stress if you’re unsure of the exact format beforehand. You can’t control that. But you can control how familiar you are with common tasks (like internal memos or client emails/case studies too), how well you manage your time under pressure, and how confident you are in identifying key issues quickly.
Best wishes on the AC. I just know you’re gonna nail it
