Sample Client Scenarios

Megan Austin

3 Sample Client Scenarios

Sample Problems

Our law librarians have used different methods and types of problems to teach legal research for many years. One approach is to use a client scenario that is quite broad, with few specific facts, to give students an opportunity to practice issue spotting and to learn about multiple sources of law. In our Advanced Legal Research course (both asynchronous-online and in-person), we like to give students practice with sources that you might not have encountered in first-year research and writing courses. Below are a couple of examples of client scenarios that seem to be interesting to students and can be modified for different jurisdictions, or to address various student learning outcomes or course coverage.

The client files contain only basic facts in the form of a client intake form and a few supporting documents, or a memo from a supervising attorney. Like real law practice, the research inquiry is guided by the client’s questions. The broad questions in these client scenarios require you to explore many types of resources, exercise critical thinking skills, and reflect on and revise searches based on information you encounter.

For more experiential/simulation practice, students could interview a simulated client (maybe a colleague or another student) to gather facts and formulate the research questions.