Hartwell: completion delay at 14 Stonebridge Lane
Email from the supervising partner
Scenario scenario-003 — Legal Writing
From: Senior Partner To: Trainee Subject: Cordelia Hartwell — please draft a letter (urgent) Cordelia Hartwell was due to complete the purchase of 14 Stonebridge Lane yesterday. We did not complete. The mortgage funds arrived too late for the seller's solicitor to effect completion. We have a contract incorporating the Standard Conditions of Sale (5th edition). Cordelia paid the standard 10% deposit (£30,000) on exchange. The seller's solicitors have indicated they will be considering their position over the weekend. They have NOT served a notice to complete yet. Funds will be there by Wednesday — I plan to push for Thursday completion. Cordelia called me this morning, very distressed. She thinks the seller is going to cancel and keep her deposit. Cover three things in your letter to her: (1) reassure her about the deposit and explain the procedure the seller would have to follow to walk away; (2) the realistic financial cost of the delay (give her a figure); (3) what I am doing and what she should do in the meantime. Plain English to Cordelia — lead with the reassurance.
What a strong answer looks like
Model answer outline (public summary)
- Open with reassurance as the first full sentence: the seller cannot simply cancel and keep the deposit — they must follow a ten-working-day notice procedure first.
- Explain the notice-to-complete procedure in plain English, without quoting SCS clause numbers to a lay client.
- Compute the contractual interest figure: balance owed × contract rate ÷ 365 × days late — and give the client a concrete pound figure, not just the formula.
- Explain what the partner is doing: lender has confirmed funds by Wednesday, pushing for Thursday completion.
- Tell the client what not to do (do not contact the seller or the lender directly).
- Acknowledge the emotional dimension of the situation — the client's distress is signalled in the brief and the letter should reflect it.
Illustrative excerpt. Scenario details are practice material only. The live grader presents the full brief and grades your response against the SRA Performance Indicators.
The criteria the Legal Writing station is marked against.
The Legal Writing station tests whether you can draft client-facing advice that applies the law correctly, uses plain language appropriate to a lay recipient, and addresses the client's real concerns — not just the legal mechanism.
Include relevant facts
Addresses the salient facts in the instructions — deposit amount, contractual mechanism, lender timing — without including irrelevant material.
Use a logical structure
Information is well-organised and easy to follow; the reader can understand the candidate's answer without difficulty.
Advice is client and recipient focused
Demonstrates understanding of the client's circumstances, priorities and emotional state; imparts difficult or unwelcome news clearly and sensitively.
Use clear, precise, concise and acceptable language
Language is appropriate to a lay client; unnecessary technical terms and legal jargon are avoided; formalities match the context.
Apply the law correctly to the client's situation
Identifies the correct legal principles and applies them correctly to the facts — including computing any numerical result the facts require.
Apply the law comprehensively, identifying ethical and professional conduct issues
Writing is sufficiently detailed for the situation; any professional conduct issues are recognised and addressed with appropriate judgment.
Performance Indicators quoted verbatim from the SRA’s published SQE2 Assessment Specification. Kellys SQE Examiner grades each attempt against these criteria, indicator by indicator.
Practise Property Practice against the real Performance Indicators.
Try the live grader on this scenario free. Your response is graded against the SRA Performance Indicators — indicator by indicator, in under a minute.
Kellys SQE Examiner is exam-preparation practice software, not legal advice and not the SRA. Read the AI disclaimer for the full boundaries.