For lawyers, the ability to deliver clear, actionable advice is a core skill – one that requires more than legal knowledge. It’s about understanding the client’s needs, communicating complex ideas simply, and helping to solve real-world problems, in addition to identifying legal risks.

We work closely with many in-house legal teams and understand the particular challenges they face, however, the principals of good advice apply across the board. The Robodebt Royal Commission reminded us of the critical importance of integrity, clear advice, and professional standards. At its heart, legal advice should provide clear, practical and tailored guidance to clients, as in most cases, a lawyer’s advice will be a crucial factor in the client’s decision-making.

In many cases, this means thinking about more than just legal theory or the ‘perfect legal answer’. Lawyers should strive to find that critical balance between what is legally ideal, and what can actually be implemented by the client in real-world settings.

Whether it’s data privacy, FOI compliance or legislative reform, clients want direct answers that they can act on.

Start with context and clarity

Effective advice writing begins with proper preparation. Before putting any words on a page, take the time to ensure you understand the client’s instructions, needs and context.

First, familiarise yourself with the client’s policy and operational environment, and check for any practical constraints that the client is working within.

Second, try to understand why the client is seeking the advice, and what their objectives are.

Third, armed with this information, plan the advice with the primary objective of answering the actual question being asked.

After doing this, you’re ready to start writing.

Form matters as much as content

When writing an advice, think about how the client will read it.

Even the most comprehensive legal analysis will fall flat if it’s not presented in a usable form. Whether you’re drafting a short email or a formal memo, consider the audience and the purpose. Structure your advice logically, and use clear and simple language.

Additionally, think about the format and visual presentation of the advice. Avoid assaulting the client with an impenetrable wall of text. Instead, use headings, paragraphs and appropriate line and character spacing to ensure that there is sufficient ‘white space’ on the page. This white space will allow the client can take mental ‘breaths’ as they work their way through the advice. Visual aids and simplified summaries can also go a long way to providing this accessibility to a client.

Remember: If your client can’t read or use your advice, it’s not effective – even if it is legally sound.

Draft advice is for feedback, not permission

A draft advice is not a soft request for a client’s sign-off on your legal views. Its purpose is to test whether your understanding of the facts is correct, and whether there are other sensitivities or constraints you should consider.

As a lawyer, it is your responsibility to own and stand by the legal views and conclusions that you reach. You should not allow a client to pressure or coerce you into expressing a legal view that you do not support.

Legal risk versus lawfulness

In most cases, a distinction can be drawn between a circumstance in which a ‘legal risk’ arises, and when a risk of ‘unlawfulness’ arises.

‘Legal risk’ refers to situations in which an undesirable outcome might arise, but ultimately, the client can accept if they wish. One example might be that if the client does not include a certain clause in a contract, they will have less certainty that services will be delivered on time.

‘Unlawfulness’ refers to a situation in which to proceed would mean acting contrary to law. For example, in the government context, it can mean performing an act without an appropriate legal basis to do so.

When providing advice, you should ensure that you understand and are clear about which of these categories a legal matter falls within. While a legal risk could potentially be accepted by the client, unlawfulness cannot. As a result, clarity in your advice on this point will normally be vital to a client’s decision-making.

So, in summary…

Successful advice writing is a discipline. Ask yourself:

  • Are you the right person to answer this question, or is this the kind of question that should be answered by someone in another profession or with a different specialty?
  • Is your advice succinct, and focused on the issues and principles that matter to the client and their issue, or are you getting side-tracked by peripheral points?
  • Are you giving pragmatic, client-focused advice, or a lecture on legal theory that offers no real solution or way forward?
  • Is the solution that you offer in your advice one that a client could actually implement, or one that fails to consider real-world pressures?
  • Does what you say at the end of the advice match what you said at the beginning, or have you strayed as the advice progresses?
  • Have you set the advice out in a manner that is well-structured, and accessible to the client, or do you need to go back and look at it again through a client’s eyes?

Good advice connects legal reasoning with clear next steps. Great advice does this in a manner that is succinct, internally consistent, and with a firm grounding in the client’s context, using a method that ensures the client can understand the issues that they are facing, and select an appropriate course of action.

In most cases, legal advice will be a vital input into decision-making. When done well, it builds trust, supports accountability, and helps the client to deliver on their mandate. That is a craft worth mastering.