War Room · Verification room

Hearing Morning

An urgent hearing at 10:30, an AI-drafted skeleton argument, and three hours to make it safe.

It is 07:30 on Thursday. You are a junior lawyer at a small firm, and your supervising partner, Ilse Brandt, has been delayed abroad by a cancelled flight; she will join by phone only for the last minutes before the hearing. At 10:30 there is an urgent application for an injunction: your client, Calder Print, wants to stop a former employee from using its customer list at a competitor. Last night, to save time, a trainee asked an AI tool to draft the skeleton argument. It has been filed with the court as a draft only. You must make it safe and argue the application.

Who is on the call

Ilse Brandt, Supervising partner (by phone)
Piers Calder, Client's managing director
Ruth Aziz, Opposing counsel
Jo Wen, Trainee, who used the AI tool
The judge, Hears the application at 10:30

The court's rules in this exercise (invented)

You do not need any outside knowledge. This is the rule you must apply, and it is printed beside every step.

A lawyer must not mislead the court. Every authority cited must exist and must say what it is cited for.
A lawyer must tell the court of any authority directly against the client's case that the other side has not cited, and then deal with it.
A lawyer must not put forward as fact something the lawyer knows or suspects to be untrue, even on a client's instruction.
Late evidence may be admitted only with the court's permission; the other side may ask for time to answer it.
Any offer of settlement must be passed to the client, who decides.
An urgent injunction is granted only where there is a serious issue to be tried, damage that money cannot repair, and the balance of convenience favours it.

What can be lost

Credibility with the court: Whether the judge can rely on what you tell them.
Your client's case: How strong the application is when it is heard.
Your professional position: Whether your own conduct stays beyond criticism.