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PlanningPractice3 min read

Practice Desk

An eight-stage simulated legal matter with a fictional client and a supervisor. It teaches the shape of practice, not the substance of a module.

StageWhat you do
1 · First MorningRead the supervisor brief and acknowledge the learning boundary.
2 · Open the MatterState the client objective and identify the immediate risks.
3 · Meet the ClientDraft your client questions and an attendance note.
4 · Build the FileSelect the documents you need and build a working chronology.
5 · Find the LawUse verified research sources and write a research note.
6 · Prepare the WorkWrite an internal case note and a client update.
7 · Ready the HearingSet your hearing priorities and name your uncertainties.
8 · Supervisor ReviewReflect, confirm the work is your own judgement, and tag the skills you practised.

Your work autosaves as you go. A Practice File side panel holds your documents, and you can reset the matter and start again.

A fictional training exercise

Practice Desk is not legal advice, not employment, not qualifying work experience, not accreditation, and not a professional qualification. It exists to teach you the shape of a matter — what a chronology is for, why an attendance note matters, how uncertainty gets escalated to a supervisor.

Worth doing before an application

Stages 3 and 8 in particular give you something concrete to talk about at interview: a client question you chose to ask and why, and an uncertainty you correctly escalated rather than guessing at.

Keep going

Still stuck?

Ask Durmah — it knows this manual and can point you to the right section. If the manual itself is wrong, out of date or unclear, tell us and we will fix it. Documentation errors are treated as product bugs.

Durmah is an independent study platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated on behalf of any university. Everything in this manual describes study support for legal education. It is not legal advice. Where this manual and your module handbook disagree, your module handbook is authoritative.