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Weekly update · Issue 2 ·

Hello hello hello

What’s new with Kinnu

Kinnu here back with a bang. Well, not really a bang, just a newsletter, but we’re excited about it.

Gabriel Content team · Kinnu

The days are getting dark and cold. Are you taking care of yourself?

Now that the weather has turned and it’s dark by the time you leave the library, it’s worth being honest about burnout. Around this point in my prep, I burnt out badly and lost about three weeks of productive work. In hindsight, the warning signs were there. I would sit at my desk for the sake of being at my desk, rereading the same page several times and actually working longer hours while getting less done.

If you’re noticing any of that, it doesn’t mean you need to stop. It means you need to change how you work. A few things I found that helped:

Setting a hard cut-off. Pick a finish time, say 6pm, and stick to it. Knowing when you’ll stop makes the hours before it more focused.

Taking one full day off a week. Treat it as part of the plan, not a reward for finishing everything.

Matching the task to your energy. Do heavy reading when you’re fresh, and switch to timed MCQs or flashcards when you’re flagging. Active recall keeps you productive when passive reading stops working.

Protecting your sleep. You will work best when you are rested, so don’t skip sleep to cram more.

Ssssshhhh, we’ve got some exciting updates coming soon…

Webinar — 16 November 2026

We are running an online webinar on Monday 16 November at 6pm to discuss all things SQE. This is an opportunity for you to share your experiences and ideas with other SQE candidates, connect with fellow future lawyers and share ideas as to how we might be able to support you better.

You will hear from two of our founders, Hanna and Chris, about what we are building at Kinnu and why we have decided to focus on the SQE — one of the hardest exams statistically in the world to pass. You will also be hearing from some of our SQE experts on their experiences of the exam and also tips for TC applications and interviews. This is an event for you, so do come along.

RSVP

Study notes

Our study notes are getting a complete revamp. You’ll now be able to switch between two modes:

Full notes: these cover each topic in enough depth to learn it from scratch, without the unnecessary waffle you find in so many textbooks.

Condensed notes: these are your revision notes, for when you already know a topic and just need to brush up on the key details.

Every note has been through several rounds of review to check that it’s accurate, clear and focused on what the exam actually tests. We think they’re the best notes we’ve ever produced, and we can’t wait for you to use them.

And because you can never have too many MCQs, we’re also expanding our MCQ and flashcard banks.

Keep an eye out for the update on your device in the next week or two.

SQE2

Finally, while this may not be of use to you just yet, we are in the process of developing an SQE2 product. This will be ready for you when you get round to it, but in the meantime, if you know of anyone who is looking for some awesome SQE2 resources and would be keen to get on board and offer us some feedback on what we have developed, then pass on our email (dan@kinnu.xyz) and tell them to reach out.

Everything we build is shaped by you, so we’re always keen to hear your ideas. If there’s something we could do better, or a product you wish existed, just hit reply.

Anyways team. Keep on grinding. You got this.

MCQ of the week

Challenging a floating charge

GreenTech Ltd, a renewable energy company, started facing considerable financial difficulties in early January. On 10 January, GreenTech Ltd renegotiated repayment terms on several unsecured loans with independent creditors. On 15 January, GreenTech Ltd granted a floating charge over its entire stock and receivables in favour of EcoFinance Bank, a long-standing creditor, to secure a pre-existing overdraft facility after some negotiation. By 15 January, it was unable to pay debts as they fell due. EcoFinance Bank did not advance any further funds or increase the overdraft. The charge was registered properly on 18 January. GreenTech Ltd continued ordinary business operations, paying key suppliers, and even obtained a lucrative new customer contract on 25 January. Administrators were appointed on 20 February following an insolvency event. The administrators are currently assessing whether the floating charge can be challenged.

On which ground is the administrator most likely to successfully challenge and set aside the floating charge?

  1. A. It is an invalid floating charge for past debt, with no new value, created within 12 months.
  2. B. It is void for non-registration because registration was not completed on the day of creation.
  3. C. It is an invalid floating charge because the bank was a long-standing creditor, so the two-year period applies.
  4. D. It cannot be challenged because the company continued trading and won a new contract soon after.
Show the answer

A. It is an invalid floating charge for past debt, with no new value, created within 12 months.

Under Insolvency Act 1986 s.245, a floating charge created within the “relevant time” is invalid to the extent it secures pre-existing indebtedness (i.e. no new money or other new value). Here, the charge was granted to secure a pre-existing overdraft without any increase in the facility, within 12 months of administration, and the company was unable to pay its debts when the charge was created.

Legal news story of the week

Anthropic files for an IPO

Anthropic has filed its S-1 prospectus with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). But what does that actually mean?

What is a prospectus?

In equity capital markets, a prospectus is the legal disclosure document a company must publish before offering its shares to the public. It sets out the company’s business, financial results, management and risks, so that investors can make an informed decision. In the US, the prospectus forms part of a registration statement known as a Form S-1, which companies file ahead of an initial public offering (IPO).

And what is an IPO?

An IPO is when a private company becomes publicly traded, meaning its shares can be bought and sold on a public stock exchange. Anthropic has applied to list its Class A shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, the tech-heavy exchange that is home to many of the world’s biggest technology companies.

Why do companies go public?

Companies usually IPO for three reasons: to raise money from a much larger pool of investors, to give early investors and employees a way to sell their shares, and to raise their public profile. For Anthropic, the main driver is capital. Training and running AI models requires vast amounts of computing power, and as a public company Anthropic can issue new shares to fund it. Some commentators go further, arguing that private funding rounds alone can no longer pay for the buildout.

What does the prospectus actually say?

1. Revenue is soaring, but so is spending. According to the FT, revenue topped $33bn in the nine months to the end of September, up from $4.6bn in the whole of 2025, which is an astronomical rate of growth. They also reported that Anthropic is sitting on a cash pile of $112bn. What concerns investors is the other side of the ledger: Anthropic has committed to spending more than $800bn on computing infrastructure, much of it locked into long-term contracts.

2. Bubble fears. All of this comes against a backdrop of growing unease that AI companies are spending enormous sums without turning a profit. The sheer scale of the figures, and doubts over whether revenue can keep pace, have fuelled fears that the AI boom could turn to bust.

3. It warns that its own product could threaten humanity. This is the most unusual part. The prospectus cautions investors that advanced AI could pose “catastrophic or existential risks to humanity”, up to and including the possibility of human extinction. Not your typical sales pitch.

How can you use this in an interview?

The role of lawyers in an IPO. Lawyers draft the prospectus, carry out due diligence, verify every statement in it, and advise on governance and listing requirements. In the US, a company and its directors can be held liable for material misstatements in a registration statement, which is why risk factor sections are so long. Anthropic’s existential risk warning is a striking example of a company protecting itself through disclosure.

Governance. Anthropic’s seven co-founders will collectively control 50.1% of shareholder voting power, a structure the company says is designed to protect its AI safety mission. This is a great example for discussing the balance between founder control and investor protection.

The London angle. Why do the biggest tech listings go to New York rather than London? This is a natural way into the wider debate about the competitiveness of UK capital markets.

Source: Financial Times — “Bold but sane”: what we learnt from Anthropic’s 240,000-word IPO filing.

Study tip of the week

When none of the answers quite fit

So, you’re stuck on a question. You feel like you know the law, but none of the answers quite fit what you think the correct answer should be.

I encountered this on numerous occasions throughout my exam, and it can be incredibly frustrating. That said, here are a few tips I used that helped me pass in Q1.

First, and this is probably the most obvious one, but something a lot of people forget in the heat of the moment: eliminate the obvious distractors.

Most of the time, you can tell pretty quickly that two, or maybe even three, of the answers are incorrect. Trust your initial instinct, particularly when you can clearly identify why an answer is wrong. Once you’ve ruled those options out, don’t waste time going back and re-reading them.

You’re then left choosing between two or three answers, which is a lot easier than choosing between five.

One thing that can really help with eliminating answers is looking out for absolute language.

Now, this is absolutely not a blanket rule, so please don’t treat it as one. There are definitely situations where absolute language is correct.

However, quite often, when an answer uses words or phrases such as:

  • must / must always
  • always / never
  • only / solely / exclusively
  • automatically
  • all / none / every / no
  • cannot / will not / is impossible
  • in all circumstances / in every case
  • entirely / completely / wholly
  • will (where the question asks what is most likely)

…it can point towards a conclusion that is simply too definitive in practice.

Keep an eye out for these. Being able to spot when an answer is making an overly absolute statement can be a really useful way of quickly eliminating distractors. Just remember that the language itself doesn’t make an answer wrong; it’s whether that level of certainty is actually supported by the law.

If you still can’t figure out the answer, move on. Use the pen and whiteboard you’re given to jot down the question number, the answer options you’re deciding between, and perhaps a quick reminder of what the question was about, for example, “contract – consideration”.

I found that quite often, answering other questions on similar topics would trigger something in my mind that helped me rethink an earlier question. Sometimes, all it takes is coming back with a fresh perspective, or having something jog your memory, for the answer to become much clearer.

It’s often better to revisit a question at the end rather than spend too long on it the first time around.

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