Kent students Jessica Edwards and Eugene O’Sullivan have won a place at the regional finals of a national Client Interviewing competition.
Jessica and Eugene, both third-year law students, secured their place after winning a competition at Kent Law School as part of their studies in the extra-curricular Client Interviewing module.
Third-year law students Stacia Franz and Kagowa Kuruneri, finished a close second.
Module convenor Johanne Thompson said: ‘We were really pleased with the standard of the competition this year. We were genuinely impressed with the professionalism and the way that the students conducted themselves in the interviews.’
After attending a training day in January at Oxford Brookes, Jessica and Eugene will go forward to represent the University in the regional finals of the competition hosted by Irwin Mitchell Solicitors in London on 7 February.
The Client Interviewing Competition for England and Wales tests law students on their interviewing and counselling skills and centres on a simulated law office interview. Law students work in teams of two to interview and advise a “client”. Their management of the interview is judged according to the judging criteria e.g. establishing a good working relationship with the client, recognising and handling the legal problems, ethical and personal issues, including costs, and finally offering appropriate advice.
The competition requires students not merely to know the law relating to a particular subject matter, but also to employ effective interviewing techniques and be aware of a variety of considerations which they might not otherwise appreciate as law students. A post-interview reflection is an integral part of the competition which allows the students to explain their techniques, discuss the law and their projected strategies and provides an opportunity for self-criticism.