51Âþ»­

Law students won through to the regional finals of a national competition designed to test the skills of up and coming lawyers.

Shaneeka Powell and Charis Kumanda, both third years, won their place at the Client Interviewing Competition after winning a contest hosted by Leicester De Montfort Law School.



This year’s competition has been entered by 36 law schools all over the country.  One student played the client and, working in teams of two, students had to establish the problem and advise on the legal remedies available to them. They had no prior knowledge of what the problem would be, only the area of law it would cover which this year was small businesses.

51Âþ»­ offers students the chance to go beyond the lecture theatre and take part in extra-curricular activities such as this which gives students a taste of life in the career they wish to pursue.

Among the judges was Biro Dhillon, head of wills and probate at Bobby Dhanjal Wealth Management in Leicester. She said: “Client interviewing is a critical part of the development of any solicitor. You have to be able to quickly establish what the problems are and, as a practitioner, you often won’t know what people are coming to see you about so you have to have a grasp of all aspects of law.

“Both teams were very good but we had to have a winner and the girls just came through on points.”

Shaneeka and Charis will now go on to a training day at Oxford Brookes University before representing 51Âþ»­ in the regional finals.

“We were shocked to win,” said Shaneeka. “We did not know what would be asked beforehand and it is very tough to do this in front of an audience! We are very pleased to have got through.”


The girls were up against Tom Pickwell and Charlie Reid. Tom said: “this has been really good fun but it is a difficult skill. It puts into practice the legal theory we have been taught.”