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Nottingham Law School's Client Interviewing Competition

Nottingham Law School hosted its annual Client Interviewing Competition where Habibah Obikoya and Charles Nyarkoh were named the winners.

    The competition consisted of three rounds and commenced in mid-November, concluding with the final on 6 December. Each round involved students working together in pairs to conduct simulated client interviews. Participants were not informed of the client's problem in advance, requiring them to extract relevant information through questioning and provide initial advice. Feedback was provided to participants by guest judges and the organiser during the final.

    Winners pictured for the NLS Client Interviewing Competition
    From left to right, guest judges, Callum Scott from NLS Legal and Jade Beales, from Nelsons Solicitors, with the winners Charles Nyarkoh and Habibah Obikoya who are both studying the Legal Practice Course.

    The winners were Charles Nyarkoh and Habibah Obikoya who are both studying the Legal Practice Course. They were named the winners by the guest judges Callum Scott from NLS Legal and Jade Beales, Associate Solicitor from Nelsons Solicitors, and Megan Shirley the organiser.

    Habibah said "It’s been a great experience so far! Thank you Callum Scott and Jade Beales for your advice which myself and Charles Nyarkoh will definitely take on board as we go on to represent NTU. I am extremely thankful to Megan Shirley for organising the internal competition and the feedback given at each stage which has in no doubt been beneficial to us both" following her achievement.

    Guest judge, Jade Beales, said "The standards are always incredibly high, making it tough to settle on a winning pair!".

    Megan Shirley, Nottingham Law School Senior Lecturer of the Client Interviewing Competition, had the following to say on this year's competition.

    "It's been a pleasure to work with the students in this year's Client Interviewing Competition. I am always so impressed by students who seize the opportunity to develop new skills that will be valuable to their future careers. I can see the students' performances improve as we go through the rounds as they listen to feedback and reflect on their own performance. I'm looking forward to coaching our winning pair in the National Competition!"

    Runners up pictured for the NLS Client Interviewing Competition
    From left to right, guest judges Callum Scott from NLS Legal and Jade Beales, from Nelsons Solicitors with Teebah AlHeyari and Jade Chahbouni

    The runners up of this year's competition were Teebah AlHeyari and Jade Chahbouni. Jade has since said "On behalf of Teebah and I, we would like to thank you for this opportunity. It has taught us so much and it overall was great fun. We’d also like to thank the guest judges for coming today and giving us such constructive criticism that we’ll make sure to keep in mind for the future. Congratulations to the winners!".

    The national competition is open to universities in England and Wales. The winners of the regional round will go through to the national final in February and March of 2024.

    Congratulations to all the participants, and best of luck to the winners as they enter the national competition next year.

    Charles and Habibah at Client Interviewing Competition Finals
    Charles Nyarkoh (left) and Habibah Obikoya (right) at the National Finals of the Client Interviewing Competition

    Congratulations to Habibah Obikoya and Charles Nyarkoh who represented Nottingham Law School in the National Finals of the Client Interviewing Competition 2024.

    Habibah and Charles qualified for the final by taking part in a regional round in which they completed two client interviews online. In the final, they undertook three challenging client interviews on the subject of serious crime and international humanitarian law. In each case, students ran initial client interviews; questioning the client to determine the factual background and objectives, before moving on to provide initial advice on the relevant law and the possible future steps.

    Megan Shirley, Senior Lecturer at NLS, coached the team in advance of the final and acted as a judge for other competing teams on the day. She said:

    "This was a particularly challenging area of practice for the students to advise on and I am really proud of Habibah and Charles. Their 9th place finish is very impressive; even more so when you consider that this competition has fallen over an important assessment period on their LLM Legal Practice Course; a testament to their commitment and professionalism."

    The national competition finals took place on Saturday 9 March and was hosted by Birmingham University. Habibah said “It was an amazing experience to represent NLS and meet other law students from across the country. It has definitely developed my interviewing and advising skills with feedback given at each stage preparing me for future legal practice.”

    Charles added "I am very grateful to have represented NTU in the National Client Interviewing Competition 2024.  Although we did not win, reaching the finals is still a great achievement for us. It was indeed a wonderful experience, and the memories of it will remain with us forever. Thank you to the organisers, NLS, and more especially to Megan for preparing us for the competition. Lastly, congratulations to the winners and we wish them the very best in the International Client Consultation Competition 2024."

    Published on 8 December 2023
    • Category: Press office; Nottingham Law School