Young Professionals’ Challenge at Nabarro LLP

On Friday 10 February, fourteen Year 12 students from our Sixth Form with an interest in following a career in law spent the day at Nabarro LLP, an international law firm with offices at Victoria Quays in Sheffield.

The day began with a presentation from partner, Martin McKervey and Head of Human Resources, Julie Brearley, who spoke about the skills that Nabarro LLP typically looks for when recruiting graduate trainees, as well as the opportunities for work experience that they offer to undergraduates.

The students were then placed in groups; their challenge for the day being to hear two sides of a dispute, prepare cases for the plaintiff and the defendant and ultimately to take part in a mock trial, where the outcome would depend solely on the strength of their arguments for the prosecution and the defence, and on the testimonies of the ‘witnesses’, played by other trainee solicitors.

The groups were led by two current trainee solicitors, Beckie Wrend and Ben Raynor, who introduced the dispute that would form the basis of the mock trial, and the girls got to work analysing evidence, phrasing questions and preparing cross-examinations.

After a networking lunch, we took our places in the mocked up courtroom, presided over by another trainee solicitor who played the role of the judge, ready to question the witnesses, defendants and claimants.

Although there could only be one winner – the team for the defendant – all agreed that they had found the experience truly insightful and exciting. We clearly have some promising future lawyers amongst us in Year 12!