Students take on Lawscot Challenge

Students have taken part in a new initiative this year designed to allow them to put their technical and commercial skills into practice in the workplace.

12 of our second and third year law students took part in the ‘Lawscot Challenge’ on Thursday 14 November 2019, as well as five of our partner organisations which support the Lawscot Foundation; Pinsent Masons, Turcan Connell, Brodies, Burness Paull and the Royal Bank of Scotland. 

Each of the organisations set a task for students that tested either their commercial awareness or technical legal skills. Students worked in teams of four and rotated around the different offices to complete each task.

Teams were scored on elements like teamwork, accuracy and presentation skills, with one team being named as the overall winners at the end of the day. The winning team included Isla Gordon (University of Dundee), Declan Dundas (University of Dundee), Alex Whan (University of Strathclyde) and Alisha O’Callaghan (University of Edinburgh).

Darren Woodall (University of Aberdeen) was recognised as the person who had been the most impressive throughout the day. All students were congratulated on their excellent participation and received both positive and constructive feedback, which will help them develop their skills for the future.

The initial concept for the event was adapted from the Legal City Challenge run by Edinburgh Napier University, which ran again successfully this year. Similarly, the event is designed to give Napier students enhanced employability skills and opportunities to network with employers in the local area.  

Darren Kerr, Outreach Development Officer at the Law Society, organised the event and said: “This is a really great opportunity for our students to get practical insights into the work of a lot of different legal teams all in one day. It’s an intense experience and requires a lot of focus from those taking part, but it’s a positive way for students to get used to the variety of challenges workplaces can bring. 

It’s also an important chance to practise skills that students might need during the traineeship recruitment process, such as networking or tackling tasks at assessment centres. If students haven’t been into legal workplaces before interviews, it can be extra pressure and a lot to take in. The Lawscot Challenge is a good way to acclimatise to the type of pressure and activities students may be asked to undertake in future while being able to ask questions, make mistakes and get essential feedback.

We really want to thank the firms and organisations that took part; to the members of staff who took time out of their day to set the challenges and assess students, but also those who continue to guarantee the ongoing financial sponsorship and support of the Lawscot Foundation. The student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive about the event and the Foundation in general, which shows what a major impact our sponsors' contributions are making to students’ experience.”

If you would like to find out how your organisation can support the Lawscot Foundation, please get in touch with oliviamoore@lawscot.org.uk.