Congratulations to two of our Law students, Duncan Carson and Susan Guest, who have made it to the finals of the Client Interviewing Competition! Susan kindly shares her experience of the regional competition.
Bringing together an unlikely pair to represent Staffordshire University in the Client Interviewing Competition was the beginning of our journey just over a month ago. As a level 6 student, I had the benefit of almost three years legal studies to draw on to help us analyse the legal problem we were faced with. Duncan, a Level 4 student, complimented my knowledge with his impressive interviewing skills and ability to draw out the information from the client.
Our practice began under the close supervision of Tracey Horton, a qualified Solicitor who guided and advised us throughout our practice interviews. Bringing a range of scenarios and characters into play allowed us to encounter challenging characters, situations and provide advise in both a legal and non legal context.
Having Tracey as our coach gave us invaluable feedback on our performance, enhanced our interviewing techniques and most of all developed us as a team. Identifying where our strengths lay and how best we used those to complement each other’s skill set, provided us with the best possible opportunity to not only obtain the information from the client but how to analyse the information to give the client the most appropriate advice, allowing them to make an informed choice based on their circumstances.
“Duncan and Susan did amazingly well and put in a lot of work, rehearsing beforehand. Despite technical difficulties on the day, they showed their resilience by remaining calm and professional”
– Tracey Horton
Although we experienced some technical difficulties on the day of the competition, Tracey had prepared us for any eventuality that could arise. Continuing the interview while the technical issues were resolved ensured minimal impact on the client interview on the day.
Both myself and Duncan now look to the semi finals on the 12th March 2022, and through practice and preparation hope to bring Staffordshire University Law department success in the competition. #Proudtobestaffs
Good luck in the finals, Duncan and Susan!