Chester
Activities and events
There is far more to becoming a lawyer than knowledge of the law. Today’s firms are looking for trainees with commercial awareness skills and an understanding of business operations, networking ability and the confidence to build business relationships. In addition to this, having a wealth of experience gained from extra-curricular activities can open more doors. One of the best ways to learn about the law, build further skills and put these into practice is through such activities; nowhere offers more opportunities to get involved than The College of Law in Chester.
During your course you’ll have the chance to hone your legal skills, gain hands-on experience and improve your career prospects through all kinds of activities such as:
Business and commercial awareness
Share race competition
Mentoring scheme
Prize giving
Mooting
Court visits
Mock trials and employment tribunals
French exchange
Regional law fairs
Business and commercial awareness
Law firms increasingly tell us they are looking for trainees with a strong commercial awareness and business acumen. We provide a programme to build these key skills; this includes guest speakers and presentations from an impressive list of legal and business professionals. Topics on the agenda for this year included:
- Alternatives to private practice
- How to impress in applications
- Life as a civil litigator
- Self presentation
- Commercial awareness
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Share race competition
Every year our GDL students have the chance to prove that they are The Investment Managers of the future. The competition, sponsored by Rensburg Sheppard Investment Managers, gives students £100,000 in a virtual fund. The students invest this money over a five month period and the team which demonstrates the biggest growth win a prize. This is another fantastic way to increase financial acumen and a greater depth of commercial awareness.
Mentoring scheme
The mentoring scheme is a very successful and popular programme arranged through the Careers team. The scheme offers our students the opportunity to work closely with an experienced legal professional for the duration of their studies. Increased confidence, a better understanding of practice areas and valuable work placements are amongst the main gains reported by students who have experienced the scheme.
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Prize giving
We have an annual prize giving for the students who achieve the highest marks on each of the courses. Prizes are donated by several firms and other legal organisations and are awarded for a number of categories. The names of winners are added to the sponsored prize boards which are on display in our student area.
The prize giving normally takes place in November and is an evening event attended by College tutors, sponsor organisations, student prize winners and their guests. This is a wonderful evening where individual student achievements are celebrated.
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Mooting
Mooting is the oral presentation of a legal issue or problem. Students are given a legal issue and must present their side of the case to a panel of judges. This is a very important skill, constantly used by lawyers, so we offer many opportunities to practice mooting. Our students have also had the opportunity to use their mooting skills in national competitions, achieving excellent results.
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Court visits
The College of Law in Chester arranges court visits – criminal, civil or an employment tribunal so that students are able to gain a true insight into how a court functions.
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Mock trials and employment tribunals
We offer mock trials which are true to life with real judges and magistrates, local high schools play the part of the jury.
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French exchange
The exchange programme is with a post-graduate legal education provider in Lyon. Students have the opportunity to improve their legal knowledge and experience the different culture as they work for a law firm in France for the duration of the placement.
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Regional law fairs
Regional law fairs are held in Chester and give students an excellent opportunity to meet potential employers and firms that are actively recruiting face to face, all in one afternoon. This gives students a great chance to find out more about the firms and for the firms to find their trainees and potential partners of the future.
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