London Bloomsbury
Activities and events
Being a successful lawyer requires more than just knowing the law. Today’s firms look for trainees who have an understanding of how businesses work and how they can contribute to its development. At Bloomsbury, we have a wide range of extra-curricular activities which are designed to enhance your experience, hone your skills and better prepare you for practice – and we encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities. As well as being interesting and fun, they provide an invaluable source of information to draw on at interview and also as you further your career.
The Forum
The Business Game
Investment Game – ‘the FooTSE League’
Mooting Competitions
The Forum
The Forum is a combination of two distinct activities at Bloomsbury: the Law and Justice Forum and the Commercial Awareness Forum (CAF). These activities have been running successfully for many years and attract a range of prestigious speakers.
Commercial Awareness Forum (CAF)
CAF exists to increase students’ awareness of business, commerce and finance. It is run by students for students, with lecturers acting as facilitators who provide administrative support and guidance on how to invite speakers. CAF invites speakers, not all of whom are lawyers, to speak on topics of general interest. As it is an extra-curricular activity, it aims to be fun and to avoid formal “law lecture” type presentations.
Recent CAF topics and speakers include:
- Tim Carter, Legal Counsel at Google UK - life as an in-house lawyer at Google and what the key legal issues are there.
- Dennis Turner, Chief Economist at HSBC - 'How long, how deep?' presentation and discussion about the economic downturn ‘The Effect of the Credit Crunch on Litigators’
Law and Justice Forum
The Law & Justice Forum provides an opportunity for students and staff to meet and consider issues of social justice. The Forum complements the specific subjects and areas which students study on both the GDL and LPC and provides an opportunity to consider some of the big issues which often motivate people to become lawyers in the first place. Here are just some of the topics covered recently:
‘Gender and the Law’
Baroness Hale of Richmond - the first and only female Law 'Lord' and HHJ Judge Case, a family law judge and treasurer of the UK Women Judges' Association.
Cherie Booth - County/Crown Court Recorder, practising QC and as of 2009, Vice-Chair of the International Bar Association's Officers Discrimination Law Committee
‘Honour Killings’
Lynne Townley, Senior Policy Advisor to the CPS
Back to top
The Business Game
- How well can you work in a multidisciplinary team?
- Can you really communicate your ideas?
The Business Game is designed to help you gain commercial awareness and develop skills in business strategy and teamwork.
As a Director of a fictional PLC you will have the opportunity to get a feel for the pressures and challenges that Directorship brings. You will need to analyse the market place, prepare a strategy and fight off the competition; and at the same time shape the culture of your company and communicate your views to your employees.
Working as part of a team where each person will have different skills, you will need to establish the strengths and weaknesses of your fellow Directors so work can be allocated efficiently. Time will always be an issue so careful time management and an equitable decision making process will be critical.
Back to top
Investment Game – ‘the FooTSE League’
Become a virtual share trader and pit your wits against other students and the investment professionals by taking part in the College of Law Share Challenge. This is a ‘share race’ investment game designed to introduce you to the financial world by raising your awareness of, and interest in, the factors which influence share values and investment decisions.
Working in small teams, you will become a virtual share trader and pit your wits against other students. You will be given a fictional £100,000 to invest in a portfolio of shares.
You will then trade your shares over a period of time with a view to maximising the value of your portfolio – highest value wins! To win this competition you will need to work strongly as a team, apply lateral and strategic thinking and have nerves of steel!
Back to top
Mooting Competitions
Our GDL students have the opportunity gain valuable training in the skills of oral presentation, advocacy and teamwork through participation in our mooting competitions. Run on a knock-out basis, the preliminary rounds are judged by fellow students on the BPTC and LPC and the final rounds by practitioners.
Back to top