St Mary’s Law Student Wins National Commercial Awareness Competition

Two students of the Law LLB Programme at St Mary’s University, Twickenham progressed into the final stages of a major national competition for aspiring lawyers.

Final year student and St Mary’s Law Society President, James Hutchens, was part of the winning team, whilst second year student, Leo Licheri-Hood, also impressed the judges reaching the final of what has been a lengthy and grueling competition with 82 universities and 1,300 competitors trying to win this prestigious competition.

Their success in the annual Aspiring Solicitors’ Commercial Awareness Competition continues the University’s dominance at the event. As, in 2016, former St Mary’s Law Society President, Sebastian Blomeier, beat hundreds of competitors from over 60 law schools to reach the final.

Each round of the competition assesses students’ awareness of political, economic and current affairs. With two students in the final this year – and one part of a winning team – the students of the Law Programme are going from strength to strength.

St Mary’s Law Student, James Hutchens commented, “Upon winning the competition the only feeling I could describe was sheer jubilation. All the hard work and late night that I had put into preparing for the competition felt like a distant memory.’’

“Since winning the competition, I have gained numerous work experience opportunities and even a training contract interview, with an American law firm. I do not feel like I would have achieved that without this relevant experience.”

 Programme Director for Law at St Mary’s, Jenny Henry commented, “Everyone at St Mary’s is incredibly proud of what both students have achieved – it is testament to their tenacious approach to establishing their careers and the hard work and support of our academic staff.”

Deputy Head of the School of Management and Social Sciences at St Mary’s, Vanessa Beever, added, “Doors are opening and opportunities will be flooding in for both James and Leo. We are delighted to hear that on the back of this competition, they have made great contacts with major legal firms.

“This is turn has put the excellent St Mary’s Law Programme in a great position – we are demonstrating consistently, year-on-year, that our students are hard workers and sharp legal minds.”