The Swansea University Law School Skills Programme helps students to develop a range of skills including appellate advocacy, client interviewing, negotiation, and mediation.
One where there are fewer opportunities for students to test their skills is trial advocacy: the nuts and bolts experience of submission advocacy, examination-in-chief, and cross examination. Crucially, these are all skills that students can expect to use from the first day that they are on their feet in court.
The flagship competition that offers competition in trial advocacy is the BPP Advocate of the Year Competition where students have to conduct a criminal and civil trial, showcasing the range of skills. At Swansea, students first had to audition through a competitive process, with the final team being selected as Eesha Boby and Taylor-May Price. They then competed in the Regional competition with Cardiff, Aberdeen, and Wrexham. The case, a criminal assault matter, required them to flex their trial advocacy muscles in a variety of ways, not least adapting to the online format! They performed superbly with Taylor-May being selected as one of only 16 students nationally to progress to the National Finals.
Unique to these Finals was the venue as the final was held in the Old Bailey, where Taylor-May was required, with her randomly assigned partner, to conduct both a criminal trial and a civil trial, this time having to conduct a Conference, submission advocacy, examination-in-chief, and cross-examination. It was a long and tiring day but one that left her convinced of her decision to pursue a career at the Bar. She was very grateful for the feedback that she received- congratulations on a brilliant performance.