Bristol uni student triumphs in Herbies advocacy challenge

Girl power ruled at the grand final of Herbert Smiths inaugural student advocacy competition - with three women scooping the top three prizes.

The event, on 16 September, showcased the talents of five students who had made it through to the final after submitting videos of themselves talking about the competitions theme of diversity.

Hannah Klein, a politics and French graduate from Bristol University, was the clear winner with her compelling discussion of the proposition Diversity: a bandwagon or real issue?

But her victory did not come easily as she was faced with a tough judging panel, which included Mrs Justice Rafferty, who presented the prizes, director of Liberty Shami Chakrabarti, chief executive of Stonewall Ben Summerskill, College of Law boss Nigel Savage and chairman of the inclusivity group at Herbert Smith Ian Gatt QC.

Gatt said: What we were looking for was a well-balanced approach to both the arguments and the oral presentation plus the ability to deal effectively with a series of penetrating questions from the judges.

Klein, who spoke about the adverse consequences of the unrepresentative make-up of the upper reaches of the legal profession said, I am really pleased to have won. It was tough but I am really glad that I did it.

And what is she going to spend her 3,000 prize money on? Law school fees of course.

The advocacy competition was run in conjunction with The Times newspaper.