University of Aberdeen law students have triumphed for a third consecutive year in the Scottish finals of an international competition that pits the country's best budding negotiators against each other.
Sulaiman Yusuf, 23, and Lilac Cabbad, 26, battled it out against teams from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities to win the title.
The oldest and most renowned inter-university competition, it focuses on legal negotiation for law students from all over the world. The team will now represent Scotland at the International Negotiation Competition in the summer.
The pair, who are studying for a Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Legal Practice, had to conduct mock negotiation exercises and were scored across various scenarios on their preparation, conduct of the negotiation and post-negotiation reflection.
“My initial reaction to our win was an overwhelming surprise because of the excellent performance of our co-competitors,” said Sulaiman. “They presented admirable challenges and ideas throughout the competition. I had also gotten so lost in the fun and excitement of the day of negotiations that I forgot there would even be a winner declared at the end. The atmosphere was welcoming and engaging and it was an absolute blast.
“I am delighted that we won as we certainly put the work in and were determined to give it our best performance. We are also determined to do the same and more in the final stage of this competition.”
To prepare, the pair received coaching from DPLP tutor Linda Fyffe, solicitor advocate and a managing partner at law firm Laurie & Co.
Professor Susan Stokeld, Director of Education at the School, said: “This is a terrific achievement and one which Sulaiman and Lilac should be very proud of. We will be helping them prepare for the international competition in July.”