Two Aberdeen students will represent Scotland in Las Vegas after coming out top in a law competition.
Keith Anderson and Victoria Grier beat off teams from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee in last Friday's national Client Counselling competition, which pits Scottish Diploma year law students against each other.
The event was held at the University of Aberdeen's Law School and saw each team of two conduct a mock interview with a client involved in a negligence related claim.
Practising North-east solicitors and mediators judged their efforts before choosing the pair to represent Scotland in the international version of the competition in Las Vegas later this year.
"The main aim of the competition is to develop students' awareness of the counselling and interview features of legal practice," said Ms Sarah Arnell, a lecturer in the University of Aberdeen's School of Law.
"Interviewing and advising are a significant part of most lawyers' work but it is often assumed that lawyers already have the kind of skills needed to conduct an effective interview. What the counselling competition does is focus students' attention on important areas such as listening and questioning early in their careers."
The Scottish competition took place on the afternoon of Friday, January 30 2009 in the University of Aberdeen's MacRobert Building.
Keith and Vicotoria will now compete against student lawyers from all over the world at the International Client Counselling Competition in Las Vegas this spring. Countries competing include the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Cayman Islands, England and Wales, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and South Africa.