UCD students dominate the 2012 McCann FitzGerald Advocate Challenge
Two University College Dublin law students, Julia Lawlor and Gregory Benson, have won The Advocate – McCann FitzGerald’s All-Ireland Business Law Challenge. They will undertake a summer internship with McCann FitzGerald, Solicitors and will also share a prize fund of €3,000. The Advocate competition is open to all third level law and business/law students on the island of Ireland and gives them the chance to convince judges that they understand the crucial topical commercial issues.
Julia and Gregory showed their skills in the commercial law field over six months of competiton, involving five earlier rounds. The runners-up in the recent final were also UCD law students - Neal Flynn and Brian McCormick. Julia, Neal and Brian are all students on the BCL (Law with Economics) programme, while Gregory is a student on the BCL programme.
In fact, all four semi-finalists were UCD law students, Aisling Billington (BCL) and her partner James Fagan (BCL International) and Maureen Monday Aboi (BCL Law with Politics) and her partner Winslow Mimnagh (BCL) being the other four left at that stage. Another UCD team, Wuraola Olatunbosun (BCL) and Hilary Heelan (BCL), had lost out to Maureen and Winslow in the quarter-finals.
"We congratulate Julia Lawlor and Gregory Benson as worthy winners. We were very impressed with the calibre of all of the entries this year and are excited at the potential these students have shown. Once again, it has been a pleasure to host this challenge and give students a unique opportunity to hone the skills required as they prepare for their legal career in the commercial world." said John Cronin, Chairman of McCann FitzGerald.
The final, at the Four Courts in Dublin, was judged by the Mr. Justice Peter Kelly; Rose Hynes, Chairman, Bord Gáis Éireann; and Mr. John Cronin, Chairman, McCann FitzGerald and was co-sponsored by the Courts Service and the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service.
For more details, log on to www.theadvocate.ie
Find the competition on Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheAdvocateMF
Follow it on Twitter: @TheAdvocate_MF
Pictured here at the final of the McCann FitzGerald Advocate Challenge 2012 final are runners up Neal Flynn and Brian McCormick, Honorable Mr. Justice Peter Kelly, Julia Lawlor (winner), Professor Colin Scott Dean of Law at UCD and Gregory Benson (winner).
