LVR Grads claim prestigious Client Interviewing Title
By Nelson Daily Staff
Two former graduates from L.V. Rogers High School are making waves on the world stage.
Bethany Reaka of Nelson and Slocan’s David Crossley earlier this month championed the University of Exeter Team to the top prize at the Client Interviewing Competition held at the University of West of England.
Reaka and Crossley now represent England and Wales at the Brown Mosten International Client Consultation Competition in Dublin in April.
“David and I are really excited to have won Nationals,” Bethany Reaka told The Nelson Daily via email. “It is the first time our university, University of Exeter, has won the competition, which makes it even more exciting.”
University of Exeter, located 280 kilometers southwest of London, was founded in 1955, however, has origins dating back to the nineteenth century.
The Client Interviewing Competition is a competition for law students in England & Wales. It’s an annual event, although I’m not certain exactly how long the competition has been running for, the cup that we won has the winners on it from each year dating back to 1989.
This year there were 42 law schools entered from England & Wales, of which the top 10 would qualify from Regionals to represent their university at Nationals. Reaka and Crossley finished in seventh place after the Regional qualifying round.
“We are really looking forward to representing England and Wales at the international level, although everyone keeps laughing that it is two Canadians representing England and Wales,” Reaka said. “We are also really looking forward to meeting all the teams, although we are especially excited to meet the Canadians.”
Both 28, Reaka and Crossley graduated from LVR in 2009. The pair worked for a few years to save for our post-secondary education before moving to Newfoundland to attend Memorial University.
Reaka graduated in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, with a double major in History and Religious Studies and a minor in Anthropology. Crossley graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce Co-op (Honours) in 2016.
The pair moved back to Nelson, again to work to save money to attend Law School, and to enjoy a final summer at home before enrolling at Exeter University, which is a Russell Group school.
Client Interviewing Competition Regionals involves two interviews with Nationals increasing to three interviews. Each interview is assessed by three judges who each give a score, which makes up the team’s final score.
These scores are based on certain criteria that law students must satisfy throughout the interview. This includes building rapport, legal professionalism, obtaining the relevant legal information, managing the client’s expectations, as well as advising the client on their options from a legal and practical perspective.
Teams from Brighton, Exeter, Hull, Manchester Met, Royal Holloway, Sheffield Hallam, Swansea, UCL, Warwick and Winchester qualified for the finals. Team Exeter is coached by Tia Matt and Rachel Gimson.
Reaka’s parents, David and Joanne, live in Nelson, while Dean and Antonia Crossley live in Slocan.
