Clifford Chance

LSE student wins Clifford Chance's Intelligent Aid 2015 competition

Farah Rohaizat, a third year student at the London School of Economics (LSE), has won Clifford Chance's Intelligent Aid competition with her essay on the relationship between the rule of law and the success of the Singaporean economy and performance in the finals at Clifford Chance. Farah wins £5,000 towards her tuition fees and will join 20 of the winning finalists on a vacation scheme at the firm.

The competition, now in its fifth year, invites students to apply their intellect to win a place on a Clifford Chance vacation scheme. This year, Clifford Chance offered additional support to potential applicants, visiting 15 universities to deliver skills sessions specifically tailored around providing guidance on how to approach the essay submission. Students were invited to submit a 500 word essay answering “Is the Rule of Law essential in ensuring an economy’s success? Based purely on the essay submissions, judges chose the top 40 essays and the selected candidates were invited to a two day final at the Clifford Chance Canary Wharf office, which included several presentations from Partners and lawyers that were related to the case study,  designed to help them approach and digest the content as well as to prepare for their own presentation. The final also required students to present individually to a selection committee of partners and other members of the firm on a commercial case study. 

At the end of the two day final the judges agreed on the top 20 applicants who were all awarded with a vacation scheme place, and Farah Rohaizat as the overall winner.

Emma Matebalavu, London Graduate Recruitment Partner at Clifford Chance commented, "Farah is a worthy winner of a very challenging competition. Intelligent Aid is now in its fifth year and we were really delighted by the quality of the submissions this year.  I was really inspired by a number of the individual essay entries this year which were varied, creative and often very original. This year, extending the final round to two days allowed the candidates more time to share their ideas, skills and personalities and to get an overview of the firm. We look forward to welcoming the winning candidates to the firm during their vacation scheme, and would like to thank all those who took the time to enter this year."

The winning applicants were also awarded the opportunity to choose a charity from a list of the firm's community partners, which Clifford Chance donated £1,000 to on their behalf. The money was donated to Community Links.