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International law firm Womble Bond Dickinson's (WBD) Leeds office hosted the final of a city-wide debating competition aiming to unearth the next generation of skilled speakers.
Having sponsored last year's event, the firm has continued its commitment as headline partner with public discussion forum The Leeds Salon in its annual school debating competition, now in its 11th year.
Open to students in years 10 and 11, the contest sees teams of two arguing for and against motions across a range of wide topics, and is designed to give participants the chance to build debating and public speaking skills and develop their critical thinking,
Following qualifying rounds in January and February, teams from Guiseley School, Cardinal Heenan, Mount St. Mary's, and Abbey Grange progressed to the final day, which was held at WBD's Leeds office.
Topics on the final day including "we should accept the risk inherent in contact sports" and "billionaires owning media companies is bad for democracy", with Cardinal Heenan were crowned this year's champions, with their winning panellists noted for their innovative arguments and structured delivery response.
John Connor, partner and head of the firm's banking and finance team and financial institutions sector, said:
"It is a great pleasure to support the next generation of debaters and public speakers in Leeds through our involvement with this competition along with the interesting, thoughtful, and insightful perspectives they bring to these topics.
Being able to build and deliver strong, evidence-based, and structured arguments are key to forging a path in the legal sector, and many of these students not only have these skills in abundance, but were able to utilise these to tackle many of the issues that are discussed by politicians, the courts and the general public today."
Members of the firm helped in the running of the competition, with John and fellow partner David Cole sitting on the judging panels along with nine others judges from across numerous sectors within the city, while associate Jake Unsworth helped organise and chair the event alongside Leeds Salon co-founder Paul Thomas.
Additional judges providing their time and support to the competition included commercial solicitor at the government's Legal Department Aylaia Tombros-Mylyor, assistant director of HMRC Russell Thomas, creative projects consultant Jo Caswell, head of technical assurance at NHS England Paul Butterworth, and founder of brand and PR agency ‘The Firmament' Annabel Carrington, and Leeds Salon's Dan Clayton.
The director general of the Royal Armouries Museum Nat Edwards, and Robbie Arrell and Ruby Hornsby from the University of Leeds' Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applies Centre were also judges for the competition, with the organisations also prize sponsors along with award-winning multi-media company Tectonic Interactive.
As champions, the Cardinal Heenan team will be given the opportunity for a day's work experience over the upcoming summer holidays, providing invaluable experience and an idea of how the legal industry operates.
All other schools and teams which took part also received access to the firm's information on early careers for those who may be looking to progress into the industry or further study in coming years.
You can find pictures from the competition below:
Year 10 & 11 final – best individual Iris Podesta from Guiseley School with WBD's Jake Unsworth
Year 10 & 11 final – final between Cardinal Heenan vs Abbey Grange
Year 10 & 11 final – final between Cardinal Heenan vs Abbey Grange
Year 10 & 11 final judges – Nat Edwards, Annabel Carington, John Connor
Year 10 & 11 final runners up – Abbey Grange with WBD's David Cole and IDEA's Ruby Hornsby
Year 10 & 11 final winning school – Cardinal Heenan, with WBD's John Connor and RAM's Nat Edwards
