Slaughter and May announces winner of student Innovation Competition 2023
Competition winner will receive £1,000 and a work experience placement at the firm
Slaughter and May has announced the winner of the firm’s Innovation Competition for students. The winner was Modupe Allen, whose video game featured a fictional law firm, in which an employee learns from their colleagues about how to encourage an innovative culture. Modupe will receive £1,000 and will be joining the firm for a week’s work experience in its Knowledge & Innovation team in June this year.
Students could choose to answer one of two questions, and entries were judged on their creativity, originality, commercial awareness and strength and clarity of argument. Entries were invited in any format, and included podcasts, blog posts, narrated presentations and essays.
The firm received close to 70 entries which were then shortlisted by a panel made up of members of the Knowledge & Innovation Team and the firm’s Innovation Network Hub, who identified the five strongest entries, which were then put to the final judging panel.
The judging panel was made up of Senior Knowledge and Innovation Managers, Richard Batstone, Emily Lew and Emma Walton.
In addition to the £1,000 prize and work experience placement awarded to the winner, the second and third place entries were awarded £500 and £250 in prize money respectively.
“Each year we are blown away with the responses we receive to the questions set. This year was no different with a wide range of formats being submitted. Modupe’s computer game was such a novel idea with a practical and thoughtful approach to answering the question. Thank you to all who entered.” said Emma Walton
Trainee Jack Eames, who was part of the competition shortlisting panel, said: “In my initial year on the judging panel, the energy and originality invested into the entries – from radio broadcasts to video games – left me invigorated. It’s truly inspiring to see this level of lateral thinking finding its way into the sphere of legal practice.”
Lottie Dobson, Legal Operations Executive at Slaughter and May, said: “I have thoroughly enjoyed being involved in the judging process for the competition this year. The quality of entries was fantastic; it’s great to see students thinking with an innovative mindset with regards to the future of the legal industry. I look forward to working with Modupe during their work experience placement in the team.”
The winners were as follows:
First place: Modupe Allen (studying Law at the University of Nottingham) who produced a video game in response to the question “An innovative culture is key to supporting advances in legal service delivery and technology adoption. How can law firms create and encourage such a culture?”
Second place: Saaya Deb (studying Law with French at the University of Liverpool) who produced an animated video presentation in response to the question “What opportunities does hybrid working present for collaboration between law firms and their clients? How can law firms learn from the move to hybrid working to innovate in other areas of legal service delivery?”
Third place: Joy Lee (studying English and Philosophy at University of St. Andrews) with an animated video essay in response to the question “What opportunities does hybrid working present for collaboration between law firms and their clients? How can law firms learn from the move to hybrid working to innovate in other areas of legal service delivery?”