Winners of the inaugural ICCA Essay Competition sponsored by Keating Chambers and The Guardian

Date: 9 August 2021

Keating Chambers wishes to congratulate Joshua Clements, Timothy Foot and Selda Krasniqi on being awarded first, second and third prize (respectively) at the inaugural ICCA Essay Competition, sponsored by Keating and The Guardian.

The competition was created to provide all students of the Inns of Court College of Advocacy with an invaluable opportunity to showcase written advocacy skills. All three finalists were announced at ICCA’s Summer Party on 6 August 2021, where they each received prize money from Keating Chambers. As an additional award for first place, a version Joshua’s winning essay will be printed in The Guardian today. Joshua is a dedicated and enthusiastic student on ICCA Bar Course, who has just completed his final Bar Course exams.

David Shariatmadari, opinion editor of Guardian News & Media, said: “We’re pleased to have been part of the judging panel for the Keating Chambers and ICCA essay writing competition. The calibre of entries was extremely high but the winning essay stood out in a competitive field.  We’re looking forward to working with Joshua on a piece based on his winning essay which will appear in our opinion section.”

Keating Chambers’ sponsorship of this competition comes as part of our wider commitment to supporting a range of opportunities and initiatives for students to develop skills needed to be successful at the Bar. Whilst this scheme by the ICCA provides written advocacy experience, other initiatives we support include joining other commercial sets in a mentoring scheme for under-represented groups, partnering with Bridging the Bar’s structured mini-pupillage programme and participation in the Bar Council’s reverse mentoring scheme.

The ICCA commented: “The ICCA is delighted that The Guardian Newspaper and Keating Chambers have supported this new initiative. We are extremely grateful for the opportunity this has given our students to showcase their ability and receive recognition for their efforts.”