Our apprentices engage throughout the LTSB programme with a variety of incredible personal and professional development opportunities.

One of the most memorable is the Mock Trial, which this year took place at Southwark Crown Court on 25th July.  Our apprentices took on the roles of defendant, witnesses, and prosecution and defence teams, and the two mock trials were overseen by Judges Peter Lodder and Khatun Sapnara, both inspirational figures.

The apprentices relished their roles, and learned a great deal from this amazing experience.  They learned that the better prepared participants had a clear advantage.  They learned the importance of active listening.  And they demonstrated once again that they can step out of their comfort zones and thrive.

Charlie Froud, of LTSB’s Chelsea cohort, who is working as an apprentice with London chartered accountants HW Fisher, explained what he gained from the experience:

“On the day of the Mock Trial I was given the role of Clerk to the Court, which I really enjoyed. It meant that I was completely neutral in the case, and I could observe the people playing the parts of witnesses and lawyers. Most seemed confident and composed and knew what they were doing. The lawyers got the correct information from the witnesses to support their side of the case. The witnesses knew the facts about the characters they were portraying. Overall I felt they did really well, even though some were shaking with fear – which I think is understandable as it was our first time in a courtroom and a courtroom is an intimidating place! 

“After the Mock Trial was finished, we took part in a debrief event at Macquarie Group’s offices. We reviewed the case, going through what worked well and what we could improve. And we had a discussion on the British justice system. The major controversy was whether those who commit murder should be jailed and never released. On one side of the argument they have committed a murder they knew what they were doing so they should live with it in prison. On the opposite side of the argument they may have some sort of mental condition or some other reason why they were not fully in control. The other main point we discussed was the jury selection system. In the UK, people are chosen at random based from the electoral register. This is supposed to neutralise the risk that people may have different racial, religious or other biases, but it might mean a jury is not representative of society as a whole.

“To conclude I would like to thank Judges Lodder and Sapnara for giving up their time to run this event. I would like to thank Southwark Crown Court for allowing us to use the courtrooms. Finally I would like to thank the LTSB team for organising this amazing event!”