Chance to impress: students win vac scheme places in CC competition

International firm Clifford Chance has announced the winners of its third annual 'intelligent aid' competition, prizes for which crucially include vac scheme places with the firm.

This year's competition challenged law and non-law students across UK universities to write a short essay proposing the most effective ways for national governments to achieve their emissions reduction targets. The top 40 essayists then spent a day at Clifford Chance's offices working in teams to deliver a business pitch, based on a renewable energy case study, to a panel of the firm's experts.

University of Oxford student Robert Natzler won the individual first prize - a vac scheme placement, a £1,000 donation by Clifford Chance to a charity of his choice, an all-expenses-paid visit to Rio Janeiro for three nights and an iPad. His teammates Samuel Harwin (Oxford), Laveen Ladharam (The College of Law), Robert Shorrock (University of Cambridge) and Nikhita Suria (University of Manchester) were each awarded a vac scheme place and an iPad. A further 11 students were also awarded vac scheme places for their performance in the competition.

Emma Matebalavu, Clifford Chance's graduate recruitment partner, said: "We would like to congratulate all the students who were selected to attend the final round. The competition really threw students in at the deep end, requiring them to prepare a pitch for a complex renewable financing transaction. We were really impressed by the quality of their presentations, especially given the limited time to prepare - so much so that we had to increase the number of spaces for winners on our next vacation scheme from 15 to 16!"