Law students gain top marks in London exams

In a bid to better equip law students hoping to someday join the legal profession, one tertiary institution has started making serious inroads. Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, the Institute of Law and Academic Studies (ILAS) continues to find methods and teaching programmes for grooming young lawyers.

The reward? The highest results for graduates who tutored locally and wrote the University of London’s external 2010 LLB examinations. This year, however, was no different from 2009, or 2008 for that matter. For three years running, ILAS has produced the top marks in the University of London’s LLB examinations among other institutions offering the programme in T&T.

For its continued success, in 2009 ILAS became a registered institution with the University of London. In the May/June 2010 LLB exams, Avee-Dominque Martineau topped the world in this year’s Level 2 graduate entry. It was an achievement testament to the high standard of tuition at the institution. The daughter of prominent advocate attorney, Russell Martineau, SC, Avee-Dominique was the valedictorian at the graduation ceremony on December 5.

ILAS principal Dr Gail Narinesingh attributed the continued success of the school to the dedication and commitment of its students. “Needless to say, a large part of ILAS’ success is because of you dear graduands, your hard work, your diligence, your perseverance, your enthusiasm, your spirit. It is the small part of yourselves that you leave behind that makes ILAS what it is today, like strands of thread, by itself may easily be broken, but together have become unyielding and firm,” Narinesingh told students at the 2010 graduation ceremony at Chaconia Hotel and Conference Centre in Maraval.

“With every year that goes by, we as an institution, become stronger for the fact that each of you leave behind your own glimmer... your own personal touch… adding your own brilliant stroke to the masterpiece,” she added.

Gaining worldwide recognition

This year, part of the curriculum included moot courts as a tool for students to apply practice to theory. Addressing graduates, Narinesingh, who was bestowed with an honorary doctorate from the prestigious University of Staffordshire, last July, said the moot court included prosecution and defence teams, as well as a mooting judge and clerk, and court marshal.

She said it was a huge success in preparing graduates for the legal profession. “This competition exposed students to courts protocols, the conventions of practice and of course developed their presentation skills.” She said ILAS has gained world-wide recognition because of its high success rate, attracting students both regionally and internationally.

“The academic year 2009-2010 marked our tenth anniversary as an institution. As an institution, and through our record, we have transcended the Trinidad and Tobago market. As a result, we now enjoy an increasingly cosmopolitan student population, with students coming from Canada, St Lucia, St Vincent, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana and Belize.” 

Russell Martineau delivered the feature address at last week’s graduation ceremony, while Fazal Karim, Minister of Science Technology and Tertiary Education, also addressed the graduates.