The 2022 Stowe Family Law Prize Winner Announced 

NicollCongratulations to Nicoll, the winner of the 2022 Stowe Family Law prize. Nicoll is the highest performing student in Aston Law School’s Family Law module.

In recognition of her outstanding performance, she has been offered a £250 cash prize plus work experience at Stowe's office in Birmingham.

Angela Stanhope, the leader of the family law module, adds her congratulations and says that the prize reflects the high standard at which Nicoll worked and her commitment to the module.  

“It’s a pleasure to award Nicoll the 2022 Stowe Family Law Prize. Her exceptional accomplishment as the highest performing student in the Family Law module is an achievement to be very proud of. Well done on behalf of everyone at Stowe Family Law!” -  Rebecca Calden-Storr, Managing Partner at Stowe Family Law.

Read Nicoll's interview below to find out about her interest in family law:

What sparked your interest in family law?

I became interested in family law as unlike most areas of law, family law is an area that most people can relate to whether it be through personal experiences or through experiences of others. In addition to this, this module provided me with the opportunity to notice how prejudiced the law can be in certain situations simply due to its backdated nature, this was very interesting as it exposed the flaws in our judicial system and showed that the nature of the English legal system needs development in order to provide individuals with the justice they deserve in all areas of law.

What do you like most about family law?

I particularly liked the fact that when studying family law every case had different facts and points of law, unlike modules such as contract law where there are multiple cases for one point of law with very similar facts. In addition to this, studying this module provided me with skills other modules would not be able to, for example, this module included topics of a very personal and to some extent emotional nature which allowed me to communicate my ideas and thoughts in a compassionate and neutral way, rather than letting emotions guide my ideas and cloud my judgement. 

What did you excel in or do best in, on the family law module?

I believe the topic I excelled in was the formation and breakdown of marriages and civil partnerships. This topic was particularly interesting due to the changes in the law of divorce which came into force this year. Whilst studying the module I was able to analyse and find fault with the ‘old law’ due to its backdated nature which led to inconsistencies in the law. 

Are there any other areas of law that interest you?

During my second year at university I also studied Commercial Law, I found this area of law very interesting as it incorporates multiple areas of law. I hope, in the future, to specialise in this area of law.

Visiting Professional Fellow 

Aston Law School is pleased to announce that for the upcoming academic year, Rebecca Calden-Storr, Managing Partner at Stowe Family Law’s Birmingham office, has been appointed as a Visiting Professional Fellow in Aston Law School. She will be associated with the Family Law module and our Professional Mentoring Programme.