Celebrating Excellence: Amna Siddiqui Awarded the Brigid Cotter Prize 2024/25

We are pleased to announce that Amna Siddiqui has been awarded the Brigid Cotter Prize 2024/25 for achieving the best overall performance in her first year of the LLB. This honour is a testament to her discipline, clarity of thinking, and the commitment she has shown throughout the academic year.

The award is named after Brigid Mary Cotter (1921–1978), a pioneering Irish lawyer and one of the first women called to the bar in both England and Ireland. Cotter’s career was defined by resilience and quiet determination in a profession that, at the time, offered limited space to women. She built a reputation for strong legal reasoning and unwavering professionalism, traits that resonate deeply with what the prize seeks to recognise.

Amna’s achievement stands in that tradition. She approached her first year with a steady work ethic, a willingness to ask hard questions, and an ability to engage with legal principles at a depth beyond the syllabus. Whether it was public law, common law reasoning, or contract, she consistently demonstrated intellectual maturity and a reflective approach to legal study.

The Brigid Cotter Prize is awarded not simply for grades but for overall excellence and potential. It recognises students who show an ability to connect doctrine with purpose, who treat law not as a list of rules but as a framework that shapes society. Amna’s performance captured exactly that spirit. Her work reflected balance: analytical precision combined with awareness of context, and a sense of responsibility that speaks well of her future in the profession.

As we celebrate Amna’s accomplishment, we also look forward to the journey ahead for our students. The coming academic year brings new opportunities for engagement, including legal clinics, mooting activities, research projects and sessions with practitioners who understand the realities of modern legal practice. We encourage our students to approach these experiences with openness and curiosity. Awards like the Brigid Cotter Prize remind us that success is built on consistency, reflection and a genuine interest in the law’s role in shaping society. May Amna’s achievement serve as inspiration for those beginning their own path in legal studies.