Mooting Competition
Summary
A Moot is a simulated mock trial whereby students are assigned opposing sides and will argue their submissions.
Each counsel will consist of two to three students (the third being the instructing solicitor). Counsels will hand in written submissions prior to the commencement of the mock trial. In addition to this, they should have their own copy of their oral submissions, which will be argued in front of several judges. The judges will ask questions to test the validity of students’ legal arguments and to explore the breadth of their research.
They will then be provided will valuable feedback from experienced legal practitioners. This competition allows students to further their practical legal skills and apply their studies to real life scenarios. This also assists with confidence building, networking with legal professionals, as well as networking with fellow peers.
For any questions please email the Competitions Executive Officer, Hannah Spnovic via: competitions@usclsa.com
Testimonies from past Mooting Champions:
"The Mooting Competition was my first USCLSA competition experience. Like most people, I had doubts about whether such an event was for me and that I would possibly have to sacrifice my grades for the opportunity to compete. This was in fact not the case. The process gets you to critically think not only about your argument, but the law and fact pattern of cases relied on too. This enabled me to develop skills that in my opinion are essential to both legal practice and studying law in general. These personal developments in many regards were enabled through the positive and constructive feedback provided by judges. I am grateful for the experience and would recommend competing to anyone eligible." - Anton Slaats
"My Moot Competition experience was invaluable. It was an opportunity for me to step outside my comfort zone and challenge myself to become better at both oral advocacy and critical thinking. In addition to this, I honed my time management skills, putting me in good stead for my final years of university. People are often deterred from engaging with this fantastic opportunity, because of fear of public speaking or even being able to juggle it with their other courses, but I promise it will be a gainful experience; one that will open your eyes up to another facet of the legal profession, if nothing else." - William Toumi (Mac)
"I would highly recommend to every student to take the opportunity to compete at least once in Mooting. Mooting offers a practical opportunity to use the legal knowledge and skills you have learnt so far in your degree and insights in being a legal advocate. Mooting improved my legal writing, research, speaking and time management skills. The best part about Mooting is the memories that I created with my fellow teammates and has been a highlight of my university experience that I will always remember." - Talia Rosa-Denham
