Whether you're just starting out or refining advanced skills, there's never been a better time to challenge yourself and grow through competition.
The Ashurst Senior Mooting Competition is an annual internal mooting competition run by the ANU Law Students’ Society and sponsored by the global law firm Ashurst. The competition is structured into three preliminary rounds where competitors interchangeably argue the side of the appellant or the respondent to either a Contract law or Criminal law factual problem scenario.
This year, 38 participants from across all years of their degrees, including a Juris Doctor student, tackled a contract law dispute about the fulfilment of an order of 15 sets of industry-standard chain mail armour suits. Having been given fifty-nine paragraphs of facts, the competitors had the opportunity to make some creative arguments to persuade their judge to favour their point.
On the 12th of May, the Grand Finals took place at the ANU Moot Court Teaching Space 1 and 2, a new facility that replicates the layout of a courtroom, elevating the mooting experience.
The Grand Finalists were Luke McNamara, Ashna Sahi and Francesca Boardman (appellants) and Thomas North, Mia Booth and Hugh Liu (defendants). The panel of judges was comprised of Daniella Fiocco (Senior Associate) and Thomas Gaffney (Special Counsel) from Ashurst’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution Team, Canberra, as well as Felix Archibald, an ANU final-year law student who is an experienced international Mooter and a seasonal ANU academic at the College of Law.
The Moot turned to whether a delayed fulfilment of the suit order gave rise to a right to terminate, a right to damages (and if so, how much), as well as considered whether there was any misrepresentation on the quality of the suits, or the presence of unconscionable conduct in the haggling of suit prices.
After much deliberation, the appellants were unanimously awarded the victory, with Luke McNamara also unanimously being awarded Best Speaker. However, the judges were all impressed by both teams’ real-world ability to characterise the facts in favour of their clients, signpost their submissions and respond to questions from the bench.
Speaking with one of the Ashurst lawyers, Thomas Gaffney, after the Moot, I asked him a series of questions.
Q: What advice would you offer to anyone interested in mooting?
A: ‘The classic one is that mooting is just a wonderful skill set in terms of being able to make persuasive arguments, which is really what the core of being a solicitor or barrister is. It starts you on that journey, and it's a really great skill to get you going in that way.’
Q: What advice would you offer our competitors tonight?
A: ‘For competitors of this quality, it’sreally just about continuing to practice and hone their skills, doing more moots, looking for opportunities to work in more firms or with law firms or with barristers. Importantly, try to keep honing their skills in writing and all submissions because that’s what the practice is about. Keep practising being an advocate and being persuasive in your written and oral submissions!’
Q: Finally, what was your highlight of judging the competition tonight?
A: ‘My highlight was absolutely the way that the competitors were able to move around, take on board our questions, answer them, and really find a way back to getting onto the next submission. That is a deft skill that not a lot of advocates, even in the real world, are able to do, and they were all able to do it excellently.’
Overall, all competitors should be very pleased with their efforts and are encouraged to pursue future competition opportunities and experiences!
Students of any year level who have never entered a Mooting Competition before are highly encouraged to join the upcoming Ashurst Novice Mooting Competition taking place in Semester Two this year. It is a great opportunity to step into the world of legal advocacy in a supportive and enriching environment.
Throughout the year, the ANU Law Students’ Society also runs a wide range of internal competitions throughout the year that empower students to sharpen their legal skill sets. This includes Maddock’s Negotiations Competition, Allen’s Witness Examination Competition, and Corrs Chambers Westgarth Client Interview Competition. All run at both Senior and Novice levels, with more information available on the LSS social media pages.
Whether you're just starting out or refining advanced skills, there's never been a better time to challenge yourself and grow through competition.
Article by Jessica Stanford (LSS Mooting director)