Thursday 20 September 2007 LAWFUEL – The Legal Newswire – University of Auckland students Anna Crowe and James Little have taken top honours at the Bell Gully-sponsored national law school mooting finals.
Anna and James’ win against the team from Otago University means they will travel to Washington DC to compete against the best in the world at the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition in April next year.
Before then James will put his legal skills to good use when he returns to Bell Gully as a law clerk next year.
Mooting is a centuries-old way of training law students to present an argument in a court setting. Using a fictitious legal case, students – usually in pairs – present their side of the argument before a judge. They can be questioned by the judge and are assessed on style and the content of their argument.
It’s a competitive battle for places in the national finals. Teams must first compete within their university law faculties before a university final is held usually at their city’s High Court before a panel of judges.
This year’s national final was held in Christchurch before Justice McGrath of the Supreme Court, Justice Fogarty of the Christchurch High Court and Bell Gully partner Ian Gault.
