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This is the first occasion on which a mooting competition, which is designed to test the advocacy skills of its participants, has been held in Singapore for qualified lawyers.

The two winners, Drew & Napier’s Mr Pardeep Singh Khosa and Mr Mahesh Rai, both 28, took on Mr Kevin Ong, 25, and Mr Lau Kah Hee, 28, from WongPartnership to win an all-expenses paid two-week internship at Essex Court Chambers in London. In the final, which took place at the Supreme Court of Singapore, each team consisting of two speakers, a leader and a junior, were given a hypothetical case involving allegations of breach of contract. They argued the case before a distinguished judging panel consisting of the Honourable Attorney-General Mr Sundaresh Menon SC, the Honourable Justice Steven Chong and the former Attorney-General of Hong Kong and a member of Essex Court Chambers, Mr Michael Thomas CMG QC.

The judges used four criteria with which to evaluate each team’s performance: content, strategy, ability to respond and style. Emphasis was placed on their insight and analysis of the problem, their ability to rebut their opponent’s arguments, their marshalling of legal arguments, team work and oral advocacy skills. A total of 22 young lawyers from seven local law firms, the Justices’ Law Clerks of the Supreme Court of Singapore and the Attorney-General’s Chambers had participated in the earlier rounds of the competition which commenced on 3 November 2011.  Participants had to be under the age of 30 and be lawyers or legal service officers in Singapore who have been in practice for no more than three years as at 30 September 2011.

The Singapore Mooting Competition is supported by the Singapore Academy of Law’s Professional Affairs Committee chaired by the Honourable Justice Steven Chong, and represents the culmination of several months of collaborative effort between the SAL and the members of Essex Court Chambers in developing an event which provides young Singapore lawyers with a forum in which to hone their advocacy skills.  The final was attended by approximately 300 people, including a delegation from Essex Court Chambers, consisting of David Grief, Michael Thomas QC, Jeffrey Gruder QC, David Mildon QC, Geraldine Andrews QC, Joe Smouha QC, Jern-Fei Ng and Chester Brown.

Essex Court Chambers is one of the leading sets of barristers’ chambers in the UK, specialising in commercial and international law. “The members of Essex Court Chambers are delighted to be working with the English-Speaking Union and the Singapore Academy of Law in this endeavour. The mooting competition in Singapore reflects the deep and long-standing commitment of individual members of Chambers to Singapore and its development as an international centre for dispute resolution,” said David Foxton QC of Essex Court Chambers.

(L-R: Serene Wee (Chief Executive, Singapore Academy of Law), David Grief (Senior Clerk, Essex Court Chambers), Pardeep Singh Khosa (Drew & Napier LLC), Mahesh Rai (Drew & Napier LLC), The Hon Justice Steven Chong, The Hon Attorney-General, Sundaresh Menon SC, Michael Thomas CMG QC (Essex Court Chambers), Kevin Ong (WongPartnership LLP), Lau Kah Hee (WongPartnership LLP), Steven Nolan (ESU))

The team from Glasgow defeated  Alexander Knight and Matilda Forbes Watson representing BPP Law School in the exciting evening final, which was held in the President’s Court of the Royal Courts of Justice last night. Earlier in the day, the teams had faced the University of Cambridge and Kings College London in the semi finals, held at Dartmouth House in London.

The grand final moot itself was of an exceptionally high standard. It was judged this year by a panel chaired by Dr Gavan Griffith QC (Australia), – a former Solicitor General Australia and now an  International Commercial and Investment Disputes Arbitrator.  The other two judges were: Martin Griffiths QC, an Essex Court Chambers Silk best known for his work in Employment, and Professor Philippa Watson, an Essex Court Chambers barrister specialising in EU law and competition and Visiting Professor City University, London.

The two winning Glaswegians, who first met each other at high school at St Aloysius’ College in Glasgow, were happy to be presented with the competition’s silver mace: “We’re absolutely delighted to bring an English Speaking Union prize to Scotland,” they explain.

“The experience of advocacy through mooting has given me a real understanding of law in practice that you just don’t get from reading text books,” commented  Francesca and “ I have really enjoyed the challenge of tackling a different legal system successfully,” continued Katherine.

In a moot, two pairs of ‘advocates’ argue a fictitious legal appeal case in front of a ‘judge’.  To win, you do not necessarily have to win the legal case, but must make the best presentation of your legal arguments.

The winners received a silver Mace and a prize of £1,000 each. Their university, Glasgow, received a donation of £1,000.  The runners up received “The Scarman Shield”, £750 each and the
BPP Law School received £500.  The other semi-finalists did not go home empty handed, with each receiving received cash prizes of £250 each.  The cash prizes were generously donated by Essex Court Chambers where all finalists will also be offered a mini-pupillage.

The competition, now in its fortieth year, is administered by the ESU, sponsored by Essex Court Chambers and supported by Legal Week as media partners

The Oxford team beat Dylan Gee and Henry Oliver representing BPP Law School in the exciting evening final, which was held in the President’s Court of the Royal Courts of Justice last night. Earlier in the day, the team defeated the University of Hertfordshire in their semi final moot, held at Dartmouth House in London. The other semi finalist was the team from Dundee.

The grand final moot itself was of an exceptionally high standard. It was judged this year by a panel chaired by the Honourable Justice Garry Downes AM QC, Judge of the Federal Court of Australia.  The two other judges were from David Mildon QC and Tim Eicke, both of Essex Court Chambers. The judges had nothing but praise for the polished performance, careful research and persuasive development of argument of mooters from both teams but were unanimous in awarding the moot to Oxford

The winners Hannah Noyce and Emily MacKenzie were delighted to be presented with the silver mace: ‘We both thoroughly enjoyed the day and, in particular, the opportunity of mooting in a real court, which was an experience that will definitely stay with us. The competition has been interesting, challenging and fun and we are thrilled to have won, especially since the standard of competition was so high.’

In a moot, two pairs of ‘advocates’ argue a fictitious legal appeal case in front of a ‘judge’.  To win, you do not necessarily have to win the legal case, but must make the best presentation of your legal arguments.

The winners received a silver Mace and a prize of £1,000 each. Their university, Oxford, received a donation of £1,000.  The runners up received “The Scarman Shield”, £750 each and the BPP Law School received £500.  For the second time in the competition, the other semi-finalists did not go home empty handed but the teams from Dundee University and the University of Hertfordshire received cash prizes of £250 each.  The cash prizes were generously donated by Essex Court Chambers where all finalists will also be offered a mini-pupillage.

Karamvir Chadha and Hannah Gates beat Jayne Brayley and Aimee Hutchinson representing University of Sheffield in the exciting evening final, which was held in the President’s Court of the Royal Courts of Justice last night.

The ESU – Essex Court Chambers National Mooting Competition, which is now in its thirty- seventh year, attracted entries from 62 teams for this year’s competition.  The final of the competition was judged this year by a panel chaired by Michael Collins QC.  The other judges were Richard Jacobs QC and Professor Alan Boyle.

Karamvir Chadha, whose family live in Birmingham, explains why he enjoys mooting: “Mooting puts the law I learnt on my degree into context. It’s a chance to use legal knowledge to solve ‘real’ problems. Mooting and this competition has provided us with a great opportunity to develop our legal research skills and oral advocacy.”

Canadian Hannah Gates, whose father and sister brought forward their planned visit to England from Lantzville, Vancouver island to support her in the final, was delighted with her and Karamvir’s victory:
“We’ve been through three years of law school together, so winning the ESU – Essex Court Chambers National Mooting Competition together has been a really nice end.  Studying the law can be very dry, but when I actually apply the law to very practical situations in mooting, it reminds me why I’m in law school in the first place.”

In a moot, two pairs of ‘advocates’ argue a fictitious legal appeal case in front of a ‘judge’.  To win, you do not necessarily have to win the legal case, but must make the best presentation of your legal arguments.

The winners received a silver Mace and a prize of £1,000 each. Their university, Manchester, received a donation of £1,000.  The runners up received “The Scarman Shield”, £750 each and the University of Sheffield received £500.  For the second time in the competition, the other semi-finalists did not go home empty handed but received cash prizes of £250 each.  The cash prizes were generously donated by Essex Court Chambers where all finalists will also be offered a mini-pupillage.

The competition is administered by the ESU, sponsored by Essex Court Chambers and supported by Legal Week as media partners.