Kent Law School student Gintare Baranauskaite was named the winner in the close-fought final of last night’s Boys & Maughan Civil Advocacy Competition.
Gintare beat fellow final-year Law LLB student Zoe Salisbury to win £100 plus a mini-pupillage at Stour Chambers in Canterbury. They secured their places in the final after winning earlier rounds of the competition last term.
The mooters presented their arguments before a mock Court of Appeal panel comprising: Matt Champ, a non-practising barrister and Chartered Litigator and Advocate at Boys & Maughan Solicitors; Deputy District Judge John Eyley who sits in civil cases on the South Eastern Circuit; and Stuart Snow, barrister from Stour Chambers who specialises in civil litigation.
The competition was sponsored by Boys & Maughan Solicitors and held in the Kennedy Wong Moot Court (located on the upper floor of the Wigoder Law Building on Kent’s Canterbury campus).
Mooting is the practice of legal argumentation about points of law in a simulated courtroom setting. It is another way of learning about law and enhances legal knowledge and analysis; advocacy and research skills; oral and written presentation skills; teamwork; and time-keeping.
Kent Law School’s Senior Internal Mooting Programme began earlier this month, under the supervision of the Director of Mooting Darren Weir (previously a practising barrister for many years.) Weekly moots in the Law School’s Moot Court and are normally judged by up to three judges comprising members of the judiciary, solicitors, barristers, alumni and academics. Experienced mooters also compete in external competitions (against other university law schools) throughout the Autumn and Spring terms. (Follow all the latest mooting news and updates on Kent Law School Mooting’s Facebook page.)
Image credit: Ian Priston, Boys & Maughan Solicitors