The final of Kent Law School’s inaugural Civil Advocacy Competition, sponsored by Boys & Maughan Solicitors, has been won by Stage 3 Law LLB student Ebun Adeniran.
Ebun was presented with a trophy, and a cheque for £100 in the Wigoder Law Building’s Moot Room after competing against Stage 2 Law and Economics student Stanislaw Braminski on Thursday.
Both students mooted before a mock Court of Appeal comprising Jonathan Austin, a recently retired District Judge on the Kent Circuit; Matt Champ, a non-practising barrister and Chartered Litigator and Advocate at Boys & Maughan,, and Per Laleng, personal injury barrister and Kent Law School’s Director of Mooting.
Matt Champ, who organised the competition, said both Ebun and Stanislaw mooted exceptionally well: ‘They had clearly thoroughly researched their topics and remained resilient under pressure. When you consider the fact that when they started this competition they had no idea about civil procedure, having never studied it, seeing them do well is a testament not only to them but also the University.’
The subject of the moot was an application for relief from sanctions under r CPR 3.9. Each student had 15 minutes to address the court and an opportunity for a five minute reply. The facts of the case involved a breach of contract matter that had been struck out for failing to comply with an order. This led to an appeal, the mooting scenario, centering on an application for relief from sanctions where the claimant argued that the circuit judge was wrong to let the defendant back in.
Matt said: ‘With the fierce competition for pupillages and training contracts, mooting is an essential experience, particularly for students who want to become barristers or solicitor advocates.’ Boys & Maughan Solicitors arranged for a number of their experienced lawyers and recruitment decision makers to attend the final, giving Kent law students an opportunity to network, pitch for jobs and seek careers advice.
The next Civil Advocacy Competition at Kent will begin with heats in November 2018.
Kent Law School runs an intensive and wide-ranging mooting programme based in the Wigoder Law Building’s Moot Room; in recent years the Law School has entered teams in the: OUP/BPP Moot; English Speaking Union Moot; Jessup International Law Moot; Inner Temple inter-varsity moot; Landmark Chambers moot (property law); inter-varsity medical law moot at Leicester University; Southern Varsity Shield; and inter-varsity Mackay Cup (Canadian Law).
Image credits: Ian Priston, Boys & Maughan Solicitors