Competitions
Legal Skills Competitions in 2012
Taking part in Competitions can be one of the most rewarding aspects of your
legal studies. Reading cases and textbooks and attending lectures is obviously
a crucial part of your legal education, but there is nothing quite like having the
opportunity to put everything you have learned into practice.
The Competitions provide you with an excellent opportunity to take the
theoretical knowledge that you are developing and apply it in a very real way
– to get a taste of what might await you in practice. You will also have the
chance to receive invaluable feedback from people in the profession – lawyers,
academics, judges – who will be able to share their experiences to help you
improve your skills.
Competitions offered at the six law schools around the country include Bell
Gully Mooting, Buddle Findlay Negotiation, Minter Ellison Rudd Watts Witness
Examination, Russell McVeagh Client Interviewing and Sentencing. Your Law
Student Society Competitions Officer will be able to give you more information
regarding exactly what is on offer at your University.
Following the introduction of the Bell Gully Junior Moot in 2010, last year saw
the expansion of that competition to five of the six New Zealand law schools.
This year we hope to continue the competition giving first year students the
chance to get a feel for competitions. To qualify for Junior Mooting, to be held
early in the second semester, you need to be “a law student in your first year of
substantive law study”. Aside from the invaluable practical experience gained
while competing, it looks good on your CV.
The winning team from each competition (except Junior Mooting and
Sentencing) will be sent to the Australian Law Students Association Conference
in July, to compete among our Australian peers. These teams (including Junior
Mooters) will also be sent to the New Zealand Law Students Association
Conference, to be hosted by the University of Auckland in September this year, to
compete for national glory. The teams that win the national title are usually sent
to represent New Zealand at the International version of each competition.
2011 saw a milestone in the history of the NZLSA Conference, as for the first time
a number of Australian teams were invited to compete, and to pit their skills
against the best New Zealand has to offer. This year we are aiming to have teams
from Australian Universities attend again – this will provide you with the chance
to compete against your peers from Universities all over Australia, as well as
your New Zealand peers.
The experience you gain and the friends you make will serve you well in your
legal career in the future. Some competitions are already underway, and some
are yet to commence. To find out more about the competitions on offer, talk to
your Law School Society Competitions Officers.
Ben Foster
NZLSA Competitions Vice President