Interschool Senior Mooting

The Interschool Senior Mooting Competition (Competitive round) is organised and run by Ivanhoe Grammar School, Trinity Grammar School and Deakin Law School. 

During the competition, students are able to apply their understanding of the law, particularly precedents set through common law, to advocate for their client in a mock appeal case. 

The competition, which will also run a ‘friendly’ junior round later in the year, provides students with an opportunity to extend their understanding of how advocacy in a courtroom setting is conducted. This rich learning experience allowed students to engage with university law students, their experiences of a law degree and of competing in Moots at an international level. 

The Moot competition allowed students to apply their knowledge of one of the fundamental skills needed by legal practitioners - the ability to synthesise a large volume of information and articulately apply a rule of law to a particular case drawing on key material facts in support of their argument. Students were also privileged to hear a presentation from, and have the opportunities to ask questions of, The Honourable Justice James Parrish, now retired from the County Court 

Students' Perspectives

Earlier this term, I participated in the Senior Interschool Mooting Competition hosted by Deakin Law School and got to experience what it's really like to be a lawyer! With my teammates, Lincoln and Luke, I prepared legal submissions as the Junior Counsel, using courtroom techniques like the IRAC structure and formalities like addressing the judge as 'Your Honour'.  

I'm especially grateful for this opportunity to work with like-minded people who I hadn't collaborated with before. Collaborating with Irene, Akshaya, Alisha, Lincoln and Luke made the experience even more fun and enjoyable. 

I was also honoured to receive two Advocacy Awards, which have really encouraged me to continue improving my public speaking skills and my passion for law.  Although my team didn't progress to the semi-finals, I still believe we did exceptionally well and presented confidently in both rounds, walking away proud of what we had achieved, despite limited preparation! I'd definitely recommend this opportunity to other students as it was truly rewarding and has made me even more excited for a future in law! 

By Shanmathy Jayakumar 

The recent senior mooting competition that I attended provided valuable insight into what a real court proceeding is like and the considerable amount of preparation it takes to be successful in establishing someone's guilt or innocence. 

Moreover, it was a highly collaborative event in which I got to meet new people and work with people I would not usually work with, especially with people from different year levels, forging new relationships and memories based around the topic of law. 

I would definitely be interested in participating again next year, with the knowledge that I have gained from this year's experience. I'd also like to send a massive thankyou to Miss Wilson for assisting us in this competition and to Miss Kim for her guidance throughout the day. 

By Irene Yang