University News Last updated 21 August 2012
Two students from Birmingham City University are celebrating success after beating off tough competition to be crowned winners of the Web Legal National Mooting Competition.
Final year undergraduate Law students, Liam Draper and Naomi Barnes, impressed participants at the national event by defeating the University of Birmingham and the University of Cambridge in earlier rounds of the competition, inspiring the CEO of Web Legal Education to tell Law firm recruiters to “take note!”
Mooting societies from across the country took part in the competition, on Wednesday 15 August 2012, to battle it out for the place on the Web Legal prestigious international academic programme. However one university stood out amongst the rest, with the moot judge commenting how Birmingham City University set the ‘tone of the moot’. Liam and Naomi now have the chance to take up the all-expenses paid academic programme in New York, Ibiza, Paris, India or Switzerland.
Birmingham City University boast one of the most successful mooting societies in England and have enjoyed some grand wins in national mooting competitions, having regularly beaten teams from some of the country’s most prestigious universities. Ian Fox-Williams, Deputy Head of Law at the university, said “this is a great achievement for the students involved and the staff who assist with the Mooting Society. This win is a testament to the extra work and commitment undertaken by mooting students to enhance their advocacy skills.
“Both students continue a legacy of exceptional and high profile national competition victories for BCU that undoubtedly help to enrich the entire study experience of our law students and prove inspiring for those who want to get involved in mooting.”
Web Legal also praised the students and staff involved in the mooting society, going on to say “Birmingham City Law School have a mooting system which they can be proud of and their investment has clearly paid off.”
Mooting is the use of simulated court proceedings to help students develop practical skills and prepare them for careers in law. This is often the closest experience a student can get to appearing in court, whilst at university, and involves students taking on roles to argue a fictitious legal appeal case in front of a judge or opposing panel.