2015 COMPETITIONS CRASH COURSE What the AULSS competitions are, and how you can get involved

Why compete? Competitions help you to build legal and analytical skills, no matter what year you are in. Competitions allow you to practically apply what you learn in law school to practical legal problems. Competitions are a way to challenge yourself, meet new people and enhance your professional prospects.

What Competitions can you compete in? In first semester: Cowell Clarke Open Moot Belperio Clark Negotiations Herbert Smith Freehills Client Interviewing Lipman Karas Witness Examination In Second semester: First Year Moot Novice Moot Legal skills workshop By competing in semester 1 you gain the opportunity of attending the ALSA Conference from the of July as one of our competitions delegates

Other ways to get involved You can volunteer as a client or a witness for our competitions Great way to get an inside look at competitions without the pressure of competing You receive a witness, or client statement and then you get to act your part on the night

What is involved in each Competition? Herbert Smith Freehills Client Interviewing Teams of two receive a short one or two line introduction to a new client who is coming to them for advice Each team must create a professional environment, tease out the issues their client is experiencing and advise the client of further action Cowell Clarke Open Moot Teams of two or three compete in appellant advocacy. Each team must present sophisticated arguments for their side of the argument, either the appellant or respondent. Mooting draws upon advanced written and verbal advocacy skills as teams must also submit comprehensive written submissions the day prior to the competition Lipman Karas Witness Examination Individuals are paired with a different team mate each week as they receive the indication of the charge facing a volunteer witness The witness and team work together to tease out their argument and present a convincing case theory to a judge. Each team has their own witness and may also undertake cross examination of the opposing witness to weaken their argument Negotiations Teams of two face off as counsel for opposing parties in a dispute. Many disputes are contractual, or relate to property or business dealings Each team has secret facts known only to them regarding their client’s goals and aims with regard to the negotiation – each team must work to gain the best outcome for their client

What are the competition dates? Competition round nights will begin in week 4 and will run weekly (Please note that competitors of Negotiations, Moot and CI will receive their first round question in week three to allow preparation time) Competitions will run from Week 4 to Week 8 (The 24 th of March – 7 th of May depending upon which competition(s) you choose) Each competition has a set round night: Negotiations will run on Tuesdays, Moot and Witness Examination on Wednesdays and Client Interviewing running on Thursdays TO CLARIFY THE TYPO IN MY COMPETITIONS WILL NOT RUN DURING THE HOLIDAY PERIOD. There will be a break for holidays between the Quarter Final and Semi Final Round of all competitions.

Negotiations: Tuesday Nights 24 th March, 31 st March, 7 th April, 28 th April and 5 th May Open Moot/Witness Examination: Wednesday Nights 25 th March, 1 st April, 8 th April, 29 th April and 6 th May Client interviewing: Thursday Nights 26 th March, 2 nd April, 9 th April, 30 th April and 7 th May

Comprehensive Preparation Seminars Next week the Competitions Team will be hosting a week of preparation seminars. These seminars will address administrative details such as scoring, and the rules of each competition There will also be guest speakers, and an opportunity to network with fellow competitors and the speakers after each seminar There are two seminars scheduled: On Tuesday 10 th of March – Advocacy seminar for moot and witness examination On Wednesday the 11 th of March – A strategy seminar for client interviewing and negotiations

The AULSS will operate online sign ups this year - You have all already been sent the sign up links in my welcome to competitions All you have to do is follow the correct links and fill in the information! Open Moot - Negotiations Registration – Client Interviewing – Witness Examination - How to sign up!  Sign ups will open immediately after this seminar at 5pm - and will close Friday 13 th at 5pm  NO ENTRIES WILL BE ACCEPTED BEFORE 5pm TODAY OR AFTER 5pm NEXT FRIDAY

Q: Can you sign up individually, or with friends? A: BOTH – Depending on the competition If you are signing up for the Open Moot you may identify one or two partners to form a moot team. For Negotiations or Client Interviewing you may nominate one other competitor as your partner Note: Your Partner(s) MUST also sign up and nominate you! If you wish to sign up individually to any competition, the competitions team will endeavor to match you to other individual entries. If successfully matched they will be your team for the entirety of the competition. Witness examination is a solely individual competition and you will be matched to a new partner every week. Sign Ups continued…

Useful Resources - Competitions Handbook The Competitions Handbook is an invaluable guide to all of the competitions run by your AULSS Contains vital hints, tips and some basic style guides for approaching problem questions and competition nights – it also has example problems and approaches If ever in doubt always check the handbook for information!

Questions? If in doubt don’t ever hesitate to contact the Ashleigh the Competitions Director at: Or any of the coordinators – Floyd Bakewell (Client Interviewing) Elizabeth Carroll-Shaw (Open Moot) Rebecca Mahoney (Negotiations) Thomas Blokland (Witness Examination)