Students from five law schools including Victoria Law School (VLS), University of Western Sydney, Deakin University, La Trobe University and Melbourne University recently competed in the Inaugural Hon. Michael Kirby VLS Contract Law Mooting Competition. A total of 32 students from 10 teams competed in the competition from 28-30 September which was organised and hosted by VLS.
Day one kicked off with a registration and a welcome breakfast held in the Judges' Common Room on Level 2 of the Sir Zelman Cowen Centre. This was a great opportunity for all teams to meet each other, as well as several of the arbitrators who generously volunteered their time to assist with the judging. Numerous members of the Victorian Bar arbitrated alongside private practitioners and VLS staff. Contestants were welcomed by the Head of Victoria Law School, Professor Andrew Clarke and David Denton SC from the Victorian Bar, who is also a member of the VLS Program Advisory Committee.
The preliminary and elimination rounds (held at the Queen Street campus) preceded the final round, which was held in Court No. 2 of the Melbourne Magistrates' Court. VLS wishes to thank Chief Magistrate Ian Gray and Dr Jim Rangelov for permission to use these excellent facilities. The Hon. Michael Kirby, patron of the competition, arbitrated the final alongside Professor Andrew Clarke and A/Professor Bruno Zeller. Melbourne University was declared the winning team against runners up, the University of Western Sydney.
The Judicial Library at the Melbourne Magistrates' Court was the venue for the closing function and awards presentation which was attended by Chief Magistrate and VLS Adjunct Professor, Ian Gray. Publishers Lexis Nexis were sponsors of the awards for Best Oralist in each round as well as Best Written Submissions. Many thanks to LexisNexis and Tali Kellman who attended on behalf of the company.
The winners were:
- Winner of the Final Round - Melbourne University Team 1 (Julian Chant & Victor Lei)
- Runners up in the Final Round - University of Western Sydney (Ryan Jameson & Mel Pudig)
- Winner of the Best Oralist in the Final Round "" Ryan Jameson of University of Western Sydney
- Winner of the 2nd Oralist in the General Rounds "" Ryan Jameson of University of Western Sydney
- Winner of the 3rd Oralist in the General Rounds "" Sally Buckley of Melbourne University
- Winner of Best Memorandum for Claimant: University of Western Sydney (Mel Pudig and Ryan Jameson)
- Best Memorandum for Respondent: Melbourne University Team 1 (Julian Chant and Victor Lei)
Congratulations to Heidi Keghran of VLS for winning the prestigious 1st Oralist in the General Rounds.
The feedback and response from the various teams has been very positive and the VLS will host the competition again in 2012. The VLS would like to thank The Hon. Michael Kirby for his continued support of Victoria Law School, Chief Magistrate and Adjunct Professor Ian Gray, all of the arbitrators, the many people involved with organising the event, particularly Ms Vivi Tan and Ms Amanda Bain, and of course the students whose enthusiasm, commitment and excellent mooting made the inaugural Hon. Michael Kirby VLS Contract Law Mooting Competition an event to remember.
