Manchester Law School team are UK mooting champions

  • 30/04/2015

mmu

Pair crowned winners in Supreme Court final

A MANCHESTER Law School student team has been crowned national mooting champions.

Students Holly Saunders and Lucy Holden won the United Kingdom Law Students’ Association National Mooting Competition.

The triumph continues a rich tradition of MMU teams winning national mooting and advocacy competitions in recent years.

The final was held at the Supreme Court in London against a strong team from the University of Exeter but the Manchester Law School (MLS) duo eventually triumphed to take the coveted title.

Supreme Court

Third year LLB student Holly is working towards qualifying as a barrister and plans to work for the Law Commission.

She said: “I have thoroughly enjoyed my Law degree at MMU. I have learnt many theoretical and practical legal skills, grown intellectually through all of the extra-curricular activities on offer and have made wonderful friends in the process.

“Mooting was an enjoyable experience throughout the year because of the encouraging team I was working with.”

Graduate Diploma in Law student Lucy, who hopes to study the Legal Practice Course at MLS to qualify as a solicitor, added: “It was an incredibly proud moment when MLS was announced as the competition winners in the Supreme Court and it’s a memory that I know will stay with Holly and me forever.”

Advocacy

MLS is now a leading centre for mooting and advocacy in the UK. The Graduate Diploma in Law has a specialised unit, which centres on mooting. The LLB also has a third year mooting option.

In addition, the law school has a thriving mooting and advocacy community. In 2013, the law school won the Oxford University Press National Competition and in 2014, the Blackstone’s National Criminal Advocacy Competition.

Jeff Hill, Senior Lecturer in Law and Mooting co-ordinator at Manchester Law School, said: “This is the result of a tremendous amount of hard work and it has been a real team effort.

“Success at mooting requires a massive commitment, over and above the normal demands of being a law student. Both Holly and Lucy have great futures ahead of them.”

Jeff Hill is the author of A Practical Guide to Mooting, published by Palgrave Macmillan.

Holly Saunders and Lucy Holden