Competition is fierce for Bond University high school mooting finals

The final rounds for the annual Bond University Faculty of Law High Schools’ Mooting Competition will be held on Saturday July 24, 2010.

Attracting some of the nation’s finest year 11 and 12 students, the Gold Coast’s Somerset College is amongst the 14 finalist schools participating in the competition, now in its 21^st year.

Competing in the Faculty of Law’s ‘state of the art’ moot courtrooms, three Somerset College students will debate against students from leading schools including Sydney and Brisbane Grammar Schools, The Mac.Robertson Girls' High School in Melbourne, as well as two leading Malaysian schools.

Mooting Master and Bond University Associate Professor of Law David Field said the mooting competition introduces students to the courtroom environment while allowing them the opportunity to confront real-life situations without the real-life consequences.

“The competition is an opportunity for all students to build their confidence and to put their thoughts into words, which is the type of exposure this competition offers that a classroom setting may not,” said Professor Field.

“The long-standing term "mooting" is used for legal debate, and historically law schools concentrated on simply teaching the law without practical skills of how to use it.

“Bond University’s Faculty of Law was one of the first law schools to lead the way in putting the legal craft back into law studies.

“For prospective law students, the Bond University High School Mooting Competition also offers the chance to test their potential skills as court advocates and to practice persuasive speaking, while arguing a point on their feet.

“The best advocates in the finals are awarded partial scholarships to Bond University. In the past, many of those who have taken up these scholarships have gone on to win international mooting competitions for Bond, and have secured prestigious graduate careers including Associates to High Court Justices in Canberra,” he said.

Schools that will compete in the finals are Bond University include:

• The Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School (Melbourne, VIC)
• Cranbourne Secondary College (Cranbourne, VIC)   
• Seymour College (Glen Osmond, SA)
• Glenmore State School (North Rockhampton, QLD)
• Somerset College (Mudgeeraba, QLD)
• Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School (Terranora, NSW)
• Brisbane Grammar School (Brisbane, QLD)
• Canterbury College (Beenleigh, QLD)
• St. Clare’s College (Canberra, ACT)
• Ipswich Grammar School (Ipswich, QLD)
• Newington College (Stanmore, NSW)
• Sydney Grammar School (Sydney, NSW)
• St. Francis Convent (Malaysia)
• St. Teresa (Malaysia)