University of Southampton Mooting Society Internal Competition
This year the Internal Mooting Competition Final was held at the Supreme Court and judged by Lord Briggs of Westbourne. On 26th March 2019, four outstanding finalists mooted on a problem authored by Professor James Davey of the Law School. There was fierce competition this year as it is undoubtedly a great honour to be given the chance to showcase our mooting skills in front of an honourable Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
The first two rounds were judged by the executive committee of the Mooting Society, who selected the eight best candidates to progress through to the semi-finals. It was a privilege to welcome back Barrister Daniel Nother of College Chambers to judge the semi-finals. Last year, Mr Nother judged the final of the same competition and has since been very supportive in offering his services to Southampton Law School.
Our semi-finalists: Joshua Spreadborough, Caroline Jackson, Louis Iveson, Assad Khan, Emily Jermin, Lucas Triemstra, Lauren Winser, Josiah Kirpalani
Mr Nother had the difficult decision of deciding which four students should be given the chance to perform at the Supreme Court in the exact same courtroom where the famous case of R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union was heard. After thorough consideration, it was decided that the four finalists would be Louis Iveson, Caroline Jackson, Emily Jermin and Lauren Winser.
Students, faculty members, family and friends all attended to watch this highly contested final. Lord Briggs himself was extremely impressed with the quality that was on show and confessed the difficulties he faced in determining a winner and runner-up.
Lauren Winser was announced as the runner-up for this year’s competition. This is an outstanding achievement as Lauren was the only first year student to reach the finals. She has been a very active mooter for the Law School this year and has represented the University in numerous competitions. Next year Lauren will be the Treasurer of our Inns of Court Society.
A very special congratulations to this year’s winner, Caroline Jackson! Similar to Lauren Winser, Caroline has been a very active member of this society and has vast experience in national competitions. This year she has had the role of Academic Events Co-Ordinator for the Inns of Court Society and has recently been elected for President of the Mooting Society for next year.
It was a memorable day for not only the finalists, but for all those who attended. We would like to thank everyone who attended and helped make this competition a success, and especially Boykin Smith and Marsha Chambers, President and Vice President of the Mooting Society, who co-organised this competition.
