By Melanie Megale
So you’ve finally settled into law school at ANU. Grades are (mostly) going ok, you’ve made your friends and had your first night out at Mooseheads. Now the real stresses begin – where is my paralegal job and how on earth do I even manage to get a career in law? An answer awaits you in the LSS Novice Competitions.
As part of the LSS membership, students are able to compete in a range of competitions specialising in various legal skills, all of which are sponsored by a successful law firm. At face value, it looks intimidating, and like a whole lot of work.
So what are the competitions, why do it and where do you even start? Take a look at the Peppercorn exclusive breakdown of all the available competitions, and how it might just be the next great addition to your resume.
Client Interview
Client interview is probably one of the most useful of all the four LSS competitions. No matter if you continue in the legal profession or not, establishing good relationships with work clients is something everyone will likely need. This competition involves two members of a team (which can be selected at random if you don’t have an eager buddy), interviewing a client with a legal issue to obtain information relevant to the facts. At the start of the week, you will receive a very brief prompt to guide your research and help formulate some questions. On the day, you will need to build client rapport, hear out their legal problem, extract as much information from the client as you can and offer preliminary advice. The problems are often interesting with many hidden facts and unexpected turns during the interview. The preparation time can be as low as a couple of hours a week, given most of the competition will focus on performance and ability to adapt to the scenario on the day. If you are looking to practise as a solicitor, or just have a bit of fun with a friend in a less intense competition, I definitely recommend client interview.
Witness Examination
Were you an avid watcher of the questioning in the Johnny Depp trial? Ever wish that maybe you were the one cornering Amber Heard on the stand like you saw in your TikTok feed? Then witness examination might just be the LSS competition for you. It’s another low commitment competition that is very similar to mock trials, if you ever competed in high school. The problem is released an hour before the trial (so limited preparation needed), and you will need to examine your own witness, and cross-examine the opponent’s witness. Those who have taken and enjoyed Evidence would enjoy this competition, as all competitors must adhere to the rules of evidence law and ethical obligations. To add a bit of spice to the mix, you bring anyone to be your own witness, so if you are keen to get your friends involved and seated at the witness box this is a chance to bring them along too. If you are considering advocacy or a criminal law path in your legal career, the witness examination competition will certainly make you well-equipped.
Negotiation
Majority of businesspeople, professionals, and of course, lawyers will need to know the bare basics of negotiating, making this competition a highly relevant experience. With a similar time commitment to client interview, you will work with a set of facts (some common to both parties, and some confidential to your client) to prepare to achieve outcomes that benefit your client during a negotiation with your competitors. Ethical obligations as legal professionals and to your client will be of key importance, and there is also an assessable reflection period during the competition. Majority of legal cases actually end in negotiation, so a competition like this is perfect for building the skills of respectfully yet assertively ensuring positive outcomes for your client while maintaining legal obligations. Whether you want to progress your legal career or simply perfect ways to convince your friends to go out instead of study, the negotiations competition will set any law student up in good stead. The facts of these problems will often be corporate in nature, so if you prefer that side of the law this is also the competition for you.
Mooting
Mooting is definitely the largest time commitment of the four competitions, but offers practice in multiple relevant skills. A moot is essentially a courtroom ‘role play’, where team members represent opposing parties as Senior and Junior counsel (with a potential third team member as a solicitor). Teams will each receive a set of facts, and prepare written submissions to be provided the day before the moot. On the day of the moot, oral submissions will be given to a judge, and teams will need to engage with the opposing counsel’s arguments. Perhaps the most nerve wracking component is the on the spot questions which can be asked by the judge, mimicking the true nature of the courtroom. You work with your team to present your case and rebuttal, citing relevant authorities and using the language and formalities of a real court. What some may view as glorified live-action role play is in reality a stepping stone to learning the crux of litigation work and oral presentation skills. If you have some high-achieving friends and a bit more time on your hands, you will get hands-on experience of what representing a client in court is truly like.
Conclusion
These law competitions each offer a set of unique skills needed in the legal profession, the type of expertise you simply can’t gain by sitting in a classroom. This tangible experience will translate into any potential law job you have, and will show prospective employers that you can apply what you have learned at university to real life scenarios. You will compete with and against other law students, a great way to meet like minded people within your degree. Perhaps the most important component though, is that you will be judged by experienced people who have more than likely paved their own way in the profession already. It is an ideal way to network, show off your skills, and maybe even land an interview if you play your cards right (trust me this has actually happened before). So give it a go, even if it is just a low commitment novice competition, and take advantage of the cheapest and easiest legal experience boost that ANU has to offer.
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