‘Mooting’ is a relatively historic word which only lawyers can be expected to know. A moot is perhaps best described as ‘an exposition of a spurious legal quandary’, but using such terminology gets a layperson no further than the word itself. Moots consist of a problem, a made-up legal appeal on an interesting or contentious point of law, with a given set of facts, argued by moot counsel in front of a judging panel. Much like a debate, it is not the winner of the legal argument who wins the moot, rather the most persuasive and prepared counsel. Moots became commonplace in the 15th century and were then used as a way of testing and practising legal arguments, to draw out the most convincing in the hope that the case would succeed. They now have an educational basis: mooting is an essential activity for any law student and this is clearly recognised: the university based competitions of the four founding institutions see upwards of 400 students competing each year. Mooting is a compulsory part of the Bar Vocational Course for intending barristers and the four Inns of Court hold regular moots for members of all abilities.

The London Universities Mooting Shield’s principal aim is to provide a friendly atmosphere in which members of the participating universities can develop their mooting skills, in turn bringing together the student law and bar societies of the participating universities. It was felt that some of the other competitions, whilst enjoyable, took place in too competitive an environment and that no other competition focussed solely on London universities. The London Universities Mooting Shield is very different: with a healthy bar tab provided after each round the competition strongly encourages socialising and networking between the competitors and judges alike, in addition to developing the mooter’s public speaking and reasoning skills in front of an unfamiliar audience.

The league rounds of the competition take place on a Thursday evening every other week and are held at the participating universities or sponsoring chambers. The grand final round, which will see the two top ranked universities competing for the Champion’s title and a variety of other prizes, will be held at the modern Bishop’s Square offices of Allen & Overy LLP on 22 April 2008.

It would not have been possible to launch the competition without the support of our sponsors. Allen & Overy LLP, the leading London-based international law firm and member of the renowned Magic Circle, has kindly offered to assist by promoting the competition, providing moot judges and, as mentioned above, by holding the grand final at their offices. We also have the support of two prominent barristers’ chambers: 3 Verulam Buildings (a commercial law set) and Field Court Chambers (with several practice areas).

The London Universities Mooting Shield looks forward to welcoming students from Queen Mary, University of London and the University of Westminster to next academic year’s competition beginning in September 2008. Any other London based institution which offers an undergraduate (LLB) law degree is encouraged to contact us about joining next year’s competition and we very much hope to outdo this year’s success.