The Ladies’ College has won this year’s Collas Crill Guernsey Moot.
Sixth formers Lauren de Jersey and Rosie de Carteret took on Arwen Kernaghan and Isabelle Wood from the Grammar School in a mock negligence trial involving a road traffic accident.
The Moot final took place on Wednesday 7th December in Court 6 of the Royal Courts of Guernsey and was presided over by a judging panel of Madam Deputy Bailiff, Jessica Roland, along with Collas Crill Managing Partner Christian Hay and Partner Wayne Atkinson.
Official court formalities were followed for the duration of the Moot with the judging panel in full robes and toques and all the usual court etiquette adhered to, which meant that the students experienced the real life drama of a courtroom trial.
The four students all put forward their cases to the judges as counsel for their clients. The students were marked on a number of factors including their court etiquette, persuasiveness, clarity, body language and time-keeping.
In her closing remarks Madam Deputy Bailiff commented that all four students made good, clear arguments and that it was a very close call.
However on balance, although they agreed the Grammar School did an excellent job, the judging panel decided that the Ladies’ College just had the edge.
Christian Hay, Managing Partner at Collas Crill, said: “The students did an amazing job and represented their clients in a very professional manner. The standard throughout this year’s Moot has been exceptionally high with some seriously high scores from across all the schools.
“As a firm we are very proud of the Moot. It has grown and developed over the last 15 years and is an initiative that the whole firm gets behind. It has become a rite of passage for our paralegals and trainee solicitors to organise each year and the partners and lawyers always enjoy getting into character acting as judges at each stage.”
Lauren, Rosie, Arwen and Isabelle have come through three rounds of the annual competition to reach the hotly contested final.
100 sixth form students from Ladies’ College, Elizabeth College, Blanchelande College and the Grammar School took part in this year’s competition.
The Moot involves students studying real-life legal case notes and applying them to a mock court situation. Participants are mentored and coached by Collas Crill paralegals and trainee solicitors throughout the competition and judged by some of the firm’s partners during the mock trials.
Collas Crill Group Partner and Training Principal Michael Morris, who leads the Moot, said: “We have a number of trainees, associates and senior associates whose interest in a career in law started with taking part in the Moot. It is a fantastic opportunity to experience the real drama of the courtroom, as well as all the work that is done beforehand, first hand. Congratulations to Lauren and Rosie for winning this year’s Moot.”
Lauren and Rosie were presented with the Collas Crill Moot shield to take back to the Ladies’ College, as well as individual prizes and trophies. Arwen and Isabelle also received gifts from Collas Crill.
Pictured: left to right- Arwen Kernaghan and Isabelle Wood from the Grammar School, Collas Crill Partner Wayne Atkinson, Collas Crill Managing Partner Christian Hay, Rosie de Carteret and Lauren de Jersey from the Ladies’College.
