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Moot welcomed largest round in recent history
In its second year online, the Jessup moot welcomed its largest round in recent history, with more than 18 law schools getting involved in the competition.
Naomi Neilson
Hosted by the Australian National University’s (ANU) College of Law, the 2022 DLA Piper National Rounds was once again hosted online. This meant that regardless of border restrictions and COVID-affected lockdowns, more students from many different universities were given the opportunity to get involved.
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National administrator and ANU visiting fellow Andrew Ray said that despite the challenges that the students and coaches faced in preparing for the mooting competition, “the overall standard was exceptionally high, with only the smallest of margins separating eight quarterfinalists from the rest of the universities”.
“In addition to the high standard of mooting, it was excellent to see the Jessup traditions and culture maintained despite the online medium,” he added.
Swinburne University, which joined the competition for the first time, was given a special mention for its performance despite the withdrawal of a team member the day prior. Mr Ray said the remaining team member rose to the challenge of arguing both speaker positions for four of his moots, which was recognised with a unanimous vote from the universities to award it the Spirit of Jessup Award.
Teams from the University of NSW (UNSW), University of Melbourne, Bond University, and the University of Queensland will progress to the next stage. UNSW narrowly beat the University of Melbourne in the grand finale, which was adjudicated by Justice Simon Steward of the High Court of Australia, Justice Melissa Perry of the Federal Court, and DLA Piper partner Gowri Kangeson.
Justice Mark Leeming from the NSW Court of Appeal and Sue Robertson, a first assistant secretary at the Office of International Law, presided over two semifinals.
“Having such esteemed and experienced benches for the grand final and the semi-finals provides an unparalleled opportunity to students to showcase their abilities in front of some of the top legal minds in this country,” Mr Ray said.
