Mallal Moots 2007The B.A. Mallal Moots are an annual tradition in the Faculty of Law, organised by the Mooting and Debating Club. Each year, law students engage in fast and furious verbal battles in the hope of holding the coveted winner’s trophy. The competition is sponsored by Allen & Gledhill LLP. The Best Memorial Competition, which is held concurrently, is sponsored by LexisNexis.

A moot involves an intellectual debate centering on legal issues. Contestants are given a week to write a memorial and present their legal arguments before a court of three judges. For the preliminary rounds, the contestants had to argue on the protection of an individual’s right to confidential information. In the semi-finals and the finals, the contestants had to deal with the issue of whether a child conceived while the father was in a coma is legitimate.

The days leading to the moots were filled with anticipation and excitement. The response from the student population was overwhelming. Research fever hit a high. Fortunately, LexisNexis provided free research workshops to help students fine-tune their research procedure.

The preliminary rounds took place in Allen & Gledhill LLP’s offices at Marina Boulevard. The participants congregated for an “epic” showdown, from which only eight semi-finalists emerged. Only four of the semi-finalists would make it to the finals.

This year, the finals were graced by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Law, Professor S. Jayakumar. Senior Counsel K. Shanmugam and Vice-Dean of the Law Faculty, Associate Professor Victor Ramraj.

The moots were certainly enriching and enjoyable. In the words of winner Francois Beaudry, “the moot was a lot of fun; and at the end of the day this is what matters if I want to practice litigation”.

Winners

1st place : Francoise Beaudry

1st runner-up : Harpreet Kaur Dhillon

2nd Runners-up: Vishal Harnal

Jason Leong Zhi Hao

Best Memorial : Lee Xin Jie

Nik Sim is a second year law student and a member of the Mooting and Debating Club.