NZLSA Congratulates Competitions Winners

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Winners of the 2008 NZLSA National Law Competitions Championships were announced on Saturday 6 September at the final dinner of the annual NZLSA Conference and were congratulated personally by the Governor-General, His Excellency, Hon Anand Satyanand.

"The NZLSA law competitions represent the pinnacle of achievement for the various competitors involved, who all qualified by winning their faculty competitions earlier in the year." NZLSA President Dave Dewar said. The winners will, in many cases, represent New Zealand at international law students' competitions in 2009, such as the Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition, held annually in Washington D.C.

The final for the Bell Gully Mooting competition took place at the Auckland High Court between the University of Otago (Alice Irving and Kate Muirhead) and the University of Auckland (Sally Trafford and Hannah Yiu). Judges for the final were Justices Chambers and Winkelmann and Ian Gault (Bell Gully). After an excellent quality final, the competition was won by the University of Auckland.

The Russell McVeagh Client Interviewing final was held at Russell McVeagh's Auckland office. The finalists were the University of Canterbury (Julia Whitehead and Sarah Keast) and Victoria University of Wellington (Henry Clayton and Adam Edwards). Judges for the final were Greer Robson and Sally Fitzgerald of Russell McVeagh, and John Ip from the University of Auckland. Victoria University of Wellington was judged the winning team.

The Buddle Findlay Negotiation final was held at the Auckland office of Buddle Findlay. In the final were the University of Canterbury (Jason Cooper and Tim Haines) and the University of Otago (Natasha Garvan and Simon Waalkens.) The final was judged by Graham Hall and Michael Dineen from Buddle Findlay and Jessica Carter, a mediator from the Department of Building and Housing. After a grueling effort, the University of Canterbury negotiators emerged the winners.

The Minter Ellison Rudd Watts Witness Examination final was also held at the High Court. In front of the judging panel consisting of Justice Allan, Julian Miles QC and Aaron Lloyd of Minter Ellison Rudd Watts, Charlotte Hollingsworth of Victoria University of Wellington defended her 'client,' G W Bush, against the charge of harbouring a terrorist, "Bubba" Blair. The prosecution was brought by the University of Canterbury's Steve Jukes. After a comprehensive oral judgment on both the merits of the case as well as the respective counsel, the final was won by the University of Canterbury.

The University of Canterbury was also the inaugural winner of the Anderson Lloyd President's Prize for best-performing university at the national finals.

"The 2008 NZLSA Competitions were of the highest standard they have ever been." Dewar said. "They are not at all easy and often the problems rival the complexity of real legal issues. To win a national final is a considerable achievement.

"There is a general paucity of practical legal skills taught within the LLB curriculum." Dewar said. "NZLSA Competitions are an excellent and unparalleled opportunity for LLB students to gain practical experience essential for legal practice."

"Competitions and the NZLSA Conference would not be possible without support from the profession," Dewar said. The NZLSA is extremely grateful for the generous support it receives each year from its competitions sponsors: Bell Gully, Russell McVeagh, Buddle Findlay and Minter Ellison Rudd Watts. The NZLSA would also like to thank its other conference supporters including Gold Sponsor, Simpson Grierson, Silver Sponsor, Anderson Lloyd, the University of Auckland School of Law, Kensington Swan, Russell McVeagh and the Auckland University Students' Association.

The NZLSA wishes all competition winners the best of luck in competing at the international championships next year.

ENDS

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