Griffith teams clean up in Michael Kirby Moot

Griffith Law School students have beaten fierce competition to win the fifth annual Michael Kirby Contract Law Moot Competition.

The two Griffith teams saw off numerous challenges to place in the top four of the 30 teams in the competition.

The Griffith 1 team of James Vercoe, Charlotte Roache and Dean Aitchison faced off against Griffith 2 team Elly Phelan, Alex Curtis and Jesse Hill, in the semi-finals before ultimately taking out QUT in the grand final.

“It was a long process as we started preparing for the moot in July, but it’s an amazing feeling to have won,” said James who also won best speaker in the finals rounds.

Best grand final speaker Charlotte agreed. “Winning is confirmation that our hard work has paid off and both James and I look forward tobeing advocates in the future.”

“The law school is incredibly proud of these students who worked extremely hard in the lead-up to the competition and fully deserved their success,” said Griffith Law Lecturer Therese Wilson.

“Not only do we have great, dedicated, hard-working students, we have wonderful alumni who give generously of their time year after year to assist with these sorts of competitions.

“Our two teams were ably coached on this occasion by alumnus, Kerrod Giles.”

Kerrod, who graduated in 2014 and now works at Brisbane law firm, Hopgood Ganim, said all members of each Griffith team advocated at an exceptionally high level.

“The quality of advocacy shown by both teams was reflected in the scores and feedback provided by experienced practitioners and barristers alike, who consistently recommended members of each team should consider careers at the bar,’’ he said.

“As well as having an extensive knowledge of the facts and relevant law, the qualities that made both Griffith teams standout was the advocates’ ability to engage with the bench and adapt quickly to unanticipated challenges.”

Established in 2011 by Victoria University, the annual Michael Kirby Contract Law Moot Competition is the premier, national mooting competition in contract law for universities across Australia.