GCU Law students form first ever Mooting Society
GCU Law students have come together to start a brand new debate-focused society and are looking to encourage students from all course backgrounds to join.
The GCU Mooting Society, which launched this year, was brought together by a team of LLB Law students, including 3rd year students Emily Ward and Lewis Holmes after being introduced to ‘mooting’ by Senior Lecturer James Connolly.
Realising that GCU didn’t have their own Mooting Society, Emily decided to form it after meeting other law students and discovering that they all had a society of their own.
‘Mooting’, in the context of law, is essentially a mock trial where two sides argue a point of law in front of an acting judge, who decides the winner based on the presentations of each side. Mooting is a great way for Law students to practise their teamwork and communication skills, but Emily and Lewis believe that it’s an activity that would benefit everyone. Emily said: “It’s very adversarial in nature, so those who naturally like to talk a lot will enjoy it and those who are a bit quieter can use it to help boost their confidence and get out of their comfort zone.”
Lewis, who acts as Deputy of the Mooting Society, believes that mooting is also great for enhancing leadership skills. He said: “In a mooting mock court, you have different roles within it. You have a Senior and Junior role, and the Junior will usually speak for about five minutes but the Senior will speak for ten minutes.
It’s really great for those who are wanting to get into public speaking, which is a skill that is increasingly found in different careers. You might get asked to pitch an idea or speak to a client, so getting exposure to that earlier in your academic journey is really beneficial.”
He added: “Now that the pandemic is making things about more available, we thought it would be a good idea to get something like the Mooting Society started. For those who started their time at GCU during or just before the pandemic, the idea of being on class and engaging in big group activities might be foreign to them. Getting involved in something like this might help them get familiar and socialise with other students.”
Despite mooting being related to law, Emily wants to encourage students from all backgrounds to get involved. She said: “The Mooting Society is open to everyone who would like to take part. It’s a safe space for everyone and we would love to see students from different programmes be a part of it.”
She added: “In law, you often come across lawyers from different career backgrounds such as medicine and engineering, so having that background knowledge is really helpful in mooting various topics.”
Keep up to date with the GCU Mooting Society on their Twitter page and join the society on the Student’s Association website
By Rachael McAlonan
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