Skills Competitions
Skills Competitions allow law students to engage in practical applications of their academic studies through real-life problem scenarios. Participating in competitions adds invaluable experience to your CV, and provides networking opportunities with other students, faculty members and external advocates. For queries about Skills Competitions, please contact Jemma Newton at vpsk@utslss.com.
• The Opens Competition runs in the Autumn Session and is an opportunity for any students, regardless of experience to get involved.
• The Juniors Competition runs in the Spring Session and is an opportunity for first or second year students who have never competed before to get involved. We recommend getting involved in the Junior Competitions as judges will provide more extensive feedback due to the nature of the competition.
• Students can also get involved as a volunteer client in Client Interview or a volunteer witness in Witness Examination. Here you will pick up valuable skills from experienced competitors along the way! Volunteering can also work towards other initiatives, including the Brennan Program and the UTS SOUL Awards.
Skills Judges Workshops
Are you planning on judging any Skills Competitions in 2023?
Registrations for the 2023 UTS LSS Skills Judges Workshop have opened! Register here!
If you would like to judge any of the Skills Competitions this year including negotiations, client interview or witness examination, come along to our collaborative judging workshop!
Each competition will have a 2 hour time slot where the competition Director will go through the judging expectations and recommended feedback to be provided to competitors during the semester.
For more information on Skills Judges Workshops and to register, click the link below:
Client Interview
Building positive working relationships with clients is an essential legal skill. Competitors conduct a 30-minute interview with a hypothetical client that addresses a unique legal issue. They are required to extract all relevant facts through carefully posed questions, raise ethical dilemmas, and provide preliminary legal and non-legal advice.
Negotiation
Negotiation provides students with an opportunity to master important alternative dispute resolution skills. Teams are provided with hypothetical common and secret facts which they must utilise to come to a mutually beneficial outcome which balances their client’s objectives with the other parties interests.
Witness Examination
Witness examination is an individual competition where students develop their advocacy skills by examining and cross-examining witnesses. Competitors work to construct a convincing case while simultaneously discrediting their opposing counsel’s case.
Intervaristy Skills Competitions
The UTS LSS hosts and participates in numerous intervarsity skills competitions. These competitions provide opportunities for experienced competitors to represent the LSS at a local, state or national level in any of the above competitions.
Competitor Selection Policy
Selections for all of our Intervarsity Moots and Skills Competitions, including the ALSA Conference, are governed by our UTS LSS Competitor Selection Policy. If you would like to know more about how selections are made, or if you have any concerns about selection for any of our Intervarsity competitions, we encourage you to read this policy and raise any concerns with Jemma Newton, Vice-President (Skills Competitions) at vpsk@utslss.com or our Vice-President (Mooting) at vpmo@utslss.com.