Law Student News
La Trobe law students are accomplishing great things both within Australia and internationally. Below are just a few of the 2009 achievements of our current law students including:
Mooting, Competition & Essay Winners
International Placements
La Trobe Law - Bendigo
Australian Placements
Scholarships & Awards
Mooting, Competition & Essay Winners
Congratulations to the School of Law – winning team of the Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot Court
We are very proud to announce that La Trobe’s School of Law were the winners of this year's Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot. Before a tribunal composed of Sir Franklin Berman, Prof Kaj Hobér and Prof Rusty Park (President), Nicholas A. Gangemi, Harlis Kirimof and James M. MacDonald of La Trobe University Melbourne, Australia, carried the day in a valiantly contested final against the team of City University Hong Kong (Vicky Chung, Winki Lam and Candy Tang).
James M. MacDonald of La Trobe was chosen Best Advocate and will receive a scholarship for an LL.M. or Diploma of International Arbitration at Queen Mary School, The University of London. The members of the Winning Team were awarded a scholarship for three weeks at The Hague Academy.
I am very pleased to report that 27 teams from the following countries came to Frankfurt to share the mooting experience: Australia, Brazil, Ecuador, France (2 teams), Germany (4 teams), Hong Kong, India (3 teams), Nepal, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom (4 teams), United States (5 teams)."
To read the full article: www.latrobe.edu.au/lawman/about/news-articles/flm-news-008
La Trobe - only Australian university to reach semi-finals of premiere international student competition
Students from the School of Law at La Trobe University have added another accolade to their growing list of achievements by being the only Australian Law team to reach the semi-finals of the annual Willem C. Vis (East) International Arbitration Moot held in Hong Kong from the 23-29 March.
The students competed in a simulated court proceeding (moot) against 500 students from 64 universities across the globe. In the general rounds the team battled against a number of the world’s leading universities including Harvard and Freiburg, before proudly taking joint third place.
The School of Law’s team consisted of 5 students: Daniel Diaz, Cara Foot, Michelle Ward, Paul Romas and Konstantine Ketsetzis.
To read the full article: www.latrobe.edu.au/lawman/about/news-articles/flm-news-010
School of Law mooting team receives outstanding result Castan Centre for Human Rights Moot
La Trobe University has continued this year's tremendous success in mooting by adding yet another accolade with a 1st Place and runner-up 2nd Place finish at the 2009 Castan Centre for Human Rights Moot.
Now in its third year, the Castan Centre for Human Rights Moot involved teams from Monash University, Melbourne University, Deakin University, Victoria University and eventual winners La Trobe University.
As the winners of this year's moot, Mark Basile, Daniel Diaz and Aimee Chadzynski were awarded the Grand-Prize of $3000, supplied by Clayton Utz (the competition's sponsor), while runners-up Harlis Kirimof, Leigh Howard and Ben Mawby walked away with a cool $1000.
'Best Oralist' award winner Daniel Diaz received strong praise for his excellent advocacy skills throughout the competition.
To read the full article: www.latrobe.edu.au/lawman/about/news-articles/flm-news-034
Third-year law student, Harlis Kirimof talks about his visit to Germany
Law student Harlis Kirimof writes about being part of the La Trobe Mooting team that competed and won in Germany.
Full article available in Melbourne Weekly, Eastern, Tuesday May 5 2009.
'Around the Globe with La Trobe'
Konstantine Ketsetzis, a Canadian law student, discusses mooting competitions and the La Trobe law degree in the Age article. "We had spent four months preparing both written and oral arguments around the case, and we went through. In fact, we were the only Australian university to get to the semi-finals and came third overall."
"It says a great deal for the La Trobe law faculty that they were able to take a team this far." Konstantine says that he has found everything about the faculty quite exceptional. "Students who are willing to put effort into peripheral activities will not only have a glowing curriculum vitae, but get a great deal more out of their studies."
Full article available in The Age, 25/5/2009
Student Receives 'Most Outstanding Delegate' Award at Model UN - Harvard
Leigh Howard was selected last September by the United Nations Association of Australia to participate in a Model UN Conference at Harvard in January 2009, along with 15 other Australian delegates. At the five day Conference, 2600 students from over 30 countries and from Ivy League Universities such as Yale, University of Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania gathered to discuss issues of international concern. At the end of the conference, Leigh was voted 'the most outstanding delegate' by his fellow 400 committee members."
Full article available at: www.lawyersweekly.com.au
Law Students at Harvard Model UN Conference
Leigh Howard, a fourth-year double degree student in Law and International Relations, and Ashlea Scicluna, in the third year of her International Relations course, were chosen from hundreds of applicants based on academic merit, community spirit and leadership abilities.
To read the full article: www.latrobe.edu.au/news/articles/2008/article/students-at-harvard-model-un-conference
International Placements
Student interning in South Africa
Julia Gibby, an fourth-year law and arts student, has been selected to complete an internship in South Africa with Projects Abroad. Her area of focus will be prisoner rights and the law.
Four law students study internationally through the Duke University Exchange Program
Four law students recently returned to Australia after participating in the Duke University Exchange Program. Having successfully applied for the competitive placement, Jo Hambling and Bernard Kersting travelled to Hong Kong, while Kate Mallinson and Alex Stankovski studied in Geneva. The group includes both undergraduate and post-graduate students.
Third La Trobe law student to secure coveted United Nations internship
Erica Dobson, a final year graduate entry law student from Kew, has been awarded a prestigious, competitive internship with the United Nations (UN). Erica traveled to the United Nation’s New York branch in May 2009 to work in the Drugs and Crime Unit for a period of three months.
Heather King, Director of the undergraduate law program at La Trobe said: “We are very proud of the fact that in the last year three of our students have been selected for these very rare internships."
The honours student applied for the competitive internship after speaking to fellow La Trobe law colleague, Kinta Riches, who also completed a two-month graduate fellowship with the UN (article below). Kinta completed a UN internship with the Department of Public Information, helping to rewrite the usage agreements and copyright rules for the photo library. She also managed a couple of days in the counter-terrorism unit, researching background information on ethnic minorities in the Middle East and any connection with certain terrorist groups.
To read the full article: www.latrobe.edu.au/lawman/about/news-articles/flm-news-012
Law Student working with Department of Public Information in New York
Law student Kinta Riches recently completed an internship with the UN in the Department of Public Information.
Asked about her experience she responded, 'I have a strong interest in international laww and international relations so to be in the thick of it was a little mind blowing. I had such a varied range of experiences. Working in the Department of Public Information, one day I found myself rewriting usage agreements for photographs and the next week I was a runner for the press attache for the Crown Prince of Saudia Arabia. The following working in a team sorting through documents about terrorism.'
Kinta's experience was incredibly positive and she is encouraging all La Trobe law students to apply. For those who successfully apply for this competitive placement, she advises them to 'put your hand up for anything and everything. As an intern the opportunities are there and you need to make the most of them. The experience wa slife changing and has enabled me to really focus on the areas of law that I really love.'
Two law students travel to Prague for Crime, Law & Psychology course
Australian LTU Law students Julia Gibby and Sarah Nicholson participated in the Crime, Law and Psychology international course based in Prague in July 2009. They represented two of the four Australian’s in an international student group of 30 from across the globe.
The CLP program is held at the Centre of Public Policy and provides participants the opportunity to gain knowledge about the application of psychology to criminal law, to network with academics and students, to gain a new perspective and to experience Prague. The course explored six broad areas including eyewitness testimony, confession evidence, identification evidence, false confessions, deception, repressed and recovered memories, and wrongful convictions. The subject matter taught made reference to key developments in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
When they were not studying, students travelled the city experiencing the day and night life. Participant Julia Gibby said about her experience, ‘Prague is an amazing place not only to study, but to visit, you cannot help but be a typical ‘tourist’ and stop to take pictures on every corner. The historic city is filled with gothic architecture, statues of fallen heroes and some of the world’s oldest wonders. We were extremely lucky to experience life in such an amazing city and it is an opportunity that we would highly recommend.’
Law Student travels to Kenya with Touch Africa
In December 2008 I, together with 11 other LaTrobe Students were given the opportunity to participate in the Division of Residential Services’ Global Program to Kenya. The community and development tour was conducted in Kenya by a local organisation, Touch Africa International. Highlights of the three week program included constructing concrete flooring for Sheppard’s Orphanage Nairobi, volunteering at Children of the Rising Sun (a children’s home in Malindi), assisting doctors to provide a free medical camp and medication for a small isolated community and staying with a Kenyan family in an authentic rural village. Our experience of Kenyan culture was enriched by out host families who were all incredibly generous and welcoming. Our trip was made all the more enjoyable by the children we met who, despite their hardships were always smiling and demanding our affection.
La Trobe Law - Bendigo
"Practising Law" - Article by law student in Bendigo Miner
Second-year Law and Arts student, Marissa Tripodi, was featured in the newspaper for the volunteer work she has been doing at the Bendigo Law Courts weekly since the beginning of this year.
Clinical placement has been offered as an elective for second year Bendigo law students since 2006. The program is intended to give work-world skills in areas such as interviewing and negotiation.
Full article available in the Bendigo Miner, 26/6/2009, Edition 127
Australian Placements
La Trobe Law Students receive the most VLF Internships in 2009/10 program
22 La Trobe law students were placed through the 2009/2010 Victorian Law Foundation Internship program, which was the highest number of placements of all Victorian law schools. Our law students will be working in government and public service organisations including the National Forensic Institute, Depart of Justice, Infertility Treatment Authority, Australian Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, Law Reform Commission, VCOSS, Crown Counsel and more!
LTU Law Student completes Aurora Native Title Internship Program
Jill Webb, Bachelor of Laws - Graduate Entry student, recently completed an Aurora Native Title Internship. Jill was placed at Yawoorroong Miriuwung Gajerrong Yirrgeb Noong Dawang Aboriginal Corporation (MG Corp) in Kununurra, WA.
Since 2003, the program has provided law students with the opportunity to experience working in the area of native title through internships at Native Title Representative Bodies (NTRBs) and other organisations involved in indigenous affairs."
Scholarships & Awards
Law Student wins Ron McCallum Medal
Law student Leigh Howard recently won the Ron McCallum Medal. The prize includes a book voucher, cheque from the NSW Law Society, and engravement in the esteemed NSW Law Society halls.
The award presentation was attended by over 100 professionals from varying areas including attendance by Vice President Watson of Fair Work Australia.
Presenter Ron McCallum was excited to hear that a La Trobe student was receiving the award, commenting, 'LaTrobe is a wonderful school, full of some great academics, so I am very pleased that Leigh will take this back to them'.
Chinese Government Scholarship for two lucky La Trobe Students
Scott Bulman and Paul Cheyne were awarded two full scholarships to their school of choice in China. Scott is currently undertaking his third year in Bachelor of Laws and Arts. In the Arts component of his course Scott majors in Chinese language (Mandarin). He has just recently returned from a two-month internship with an international intellectual property firm, Rouse & Co. International at their Beijing office. Scott has been admitted by the Renmin University of China as a Junior Visiting Student to study at the School of Law from February 2010 to January 2012.
Paul has already been to China numerous times; the last time being when he went on a UMAP tour (University Mobility in Asia Pacific) and studied Chinese/Mandarin for three months, back in 2007. Paul has been admitted by Dongbei University of Finance and Economics where he will be studying Chinese (Mandarin) for twelve months, followed by a three year Masters in Economics.
To read the full article: www.latrobe.edu.au/lawman/about/news-articles/flm-news-029
Law student receives scholarship to attend Global Citizenship Conference
In August 2009, Jo Hambling, a third-year law and international relations student attended the International Network of Universities (INU) Student Seminar on Global Citizenship, in Hiroshima, Japan. It was the fourth year the program has been run and once again, Hiroshima University hosted the Student Seminar as well as covered the cost of travel and accommodation for one student from each member university. La Trobe University also gave a scholarship of $2000 to cover the expenses of a second student.
The program theme this year was “Migration, Refugees, and Peace" and the program coincided, as it does each year with the Peace Memorial Ceremony in Hiroshima on August 6th. During the first 2 days of the program participants had an opportunity to visit the memorial museum, hear a personal account from an atomic bomb survivor, attend the peace memorial service and explore the city of Hiroshima. The first two days provided an all too real illustration of the costs and repercussions of failures to resolve conflicts peacefully. Global citizenship, the theme of the conference, strives to prevent catastrophes such as the destruction which was inflicted on Hiroshima, through fostering a notion of international responsibility and compassion for all people around the world.
For the remaining four days students attended workshops, heard from guest speakers and prepared for the mock UN session which is held every year on the last day of the conference. I was thrilled to attend the conference. In the spirit of global citizenship, all the students involved were committed to ensuring everyone had a chance to voice their views and be actively involved in and fully understand the sessions, despite cultural and language barriers. The cooperation and the openness between the students was truly inspiring.
Kuwaiti Government provides fully-paid study tour for three La Trobe students
Erdem Koc, a final year law and media studies student is one of three students to receive a fully-paid study tour by the Kuwaiti Government. Erdem, current editor of the University's online magazine upstart, applied because it was a unique opportunity to broaden his global perspective.
The Government is hosting a delegation of ten Melbourne journalism students this month in an effort to help future Australian journalists develop a fair and reasoned view of Middle Eastern culture and to encourage them to produce balanced and unbiased articles about the region.
Full article available at: www.latrobe.edu.au/uninews/publications/view/54
Law Student launches NEW Website - "The Gist of It"
Final year student Hugh Crosthwaite hs launched a new website "The Gist of It" funded by Liberty Victoria. The site features interviews with prominent Australians (such as Michael Kirby and Geoffrey Robertson) talking about the fundamental building blocks of Australian law, politics, and society.
Check out the website at: http://gistofit.amnesty.org.au/
Do you know of a student achievement that you do not see included above? Please email the details to Kris Young.