Congratulations to the La Trobe Law School students who won the inaugural Social Justice Moot earlier this month.
The winning team included Christian North Coombes, Elleni North Combes, Timothy Sonneman and Stella Drummond, and their coach Paul Joseph.
The Social Justice Moot was hosted by the La Trobe University Law Students' Association and sponsored by Clayton Utz.
“The Social Justice Moot showcased La Trobe Law School’s commitment to shaping the law for the better and promoting social justice through advocacy,” said Professor Lorne Neudorf
“It was a pleasure to welcome students from other universities and legal practitioners to our campus. I enjoyed attending the Grand Final and observing the impressive skills on display from the student participants. Congratulations to all involved in participating in and organising this successful moot. As the inaugural event, it has laid a strong foundation for what we hope will become an important annual tradition at the Law School.”
Hassan Asad, President of the Law Students’ Association, said the competition provided students with a practical avenue to hone their advocacy and leadership skills in social justice.
“The moot marks a significant milestone in the history of the La Trobe Law School in what will be a yearly competition centred towards the theme of social justice.”
“We were delighted to be joined by students from RMIT University, Swinburne University of Technology and the Australian Catholic University, as well as teams from La Trobe University.”
The teams presented in front of a fictitious VCAT tribunal in an ‘Advice to an Administrator’ proceeding. Students presented in front of VCAT members as well as renowned solicitors and barristers.
Team member, Christian North Coombes, said participating in the social justice moot was a fantastic experience.
“It was a great opportunity to build my legal knowledge and enhance my advocacy skills. I am excited to participate in the upcoming national moots and make the La Trobe name proud.”
Timothy Sonneman said the team’s countless hours of preparation paid off.
“Our practice in performance, structuring our arguments, and anticipating questions from the bench is what I believe led us to victory.”
“The chemistry within the team also allowed us all to understand exactly what we needed to do and help each other to not only work well as individual speakers, but as a team,” he says.
