Professional Skills
Professional Skills Competitions are designed to help law students build all of the necessary legal skills that don’t involve trial advocacy. The competitions that fall under this banner include Client Interview, Negotiations Paper Presentation and Alternative Dispute Resolution. Participating in professional skills is a great way to develop a rounded skill set which will greatly develop your interpersonal communication and diplomacy.
Client Interview
The competition involves two students pairing up to simulate a prospective client’s first interview with their lawyer. Teams will receive a memo in the days preceding the interview which will give them some idea of the client’s problem. The teams need to demonstrate that they understand their client’s needs and are able to extract all of the necessary information that would be required to represent that client. The competition is split into Junior Client Interview and Senior Client Interview.
Senior Client Interview
Running in Semester 2, the senior client interview competition is open to students in their 3rd year onwards. The rounds run for 35 minutes during the preliminary rounds and up to 45 minutes during the finals.
Junior Client Interview
Running in Semester 1, the junior client interview competition is open to students in their 1st and 2nd year. The rounds run for 30 minutes during the preliminary rounds and up to 40 minute during the finals. Keep an eye out for registrations which will open during the mid-year break!
If you have any questions about either of these competitions, you can contact Sujal at compsskills@muls.org.
Negotiations
The Negotiations Competition is designed to test and refine legal negotiation skills. Working in teams of two, students must negotiate and settlement that satisfies the needs of both their client and the client of the opposing team. Each team will be provided with a description of facts, but each team will also have their own confidential instructions from their respective clients. Each round runs for approximately 40 minutes. This competition runs in Semester 1 and is currently underway.
If you have any queries about negotiations, you can contact Zachary at compsskills1@muls.org.
Paper Presentation
The Paper Presentation is a competition which gives students the opportunity to submit an academic paper in relation to a legal issue of their choice. This competition consists of a written submission and an oral presentation. The written submission must be 2,500 and 5,000 words and adhere to the criteria provided in the rules. The oral presentation lasts for 15 minutes, with an additional 10 minutes of questions from the judges. This gives the student the opportunity to present their paper and engage in discussion with the judges.
This competition aims to promote legal scholarship, oratory skills and the chance to present controversial issues in an informative manner.
If you have any queries about paper presentation you can contact Sujal at compsskills1@muls.org.