UCL Laws students take part in The Slaughter and May Senior Mooting Competition

The Slaughter and May UCL Senior Mooting Competition (SMC) is a prestigious internal competition that consists of the brightest minds from second and third years at UCL Laws with rounds leading up to the Grand Final being judged scrupulously by Slaughter and May judges.

This year’s SMC Grand Final was of particular significance, due to being held in Court Room 1, which was an incredible honour considering it was precisely where the Brexit hearings were held, as well as being judged by The Rt Hon. Lord Justice McCombe, who had graciously accepted our invitation. The moot itself was very heated with all the UCL Laws finalists (Vasilis Andreou, Gareth Deane, Orestis Sherman, and Shemuel Sheikh) performing phenomenally and presenting strong and innovative submissions on the excellent moot question devised by Professor Paul Mitchell.

While the results were very close with all finalists being well-prepared and of high calibre, specific congratulations have to be given to Orestis Sherman for winning the SMC Grand Final and Gareth Deane as the runner-up.

Orestis Sherman said:

‘It was a fantastic experience to present submissions in front of a judge as experienced and knowledgeable as McCombe LJ, and do so in a setting as inspiring as the Supreme Court. It is testament to the generosity and support of the Faculty and the quality of the mooters and Moots Officers that such events are possible.’

 Godwin Tan, President of the UCL Law Society and Final Year LLB Student, said:

‘It has been a fantastic year in mooting for us, bearing testament to the calibre and dedication of some of our best students. Our mooters have competed all around the UK in national competitions, such as the ESU-Essex Court Chambers Competition and the OUP-BPP Mooting Competition.

We have also won both the ‘UCL v LSE’ Eversheds Cup and the ‘UCL v KCL’ Hogan Lovells Cup. This is also the first year in recent history that our Philip C Jessup International Law Moot team will be flying to Washington DC to compete in the international rounds.’

 
Special thanks to Slaughter and May and the UCL Laws for their passionate support for the competition throughout the year.

Image 1 (from left to right): Orestis Sherman, Vasilis Andreou, Gareth Deane, and Shemuel Sheikh