Mooting
The Eldon Society Master and Vice Master of Moots organise and the junior and senior competitions, which are sponsored by Cartmell Shepherd. Over 80% of students in their first year compete in the junior competition and around 80 students in the second and third years sign up for the senior contest.
Mooting is a means of gaining experience in the art of legal argument and dates back to the Middle Ages. Two teams of opposing advocates present legal arguments in a fictitious appeal before a judge who may be a senior student, a member of staff or a professional barrister, depending on the stage of the competition. The final of the Senior Team Competition is held in the Moot Hall, Newcastle's old Assize Court built in 1809 before a practitioner or a 'real' judge. In 2012, the final was judged by the Deputy President of the Supreme Court, Lord Hope of Craighead.
Involvement in mooting has proven to be advantageous to students. The areas of law covered are often those which appear in examinations and preparing a moot argument has been shown to enhance students' analytical abilities. Moreover, involvement in mooting at university can be helpful when moving into the workplace as employers value the team work, discipline and public speaking experience that mooting provides.
The university enters teams of the best mooters from our internal competitions in regional and national contests. In recent years these have been the ESU, OUP/BPP and DAC Beachcroft competitions. Newcastle Law School mooting teams regularly reach the later rounds of these competitions.