The University of Dundee Mooting Society was delighted to have hosted the Lord Jones Mooting Competition for 2020 /21. Organised by our Vice President Ruairidh Gilchrist, the competition went online this year due to ongoing coronavirus restrictions and the first three rounds were held on the 6th of February 2021 with the Semi-Final and Final round held on the 13th of February. A record number of 12 teams from 8 different universities entered the competition this year from the universities of Aberdeen, Abertay, Dundee, Edinburgh Napier, Glasgow, St Andrews, Stirling & Strathclyde. The competition was again kindly sponsored by the DWF Group, an international law firm with offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The first three rounds
The first three moot rounds of the competition were held on the 6th of February and were judged by academics throughout Scotland, along with Professor Herbert Kerrigan QC of the Faculty of Advocates and DWF Director Lynne Macfarlane. The standard of advocacy was very high in the first two rounds with Aberdeen, Abertay, Dundee, Glasgow, Stirling and Strathclyde enter the quarter-finals.
The winners of the quarter-finals were Dundee, Glasgow, Strathclyde & Stirling who were through to the semi-final of the competition. At the end of the event, competitors and spectators heard from Lynne MacFarlane who gave an inspirational talk on her career as solicitor-advocate working with Lord Jones.
The semi final and final round
The Semi-Final and Final Round of the competition was held on the 13th of February 2021. The Semi-Final round consisted of Dundee University v Strathclyde University and Glasgow University v Stirling University. The semi-final rounds were judged by Professor Herbert Kerrigan QC and Ms Ximena Vengochea, both practising members of the Faculty of Advocates. Dundee University and Glasgow University won their respective moots, and went through to the Final Round. In between each round we heard from Professor Herbert Kerrigan QC in a Q&A which allowed competitors and participants to find out more about a career at the bar.
Dundee University went against Glasgow University in the Final round, which was kindly judged by The Hon Lord Ericht, Senator of the College of Justice. Kelsey Laird and Robyn Mearns represented Dundee, while Olivia Mckale and Roop Dhami represented Glasgow. While it was a very close, Lord Ericht awarded Glasgow University as the winners of the Lord Jones Mooting Competition 2021.
The prize this year was Amazon vouchers, along with the opportunity to shadow Professor Herbert Kerrigan QC in court.
the university of dundee mooting society
Ruairidh Gilchrist, Vice President and Organiser of the Lord Jones Mooting Competition 2021
“The University of Dundee Mooting Society were delighted to have hosted the Lord Jones Competition this year and we extend our congratulations to the winners at Glasgow University and the runners-up at Dundee University. This event would not have been possible without the continued support of DWF as our sponsors and we would like to thank all our judges for joining us for the competition. Particular thanks go to Fiona Jones and her family for all their support and advice for the competition. Our Mooting Society created the Lord Jones Competition to continue all the hard work of Lord Jones who was passionate about improving the advocacy ability of law students who wished the pursue a career at the bar. We were pleased to have hosted the competition this year even in these difficult times and hope that we can once again host the competition in Dundee for 2022.”
The Lord Jones Moot Competition 