The First Year Moot is designed to provide a supportive introduction to mooting, advocacy and competitions. Students in the first year of their legal studies are encouraged by the QUT Law Society to get involved with the moot so they can experience legal problem solving, develop their research skills and gain valuable feedback in a welcoming and supportive environment. The moot problem aligns with the first year curriculum.

The Junior Moot is open to law students from all years that are interested in building on their mooting skills while gaining competition experience. The Junior Moot draws eager participants year-on-year and is the QUTLS’ most popular mooting competition. The Junior Moot is more complex than the First Year Moot, but is designed to be approachable for a wide variety of students, from confident first year students to students further in their degree who are yet to catch the mooting bug.

The Championship Moot is the premier event for mooters, judges and spectators, with high engagement from more advanced students. Competitors will be provided with a complex problem that tests their academic rigour and advocacy skills. The competition offers a challenge to students who have performed will in other competitions and is considered to be a springboard to further success. Many of its finalists go on to become state and national representatives of QUT and the QUTLS.

Witness Examination is an exciting competition where students can grill witnesses in court to try and make out the facts of their client’s case. It provides students the opportunity to practice their knowledge of evidence and procedure. Often focussing on a criminal law matter, the competition tests students’ ability to question a witness, interact with a judge and apply the rules of evidence. Finalists will also have the opportunity to compete further at a state and national level.

The Sentencing Competition is one of the main criminal law competitions in the QUTLS calendar. Students participate in a sentencing hearing that is run almost identically to a real matter in a Queensland court. Competitors present their arguments as to why the court should sentence the defendant in a certain way. It is a great way for students to apply their advocacy skills, which is a must-have for anyone wishing to practice as a barrister or solicitor in criminal law.

Negotiation is an important skill for any legal professional to have and there’s no better way to start learning than to give it a go with the QUTLS! In 2019, this competition broke the record for having the most competitors for any competition with almost 10 participants. Negotiation supports the development of soft skills and offers students an opportunity to develop out-of-court advocacy skills. This competition focusses on real-world commercial solutions and requires students to consider facts outside of black-letter legal theory, including negotiation tactics and third-party interests.

The Client Interview competition is one of the most popular and real-world skills based competitions. Students have the opportunity to interview a client, identify the complete set of facts behind their client’s experience and propose possible solutions specific to the legal problem at hand. It is a great opportunity for students to build on their communication and listening skills, improve their ability to interpret body language and strengthen their identification of when to ask questions.