Ben Clayton and Grant McNaughton (Year 12 and 13 respectively) competed in the Otago regional mooting competition, hosted by the University of Otago and Law for Change association, in October.

Mooting is a reflection of a mock trial - teams of two either represent the appellant or respondent side, and are marked on their ability to convince the court of their client's position. Each counsel member has 15 minutes to speak, in which they present an aspect of the case, but are also asked questions by the judges, at first a quite daunting experience. Having competed against Bayfield and John McGlashan in the preliminary and semifinal rounds, we were fortunate enough to have made it to the finals. Unfortunately we lost to Otago Girls in the finals, however were both commended by the judging panel for our content and presentation.

We both really enjoyed the relatively new experience of mooting, and see it as a good opportunity to complement our interests in debating.