St Paul’s Team Makes Strong Debut at Waikato Mooting Competition

St Paul’s Collegiate School’s moot court team recently made an impressive debut at the 2024 Waikato National Secondary Schools’ Mooting Competition, showcasing their legal skills and dedication in a challenging environment.

Hosted by Waikato University’s Faculty of Law, the competition attracts approximately 40 schools from across New Zealand to argue legal cases in a formal courtroom-like setting.

This year, St Paul’s team, consisting of Rosie Phillips (Year 13) as Senior Counsel, Roy Zhu (Year 12) as Junior Counsel, and Daniel Zhao (Year 12) as Research Counsel, took part in the event for the first time.

Representing the ‘respondents’ in a mock case, the St Paul’s team faced off against an experienced Auckland Dio side. Despite being new to moot court, the team delivered a strong performance. Notably, Rosie Phillips earned an impressive score of 43/50 for her case presentation.

With an overall score of 66/100, the St Paul’s team was unable to progress to the semifinals but gained valuable experience that bodes well for future competitions.

Congratulations to the St Paul’s team for their outstanding performance and for representing the school with such distinction in their first moot court experience.