Leeds students moot against international teams in Competition Law Moot
Leeds School of Law students John Gannon and Noorjahan Goffar were one of eight teams to reach the quarter finals of the Herbert Smith Freehills Competition Law Moot.
Leeds School of Law students John Gannon and Noorjahan Goffar were one of eight teams to reach the quarter finals of the Herbert Smith Freehills Competition Law Moot. After a successful written round they qualified for the oral rounds held at The Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London.
Over the course of the weekend John and Noorjahan tested their advocacy skills against fellow Competition Law mooters from across the world. In their first round they were pitted against the University of Amsterdam, but later in the competition the just missed out to a tight victory for the National University of Singapore.
Out of the 12 teams they finished fifth and became one of 8 teams to reach the quarter finals. The final league table looked like this:
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The University of Hong Kong
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King’s College London
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National University of Singapore
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University of Amsterdam
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University of Leeds
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University of Leicester
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Utrecht University
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University of Nottingham
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University of Wroclaw
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Maastricht University
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University of East Anglia
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Helsinki University
John Gannon, who is studying an LLM International Trade Law commented:
“The competition was thoroughly enjoyable and the standard was very high. The judges were from the highest levels of academia and practice in this area and, as such, it was an honour and a pleasure to moot in front of them and to meet them.
“We were allowed to have a team of four but we were just the two so there was quite a lot of work! I'm really glad we took part; it was well worth it for the adventure!
“We were coached by Dr Pinar Akman and we are very grateful for all the time and effort she put into getting us prepared and for supporting us throughout.
“Partly because of this competition, I’m starting my PhD at Leeds in the coming academic year researching on competition law.”
Noorjahan Goffar, who is studying an LLM International Banking and Finance Law
“The weekend was very exciting with a lot of impressive panels of judges (so we were quite anxious!). We met many students from Europe and Asia which was great. Although we only got through to the quarterfinals, we lost to the team that went on to win the competition and the judges said our legal knowledge was amazing.
“I got involved with the competition as I find competition law very interesting and am hoping to apply to law firms that have a competition seat for trainees. The moot was good experience in applying competition law and also at LLM level it is probably the last chance I will get at mooting before beginning working life!”
Dr Pinar Akman who coached the team with support and input from Dr Peter Whelan said: “I am very happy that we took part in this prestigious international competition and that we went as far as the quarterfinals. It was a great opportunity for everyone involved. I am delighted that our students are so interested in competition law which is the main research interest of myself and Peter Whelan at the School. I hope that we can take part in future competitions as well.”
