The Queensland section of one of Australia's leading law firms has given five University of Queensland law students one of the best belated Christmas presents - an investment in the skills of their future profession.
Corrs Chambers Westgarth will sponsor the students to participate in one of the world's two leading international legal advocacy and problem-solving competitions, the Jessup International Law Moot.
Team members Jade Jones, Sonja Litz, Catharine MacNab, Usha Praser, and Melinda Taylor will receive $5000 sponsorship to compete in the competition's Australian 'knockouts' at Australian National University, Canberra, from February 18 to 21.
The two winning teams from 14 Australian law schools will then participate in the world finals in Washington, DC on April 4. Should the University of Queensland team advance to the international finals, Corrs Chambers Westgarth has committed a further $15,000 grant to help the team attend the international finals.
Queensland Chairman of partners of Corrs Chambers Westgarth John Story said the firm was committed to supporting the University of Queensland's School of Law and its pursuit of excellence.
'We are proud to be involved in sponsoring the Jessup International Law Moot,' Mr Story said.
'Not only does Corrs Chambers Westgarth believe in making a positive investment in the future of the country's legal industry, but we also believe in fostering and honing the skills of some of our brightest young legal ambassadors, and wish them well in their endeavours.'
University team coach and lecturer in the School of Law Anthony Cassimatis said Corrs Chambers Westgarth's sponsorship would allow students to concentrate on preparing the strongest case, rather than worrying how to raise funding to compete.
'This is an exciting opportunity for the students to sharpen their advocacy, research and writing skills, which are critical for success in the law,' he said.
'The competition requires in-depth research in international law, which crosses boundaries and legal codes.
'The students will give up their summer vacation to prepare for the event, developing electronic research skills including accessing international computer research data bases from around the world.
'Australians generally do very well in the Jessup - the University of Melbourne was the international winner in 1993 and the University of Sydney in 1996.'
Mr Cassimatis is hoping the University of Queensland team will perform well, given other recent international mooting successes in the School of Law.
In 1997 a University of Queensland School of Law team coached by Professor Gabriel Moens won the world's other leading law moot competition, the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Vienna, against 50 international teams.
In 1996 Mr Cassimatis coached the University of Queensland team which won the Family Law Moot Competition against 20 Australian teams, in Canberra, then subsequently his team won the Trans-Tasman Family Law Moot Competition.
Mr Cassimatis is completing a PhD in public international law and has co-written a book with Terry Gygar, Mooting Manual, recently released by Butterworths for its Skills Series.
The Jessup International Law Moot Competition was founded in 1959 by international law students from three American universities.
An estimated 1500 students representing more than 300 law schools from 50 countries now regularly compete in the annual competition, named after a former judge of the United Nations' International Court of Justice.
As part of the competition, students represent fictional countries in a dispute before a mock International Court.
The problem set for the students in 1998 is based on a claim by the country of 'Remorra' for surrender by the country, 'Arden', of an individual wanted in connection with war crimes and for access to funds in bank accounts which may have been stolen from the victims of war crimes. It reflects current real-life international legal problems in Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia and Switzerland.
Further competition details are at the UQ web site: http://www.uq.edu.au/~laacassi/JessupHome.html
Media: For further information, contact Carmel Williams at Corrs Chambers Westgarth, telephone 07 3228 9474, or Anthony Cassimatis, telephone 07 3365 2446, email: a.cassimatis@mailbox.uq.edu.au
