Skills Competitions @ UTS Law

Written by Jemma Newton Vice-President (Skills Competition)

Why New Law Students Should Compete

Skills Competitions allow law students to engage in practical a pplications of their academic studies through real-life problem scenarios. Participating in c ompetitions adds invaluable experience to your CV, and provides networking opportunities with other students, faculty members and external advocates.

The Skills Competitions

Client Interview: Building positive working relationships with clients is an essential legal skill. Competitors conduct a 30-minute interview with a hypothetical client that addresses a unique legal issue. They are required to extract all relevant facts through carefully posed questions, raise ethical dilemmas, and provide preliminary legal and non-legal advice.

Negotiation: Negotiation provides students with an opportunity to master important alternative dispute resolution skills. Teams are provided with hypothetical common and secret facts which they must utilise to come to a mutually beneficial outcome that balances their client’s objectives with the other parties’ interests.

Witness Examination: Witness examination is an individual competition where students develop their advocacy skills by examining and cross-examining witnesses. Competitors work to construct a convincing case while simultaneously discrediting their opposing counsel’s case.

Intervarsity Skills Competitions: The UTS LSS hosts and participates in numerous intervarsity skills competitions. These competitions provide opportunities for experienced competitors to represent the LSS at a local, state or national level in any of the above competitions.

Written Skills: Students also have an opportunity to compete in various written skills competitions, including Advice Writing, Paper Presentation and Affidavit Drafting. These practical competitions provide students with invaluable legal skills heavily relied on in practice. Participation in these competitions is always favourably perceived by employers.

When Can New Students Compete

The UTS LSS runs the Junior Skills Competitions in the Spring Session for first and second-year students who have not previously competed. We run the Open Skills Competitions in Autumn for all students, regardless of experience, but encourage all new law students to attempt the Junior Competitions first, as judges provide more detailed feedback in these competitions.

While waiting for the Junior Competitions in the Spring Session, students can get involved as a volunteer client in Client Interview or a volunteer witness in Witness Examination. Here, you will pick up valuable skills from experienced competitors along the way! Volunteering can also work towards other initiatives, including the Brennan Program and the UTS SOUL Awards.

The Gauntlet Competition is another great opportunity to kickstart involvement in competitions. This weekend includes workshops on how to compete and the opportunity to put these new skills into practice.

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