Shipping and Trade LLM students have successfully concluded the annual Shipping & Trade Moot Final, held at the London offices of DWF. The competition underscored the programme's commitment to developing the practical employability skills that top law firms demand.
Mooting is an invaluable skill for any aspiring lawyer: sharpening legal analysis, oral advocacy, and the ability to think on your feet under pressure. The initial rounds of the competition, which involved many of the students on our Shipping & Trade LLM programmes, helped participants develop precisely these transferable skills. The final itself was judged by an exceptional panel: Nigel Jacobs KC of Quadrant Chambers, Ingrid Hu of Steamship Mutual, and DWF Partner Michael Biltoo, whom the School sincerely thanks for hosting the competition. The finalists faced challenging, nuanced questions from the panel and rose to the occasion with impressive poise and legal reasoning. It was a genuinely high-quality final that showcased the depth of talent emerging from the programme.
Congratulations to the winners: speakers Mai Linh Nguyen and Michael Mulandi and researcher Aslihan Asman.The School also recognises the runners-up, speakers Varvara Kazantzi and Winjie Hou and researcher Libby Toppin, for their strong and skilful performance. Additionally, the award for Best Skeleton Argument from the initial rounds went to Selin Ucuncu and Qingzhou Zheng– a well-deserved recognition of their written advocacy.
Dr Tabetha Kurtz-Shefford, deputy Director of Shipping & Trade LLM Programmes, after the event said: "I want to extend my sincere thanks to Michael Biltoo for all his efforts in setting up the event, and to DWF for so generously hosting us. I am also deeply grateful to Nigel Jacobs KC and Ingrid Hu for taking time out of their incredibly busy schedules to judge the moot. Their presence and challenging questions made the final a truly special learning experience. I would like to thank also all my colleagues helping us to run Swansea leg of the competition and training the students especially to Professors Baughen, Leloudas and Tettenborn."