Internal Mooting Competitions 

Internal mooting competitions are organised by the School of Law and University of Galway's Student Law Society.

The Internal School of Law Moot Court competition took place in March 2022. The competition took place for the first time in our newly opened Moot Courtroom. Adjudicated by Ms Justice Mary Faherty, judge of the Court of Appeal, the top eight teams from the Moot Court module delivered robust arguments over the course of the morning with the teams of Sophie Neville (2nd LLB) and Siobhán Ní Neachtain (2nd Law and Business), and Penny Lee (2nd Law (BCL), Criminology and Criminal Justice) and Grace Lennon (2nd Law and Business), making it into the final. Ultimately, the team of Penny Lee and Grace Lennon, was victorious and were presented with the Ross O’Driscoll Cup. Best speakers were Olivia Lydon (Final LLB) and Tom O’Connor (2nd Law (BCL), Law and Human Rights). As always, we are indebted to Ms Justice Mary Faherty for her continued support of mooting at the School of Law.

Pictured below are the competing teams with Ms. Justice Mary Faherty, adjudicator, and Ursula Connolly, module co-ordinator and competition organiser.
 
Internal Moot
 

The Tom O'Malley Moot

The Tom O’Malley moot is an annual moot competition organised by the student Law Society in honour of School of Law senior lecturer and Senior Counsel, Tom O’Malley. It took place in-person and on-campus in November 2021 in our dedicated Moot Courtroom: however, in line with Covid restrictions, it was a masked event. The competition was adjudicated by Mr Justice Tony O’Connor of the High Court, Tom O’Malley, and Ciaran Walsh, representing the competition sponsors, Matheson LLP. Congratulations to the overall winners Colman Monaghan (1st Law (BCL), Criminology and Criminal Justice) and Frankie Quinn (1st Law and Taxation) and to runners-up, Krystian Bachan (2nd Law and Business) and Matthew Connolly (2nd LLB).

Tom O'Malley Moot

Check out the clip below, put together by the Law Society, of 2020's online event.

 

Constitutional Law Moot Court 

The first annual Constitutional Law Moot Court (replacing the Novice Moot Court competition), organised by the student Law Society, was held in April 2021. This is a competition run by the Law Society and the School of Law. Further details will be available on their student Law Society page and the School of Law Facebook page.

Novice Moot 2019
 
Pictured above are some of the participants in the 2018 Novice Moot Competition with the adjudicator Ms Colleen Brownlee BL.

External Mooting Competitions

A number of external mooting competitions are held over the course of the academic year (principally in the second semester). Students are strongly encouraged to participate in at least one competition over the course of their law degree. The student Law Society on campus is an enthusiastic promoter of these moots so keep an eye on their announcements and the School of Law Facebook page for details. Remember too that members of Law School staff are always happy to provide advice to students on their submissions.

Aoife King Memorial Moot Champions 2024

Our third year students Jenna Smyth, Francis Quinn, and Colman Monaghan won the Aoife King Memorial Moot at Dublin City University in March 2024. Particular congratulations to Jenna Smyth on winning Best Speaker overall. In addition to this, Colman and final year student Dorian Jaros competed in the Tom O’Malley Intervarsity Moot held at the Moot Courtroom in University of Galway, coming second overall to the victorious team from Maynooth University.

Matheson Moot Court Champions 2024

University of Galway School of Law has recorded another mooting success with the team of Francis Quinn and Colman Monaghan winning the Matheson Moot Competition hosted by University College Cork's Law Society. Colman also won the Best Individual Orator award (his second such award in as many weeks!). Comhghairdeas libh!

Silken Thomas Moot Court Competition

Congratulations to our students Colman Monaghan and Dorian Jaros who placed third in the recent Silken Thomas Moot Court Competition. Colman also won the Best Speaker at the competition.

National Negotiation Competition 

The National Negotiation Competition is a law student competition organised by the Law Society in which a team of two law students representing a hypothetical party/client, negotiates either a transaction or the resolution of a dispute with an opposing team of two students. The School of Law has had considerable success in this competition, with the team of Dorian Jaros and Rupert McCauley coming third overall and first among the Irish Universities in the 2024 edition of the competition. Particular congratulations to Dorian for winning the title of Best Individual Speaker.

The team of Adam Connolly, Law and Business student, and Katie Ward, Law (BCL) student won the National Negotiation Competition in 2021, and were ranked 4th in the world in the International Negotiation Competition.

Gloria

Gloria Malandra |   VIS Moot Participate

As part of the LLM, I had the opportunity to represent University of Galway in the 30th Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot. The entire experience was rewarding on so many levels, from being part of a fantastic team and learning the value of teamwork, to meeting students and professionals from all around the world and learning about international commercial sales law and arbitration. The Vis Moot is unlike any subject I've ever studied; it's a learning and networking opportunity unlike no other. It helped me advance academically and professionally, and most importantly, it taught me a lot about myself, my strengths and weaknesses, how to manage time and how to work both alone and in a team. As a result of participating in the Vis Moot, I have improved my legal writing, advocacy, and research skills. I can now demonstrate to potential employers not only that I am knowledgeable about the law but also that I can do in-depth legal analysis, create compelling legal submissions and persuasive arguments. Lastly, the Moot provided me with a unique networking opportunity that will be very helpful for my future jobs.
María

María Rey de la Fe |   VIS Moot Participate

My name is María Rey de la Fe, I am from the Canary Islands (Spain). Representing University of Galway in Vienna was a unique experience that can be described with 3 words: effort, teamwork, and personal growth. During this long journey our team spent endless hours researching, drafting documents, meeting, preparing pleadings, rehearsing, and ultimately being creative in order to successfully complete the assigned tasks. All our achievements would not have been possible without the help of our coaches: Connie Healy and Ursula Connolly, to whom I am extremely grateful for their dedication and commitment. If you are willing to make sacrifices, challenge yourself and give your best, what you will gain from this experience will be to improve as a professional, to get used to work in an international and fast-paced environment, to receive individual feedback as if you were attending private lessons on International Commercial Arbitration and Public Speaking and to expand your network. The Vis Moot experience will be also an asset when looking for career opportunities. To anyone who is hesitating whether to take the Vis Moot module or not, I strongly encourage you to do so.
Michael

Michael Wilkins |   BCL/ Legal Counsel at Davidson Kempner

In my second year at University of Galway I took part in two moot court competitions. I decided to get involved because I always enjoyed debating and it seemed like a great way to add to my legal education. Taking part in mooting pushes you to explore areas of the law that are often in dispute so you gain a great insight into very topical issues. Furthermore, mooting allows you to put the legal skills you learn in the classroom into practice and the preparation phase greatly improves your research skills. From an employer's point of view, engaging in mooting shows that you take a genuine interest in your studies and thus, enhances your employability.