Students from Jersey College for Girls, De La Salle and Beaulieu will be battling it out in the Royal Court in the inaugural Collas Crill Jersey Moot final.
Around 60 sixth form students from Hautlieu, De La Salle, Jersey College for Girls, Victoria College and Beaulieu took part in the competition, which launched in Jersey in September.
Eight students have progressed through three rounds to reach the final where they will go head to head in a fictitious negligence case involving a road traffic incident.
The final will take place in the Royal Court with Deputy Bailiff Robert MacRae, as judge, giving his verdict in the mock trial on 9 December. Joining the Deputy Bailiff on the judging panel, acting as jurats, will be Collas Crill Partners Nuno Santos-Costa and Damian James.
The Moot involves students studying real-life legal case notes and applying them to a mock court situation. Participants were mentored and coached by Collas Crill's NextGen team and judged by partners of the Jersey office, including Collas Crill's Local Managing Partner Pamela Doherty and Group Managing Partner Jason Romer.
Students are marked on a number of factors including their court etiquette, persuasiveness, clarity, body language and time-keeping.
Collas Crill Partner Jonathan Barham said: 'This is the first year we have run the Moot in Jersey and it has been a real team effort. Everyone from our Group Managing Partner to the trainees has been involved. I know they have really enjoyed engaging with what could very well be the next generation of Jersey lawyers. All the coaches have been truly impressed with the level of professionalism and commitment the students have shown in the earlier rounds. The feedback from the students and teachers has been really positive too, so we are looking to make this an annual competition.
'We are grateful to Deputy Bailiff Robert MacRae for allowing us to stage the final in the Royal Court, and for his support in presiding over the final as judge. Staging this in the Royal Court and observing all the formalities and etiquette will really bring the courtroom environment to life and is a great experience for the students. I look forward to seeing how the final unfolds and wish all eight finalists the very best of luck.'
Fellow students, teachers, Collas Crill staff and the Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning, Deputy Rob Ward, will be in attendance to watch the final.
The Collas Crill Moot has been running in Guernsey for 17 years and in Cayman for three.
The Collas Crill Moot final takes place at The Royal Court on Monday 9 December at 4-6pm.
The winners will be presented with the Collas Crill Moot shield to take back to their school, as well as individual trophies and two weeks paid work experience.
Students taking part in the Jersey Collas Crill Moot:
Jersey College for Girls
Leila Pateman
Grace Kemble
Jess Dos Santos Hilario
Alexia Jennings
De La Salle
Hayden Glaser
Charlie Le Lay
Beaulieu
Iona Downie
Ruby Robbins
The final case
The case revolves around the fictional case study involving a novice taxi driver on his first day in St Helier, a hazardous road, his distraction at the wheel, a series of collisions and injuries involving an 11 year old child who was in the road, a quad biker, a driver of the petit train losing control of her vehicle on the hazardous road and injuring the quad driver.
The finalists will present arguments on the following issues:
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Counsel for the 11 year old child will argue that the taxi driver is liable for negligence and that the child is not contributorily negligent.
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Counsel for the quad biker will argue that the petit train driver is liable for negligence and that the quad biker is not contributorily negligent.
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Counsel for the taxi driver will argue that he is not liable or if he is, that the 11 year old child contributed to his injuries.
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Counsel for the petit train driver will argue that she is not liable or if she is, that the quad biker contributed to his injuries.
