First Round Mooting Post Mortem

Here as promised is a description of the moot yesterday. Unfortunately the other side had to withdraw, so we only gave our side of the argument. We still had to perform because it is point based in the first round.

My partner took the first point of appeal which was on the closeness of relationship needed to found liability for witnesses of incidents to claim for psychiatric damages.

He was picked up on one or two points but nothing major so all good, although he did keep on saying "I believe" which is wrong, and made me wince every time it happened.

My point concerned the whether employers are liable for psych. harm alone, and the requirements for proving the maxim "Volenti non fit injuria". My cases were (in case anyone is interested) Frost v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire and Smith v Baker.

I was told that my eye contact was excellent and that I obviously knew the cases and law very well so that I did not need to look at my notes. The judges said that my pace and cadence were perfect, and that my answering of the questions was first rate, as was my court room etiquette.

Two small points were picked up:
1-In my eagerness to begin I did not leave as much time as I should to allow the judges to finish thinking about my leader's points and give their full attention to me;
2-I got a page number wrong in my notes, although that was a typo. However when challenged about this I was not as courteous as I could have been, but later did apologise to the court.

All in all a successful moot, in which I felt very calm and in control of my points and speaking. I am quietly optimistic that we have made it through, especially as the judges started discussing bundles and skeletons with us. The results are out Friday.