The Grand Final of Queen Mary's undergraduate internal mooting competition, the George Hinde Moot, was held on Thursday 31 March 2011.
The final was won by Lucy Limbrey, a third year student, and the First Year Mooting Cup was awarded to Quinlan Windle. The other two excellent finalists were Philip Mutton and William Paris.
This year more than 160 undergraduates competed in the internal moot competition, which was sponsored by Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP. The students demonstrated their mooting skills as they progressed through the rounds, overseen by Moot Mistress Rachel Hawkins.
Rachel Hawkins was impressed by the high level of advocacy demonstrated by all four finalists throughout the competition. “Each of them was deserving of their place in the final, and gave the judges a difficult and unenviable task of deciding a winner,” she said.
The moot was set in the Supreme Court, and judged by Lord Justice Stanley Burnton, Mr Justice Maddison, and HHJ Paget QC. The moot was an appeal involving joint enterprise murder based on the facts of R v Gnango (2010). The topic was unusual, and particularly challenging, for a student moot, being based on a real case pending before the Supreme Court later this year.
Lord Justice Stanley Burnton, a former local boy and alumnus of Hackney Downs Grammar School said that he and the other judges were “very impressed with the quality of the mooting" and that it was very difficult to decide on a winner. “We think that they have great careers ahead of them as advocates,” he added.
More than 140 students, faculty, alumna and guests attended the moot final, which was held in The Octagon at Queen Mary, University of London. Amongst the prestigious guests were Brian Altman QC, Mark Heywood QC, and renowned Old Bailey Prosecutor Michael Worsley QC. Local law firms also supported the event. Anthony Edwards, Senior Partner, TV Edwards LLP comes to the moot each year and enjoys “the sheer enthusiasm of those who are taking part.”