London Universities Mooting Shield facts for kids

Crest of the London Universities Mooting Shield

The London Universities Mooting Shield, often called LUMS, is a yearly competition for university students. It brings together teams of undergraduate students from law schools across London. In this competition, students practice "mooting." This means they pretend to be lawyers arguing a case in a courtroom.

LUMS is special because it is run by students, for students. It focuses on helping students grow and meet people in the legal world. This makes it different from other similar competitions. Since it's a UK competition, it only deals with the Law of England and Wales. The cases they argue are based on topics all law students in England learn.

Big legal companies support the competition. These include the law firm Allen & Overy and barristers' offices like 3 Verulam Buildings, 5 Stone Buildings, and Field Court Chambers. The final competition, called the Grand Final, happens every March. It takes place at Allen & Overy's office in London. Important people from the sponsoring companies judge the final round.

History of LUMS

LUMS started in 2007. It was created by students who were in charge of mooting at their universities. These students were John Harrison (from UCL), Daniel Jackson (from SOAS), Richard Padley (from LSE), and Krishan Thakker (from King's College London).

The LUMS Executive Committee manages the competition every day. This committee arranges the rounds and finds judges. It is always made up of students who have competed in LUMS before. This helps keep the competition focused on students and connected to the universities.

Eight London universities currently take part in LUMS. These are University College London, King's College London, London School of Economics, University of Westminster, Queen Mary, Birkbeck College, City University London, and University of Hertfordshire. The University of Hertfordshire is just outside London. In the past, teams from the previous year always got a spot. But since 2013, new universities can join. Up to two teams might rotate out each year to let others take part. London South Bank University, the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and University of Greenwich have competed in earlier years.

Competition Format and Awards

LUMS uses a league format. This means each team gets to compete against every other team at least once. Teams are not knocked out until the Grand Final. This is different from other mooting competitions. It helps students learn as much as possible. They learn about arguing cases and about future jobs in law.

The competition rounds are held at different places. These include the participating universities, sponsor offices, and legal buildings. Some rounds take place at the Royal Courts of Justice and Crown Courts in London. All the mooting sessions for a round happen on the same evening in the same place. This helps students get to know each other. They also meet the barristers and solicitors who judge them. This is a great way to learn about the legal profession.

After all the league rounds, the top two teams go to the Grand Final. The team that finishes first in the league does not always win the whole competition.

Each team has up to four undergraduate students. Two students act as lawyers (called "counsel") in each round. Team members take turns in different rounds. This shares the work and helps them work together. Only undergraduate students can join. This prevents more experienced law students from dominating the competition. It keeps the competition fair for newer students.

In the Grand Final, all four team members must argue a complex case. This case is usually based on current events. The winning team receives the Shield, which gives the competition its name. There are also special prizes for individual winners. These prizes change each year. In the past, winners have received "mini-pupillages." This is a short work experience at one of the sponsoring barristers' offices. This makes the competition very appealing to law students who want to become barristers.

Other awards are also given out. One prize goes to the student who showed the best arguing skills throughout the league rounds. Another award is for the team that best showed the spirit of the competition. A special award is chosen by the Master/Mistress of the Shield committee member. This award goes to a student who showed great effort and teamwork.

Past winners