1st May 2008: Solicitors Thompson Smith & Puxon helped nurture the talent of top trainee barristers when they sponsored the finals of a ‘Mooting’ contest held in Court 4 (The Lord Chief Justice’s Court) at The Royal Courts of Justice in London. All the students taking part in the competition were from the BPPLawSchool in London, widely known for supplying promising candidates to the legal profession.

BPPLawSchool’s own Mooting Committee organised the finals, which were judged by The Right Honourable Lord Justice Longmore and attended by over 70 Bar Vocational Course tutors, student barristers, practising barristers, friends and family.

Julian Wilson, Head of Thompson Smith & Puxon’s clinical negligence department, attended with Sharon Auton and Naomi Eady from the firm’s litigation department.

Julian had an added reason to be there. His daughter Thea Wilson is a BPPLawSchool student and a member of the organising committee. He said: “We were delighted to give the event our support. These trainee barristers are the future of our profession and the mooting competition was an ideal platform for them to practise their debating skills in the revered setting of The Royal Courts of Justice.”

Mooting is the ability of competitors to argue a legal point as persuasively as possible, based on the same set of facts as your opponents who are trying to persuade the judge of the exact opposite. In a mooting competition two teams of a lead and junior counsel argue two separate points of appeal in speeches.