The University of Queensland has capped a year of stunning success in international legal competitions by winning through to the Grand Final of the world's largest information technology law competition.
The 19th Annual John Marshall Law School Moot Court Competition in Information Technology and Privacy Law held in Chicago from October 12-14 requires competitors to argue the case of a fictional client in a mock court comprised of actual Supreme Court judges from across the United States.
The T C Beirne School of Law team of Peter Black, David Starkoff and Peter Travis received the Best International Team Award and ranked first after the general rounds. The team's written brief obtained the second highest score.
In the ranking of best speakers Peter Travis finished third and Peter Black ranked fifth. Together Mr Black and Mr Travis comprised the premier team of speakers in the competition.
The team's success follows the win in April by the Law School of the Willem C Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Vienna. Both the Chicago and Vienna moot teams were coached by Garrick Professor of Law, Professor Gabriel Moens.
"This year's competition in Chicago required students to deal with privacy concerns surrounding the use of the Internet and cookie technology" Professor Moens said.
"Our team's success is incredible given that the competition is based entirely on American law. On this uneven playing field it was awesome to see Australian students argue the finer points of American constitutional, statutory and common law jurisprudence before a panel of distinguished American jurists and judges."
In the preliminary rounds the UQ team defeated last year's grand finalists from the University of Florida and the runners-up in the American National Moot Competition from Seton Hall University.
In the final rounds the UQ team defeated Seton Hall College of Law, the Campbell Law School and the Chicago-Kent College of Law to proceed through to the Grand Final against last year's winners, the South Texas College of Law.
The team is sponsored by the leading national law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth.
The Grand Final can be viewed in streaming video at www.itmootcourt.com.
Media: Further information, Professor Gabriel Moens, telephone 07 3365 2220.
