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The Times 2TG Moot Reviews

Reviews of the previous years Moots.

On 21 March 2024, the News UK building played host to one of the most eagerly awaited events on the legal calendar: the Grand Final of The Times-2TG Moot.

The Moot, which was established in 2015, is a key part of Chambers’ commitment to social mobility. As a set of chambers, 2 Temple Gardens has long placed emphasis on oral argument, believing that there is no better way to get to the nub of an issue. We also believe that the intelligence, talent and drive to succeed at the Bar can be found in people from all walks of life. However, opportunities to develop and display the skill of oral advocacy as a student are not uniformly accessible. The Times-2TG Moot was created to go some way to remedying this deficit, by providing high-quality advocacy opportunities to all those in UK tertiary education – regardless of their institution or prior experience.

In order to reach the Grand Final competitors demonstrated their written and oral advocacy skills over five challenging rounds covering a diverse range of topics, including damages under the Montreal Convention, causation and consent in medical settings, and liability for defective products sold through online marketplaces. For the Grand Final, they were asked to tackle complex issues of direct and indirect discrimination on the basis of disability and religious belief.

The Grand Final took place before a prestigious panel of judges comprising Lord Neuberger, Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lord Leggatt and Lady Justice Asplin. After an impressive display of advocacy on all sides Henry Screaton and Nicholas Stone took the crown, narrowly beating their opponents Samuel Larner and Marc Alner. The competitors’ success was celebrated with a glittering Champagne reception, attended by several members of the judiciary and many of Chambers’ most valued clients, as well as members of Chambers’ themselves.

We congratulate all our finalists for their success and wish them the very best in their future careers. We would also like to thank our Judges for making time in their busy schedules to preside over the Grand Final and for the wit and wisdom which they brought to proceedings. Finally, our sincere gratitude goes to Jonathan Ames and The Times newspaper for their continuing support.

Click here to download the brochure from the Times 2TG Moot Final 2023-24.

This year’s winners, Nicholas Stone and Henry Screaton.

This year’s runners-up, Samuel Larner and Marc Alner.

The Grand Final of The Times 2TG Moot took place in the News UK Building on 2 February 2023, with Lord Wilson, Lord Hamblen and Lady Justice Asplin judging Kieran Bailey and Aurora Guerrini to be the winners, narrowly beating Eliza Bond and Jeffrey Chu.

The moot problem involved the thorny issues of wrongful birth and ‘beyond the grave’ claims. Contestants grappled with the question of whether the law inappropriately discriminated between disabled and non-disabled children in cases of wrongful birth, and whether a claim for maintenance beyond the claimant’s own life expectancy was viable.

After a brief hiatus due to the pandemic, we were delighted to have the moot up and running again. We at 2TG are very proud of this competition, which is open to all students in tertiary education, and forms part of Chambers’ commitment to social mobility and the removal of barriers to accessing the Bar.

For the first time, the 2022-23 format incorporated moot workshops with school students around London. School students were then invited to attend early rounds of the moot itself to see our mooters in action. We were delighted to work with Lampton School, Oasis Southbank and Newham Collegiate Sixth Form and hope to incorporate other schools in future years.

In order to reach the Grand Final, our mooters demonstrated their advocacy skills over five rounds, which took place virtually, in Chambers, in the Royal Courts of Justice, and finally in the News UK building. Problems examined issues such as nuisance, psychiatric harm, defective premises, reflective loss and clinical negligence. Mooters were tested by a challenging set of judges which included: senior members of Chambers; Mrs Justice Bacon and Mrs Justice Williams; and Lord Wilson, Lord Hamblen and Lady Justice Asplin in the Grand Final. We are extremely grateful to all of our judges for the time they took to provide mooters with valuable guidance and feedback.

As ever, we pass our sincere thanks to Jonathan Ames and The Times. We are particularly grateful this year for the use of the spectacular News UK building for the Grand Final.

Click here to download the brochure from the Times 2TG Moot Final 2022-23.

The Grand Final of the 2TG Times Moot took place remotely (via Zoom) on Friday 11 September 2020, with Maya Chilaeva and Tey Guan Khoo narrowly beating Matt Bignell and Kim Pullinger.

The moot problem was set in the world of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, and concerned a discrimination and equal pay dispute between a disgruntled presenter, one Lyra Belaque, and the Magisterium Broadcasting Corporation, which had seen fit (a) to fire her for a tweet she sent denying climate change was real; and (b) to pay another presenter, a certain Roger Parslow, three times more than Lyra to present her show.

The moot was judged by a trio of senior silks from 2TG: Michael de Navarro QC, Howard Palmer QC and Sarah Vaughan Jones QC who praised all the finalists for their “impressively clear and compelling” submissions and noted how difficult it had been to decide the winner.

The Judges were particularly impressed by the ease with which the finalists adapted to online advocacy noting that the Covid-19 pandemic had of necessity made all forms of remote hearing a part of everyday life at the modern Bar.

The head of the 2TG moot committee said:

“The standard of the 2019/2020 Moot was extremely high, having attracted a record number of entrants this year. Maya and Tey are worthy winners, and all 4 finalists are clearly destined for a bright future at the Bar. We are delighted that our competition, now in its fifth year, continues to attract diverse, talented mooters from across the country and in so doing promotes greater access to the Bar – one of 2TG’s core objectives.”

Please click on the link below to view:

The 2019 Grand Final of The Times 2TG National Moot competition took place at Two Temple Place on Wednesday 9th January 2019. This competition is now in its 4th year and continues in association with the Times Newspaper. Representing The Times at the final was the longstanding legal editor, Frances Gibb and her colleagues, Edward Fennell, Jonathan Ames and Linda Tsang.

We at 2TG are very proud of this competition which is open to all students in the United Kingdom in tertiary education and forms part of Chamber’s commitment to social mobility and the removal of barriers to accessing the Bar.

In order to reach the final, our Mooters have demonstrated their advocacy skills over several rounds in the last year. For the final, they were asked to tackle a highly topical problem involving breach of confidence and public immunity interest and to present their arguments before a very distinguished judging panel comprising a full Court of Appeal: Lord Justice Hickinbottom, Lady Justice Nicola Davies and Lord Justice Green.

It was a very closely fought contest. The judges were impressed by the excellent standard of advocacy and composure shown by all the Mooters. We congratulate our winners, Robert Alexander Bellin and Chris Zabilowicz. We also extend our warmest congratulations to our runners-up, Ilana Hirschberg and Georgia Palmer. All finalists are also invited to undertake mini pupillages at 2 Temple Gardens.

Finally, we would like to thank our Judges for generously taking time out from their full Court of Appeal schedules to preside over our final. The involvement of Judges of such seniority and experience adds immeasurably to the value of the event and we are extremely grateful for their guidance and wit and wisdom which they injected into the proceedings.

Click here to download the slideshow from the Times 2TG Moot 2019.

The 18th of January saw the final of the inaugural Times 2TG Mooting Competition at The Honourable Society of Middle Temple.

This competition is now in its third year and continues in association with the Times Newspaper.

Congratulations to our winners Poppy Rimington-Pounder and Katherine Legh. Commiserations, but very well done to our runners-up Edward Langley and Ioana Burtea. Both teams received cash prizes and are also invited to undertake mini pupillages at 2 Temple Gardens.

We would like to thank The Times for their support (legal editor Frances Gibb, her colleagues Edward Fennell, Jonathan Ames and Linda Tsang) the competition Judges (Sir John Laws, Lady Justice Gloster and Lord Justice Jackson), the organisers and attendees.

Please click on the link below to view:

The Times 2TG Moot Grand Final 2017 took place on Thursday 19 January at The Honourable Society of Middle Temple in the presence of the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales.

This competition is now in its second year and continues in association with the Times Newspaper. Representing The Times at the final was the longstanding legal editor, Frances Gibb and her colleagues, Edward Fennell, Jonathan Ames and Linda Tsang.

2TG congratulates each of the finalists on their impressive performances: winners Abigail Scott and Peter Savory; and runners-up George Eyre and Sabrina Goodchild. All finalists received cash prizes and are also invited to undertake mini pupillages at 2 Temple Gardens.

We would like to thank the competition Judges for taking time out from their busy schedules to preside over the final, The Times for their support, the organisers and attendees.

Please click on the link below to view:

The 11th of January saw the final of the inaugural Times 2TG Mooting Competition. After six months and five preliminary stages, the United Kingdom’s largest mooting competition was concluded in Middle Temple Hall before an audience including the Lord Chief Justice, the Master of the Rolls and a number of sitting judges of the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.

The four mooters to compete in the final, John Williams and Cara Goldthorpe for the appellant and Michael Harper and Maurice Holmes for the respondent, were faced with a formidable and lively panel of judges consisting of Lord Clarke, Lord Justice Christopher Clarke and Sir Richard Aikens. The points argued in the specially written problem turned on the concepts of contractual estoppel and vicarious liability.

After an extremely close final, the Respondents were presented with the competition trophy by Lord Thomas, the Lord Chief Justice, with both teams also receiving cash prizes. 2TG congratulates each of the finalists on their impressive performances.

Please click on the link below to view The Times article:

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