The Monroe E. Price Media Law Moot Court competition was a challenging, exhausting, intense, yet exhilarating, fantastic and phenomenal experience which has left a definite positive mark on our lives. The Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) team was most unique, having six members of different nationalities who were able to work together and make winning oral arguments at different stages of the competition, to finish among the top four semi-finalists out of 35 institutions. We also had ample opportunity during the competition to engage ‘one on one’ with many distinguished media law judges, practitioners, academics as well as fellow Media Law students from universities across the globe. Thanks to our Coach Robin Callender Smith, we were put through our final pre-competition session by Mr Justice Cranston in Court 18 at the Royal Court of Justice – an invaluable contribution to our preparation.  This advocacy drill, in addition to the learning and networking opportunities available, all made it worthwhile.

In reminiscence, the team members describe their exhilarating experience below:

“As team captain I was challenged on all fronts, but as the saying goes without pressure a diamond remains a lump of coal!”

–  Fiona Forbes

“Being part of such a great team, learning from each other, networking with professionals from different jurisdictions, honing my advocacy skills, receiving encouraging commendations from Judges; my entire experience was rewarding”.

–  Omolola Agbaje-Williams

“I had many brilliant moments being a member of the QMUL team. The whole experience was exceptional and I would absolutely recommend the Price Media Law Moot Competition to anyone who enjoys this area of law.”

-Alexander Willingham

“Six people, six view points, four countries but one team.”

– Rishabh Jogani

“The highlights of the competition for me were the diversity of participants and of our team, as well as the realization that most teams were regional/ national champions; thus, having to brave the odds and progressing to the final four was no mean feat.”

-Olugbemi Oduntan

“Our team was most remarkable as we had six speakers who could comfortable make any of the arguments. Also, the competition provided a great platform for networking which resulted in securing me a short placement at the ‘The Guardian’.”

-Mahesh Chowdhary

Our remarkable coaches, who invested their time and resources into our several practice sessions and providing relevant guidance to us in preparation for and during the competition, also share their experience below:

“During the final practice in the High Court it was quite clear that all six of the team were so good that we should not limit ourselves to four oralists if we progressed beyond the first stage of the competition. That meant revising our entire strategy, taking the risk that someone would be disappointed if we failed to reach the final 16. I believe this spurred the team to make it as far as the final 4.”

-Robin Callender Smith

Finally, we are extremely impressed by the relevancy of issues captured by the Moot Court problem, the transparency of the entire competition, as well as the fairness and knowledge displayed by members of the Bench. We highly recommend the Price Media Law Moot Competition as a ‘must do’ for any student media law enthusiast.

– Team QMUL 2014