Competing in an international moot is probably the most challenging law school activity, and there is no better place to do it than in SMU, which is universally regarded as one of the most formidable law schools in the world in international moots despite having graduated its first batch of law students only in 2011. SMU’s international mooters have regularly placed in the Top-3 of the largest and most prestigious competitions in the world -- known as the Grand Slam moots -- including: the Jessup moot in Washington DC (2013, 2014, 2022); the Vis arbitration moot in Vienna (2015, 2016, 2021); the Vis East moot in Hong Kong (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022); the Price Media Law moot in Oxford (2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020); the International Criminal Court Moot in The Hague (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021); and the Investment Arbitration Moot in Frankfurt (2015, 2017, 2019, 2022). SMU owns the best track record in several of these moots -- no other university in the world can claim to have reached the major finals so regularly in the last few years – and as seen in the table below, SMU has also regularly been to the championship final of various other international moots, such as the Asia Cup, International Maritime Arbitration, LAWASIA, Red Cross IHL, Fletcher Insolvency, and ALSA competitions.

SMU is the youngest ever law school to have accomplished all of these feats, and was either the first Singapore school to reach the aforementioned finals or had helped Singapore return to the finals after many years of absence. It also:

• Holds the world record for the greatest number of international moot final appearances in a single season (9, set in 2015/16, breaking its own record of 8 set in 2014/15)
• Holds the world record for the greatest number of international moot wins in a single season (6, set in 2021/22, breaking its own record of 5 set in 2014/15)
• Holds the world record for the greatest number of Grand Slam finals since 2010
• Holds the world record for the greatest number of Grand Slam wins since 2010
• Holds the world record for the most points accumulated in a single moot season (NICA:2022; also obtaining 1st place ranking worldwide that year and again in 2016
• Was the first university in the history of international moots to successfully defend a title won in a major international moot when it won back-to-back ICC championships in 2015 and 2016 (a feat repeated by SMU in the 2016 and 2017 editions of the Price moot)

Overall, as of November 2023, SMU’s international mooters have placed in the Top-3 in international moots 148 times (winning 54 of the 92 championship finals they have been in) in addition to winning more than 300 Best Oralist and Best Memorial prizes in the 20-over competitions they have participated in. In terms of local competitions, SMU has also done well, having won many of the prizes on offer since 2012.

Mooters representing SMU in international competitions are trained over a sustained period and closely supervised by faculty members and a wide network of practicing lawyers. Aspiring mooters in SMU are encouraged to first hone their mooting skills in Legal Research & Writing and to participate in the wide array of local moot competitions available that are helpful in gaining competitive exposure. Regional moot competitions provide a critical avenue for competitive exposure before students consider registering for the International Moots I elective, which is the main pathway to selection for the bigger international moot competitions; many SMU mooters even return for multiple international moot experiences via International Moots II or otherwise. With strong structural and financial support from the school, partnership agreements with the leading firms in the region WongPartnership and Providence Law Asia, and a robust SMU moot alumni community to tap upon for coaching and training, SMU’s international mooters are extremely well-provided for and benefit from a very strong reputation among the legal community. Many of them go on to secure the top jobs in the legal profession such as prestigious local and international clerkships, and many also undertake postgraduate studies in the very best law schools. Our alumni also do very well in moots for young lawyers, having consistently won competitions such as Essex-SAL, MLAS, and NSWYL/CIArb.

There is no better way to acquire the fundamental skills of analysis, research, writing, and advocacy required for legal practice, and there is also no better way to be connected to the vast network of junior and senior lawyers that SMU’s pool of coaches and judges now comprise, than to do an international moot in SMU. Students who are interested in finding out more about local competitions may direct their queries to the SMU Moot Court Club. For questions regarding regional or international moot competitions, please send an email. Track records of law schools in many of the major international moot competitions are reliably sourced and maintained online here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moot_court and https://www.internationalmoots.org.

Chen Siyuan
Associate Professor of Law
Director of the Ian R. Taylor International Mooting Programme

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Roll of Honour