Mooting: All you need to know

Life at the Bar involves a lot of standing up and arguing a case in front of a room full of legal professionals. Sound slightly terrifying? We agree. But fear not, because mooting literally exists to help you get better at this very integral part of life as a barrister.

To break it down, in a mooting competition, two teams consisting of two individuals compete with each other by presenting their arguments on a specific moot problem. One team will act as the appellant (the side appealing for a legal decision to be changed) and the other as the respondent (the side providing arguments to defend the decision). Essentially, it’s mock court advocacy, which is one of the best ways law students can bridge the gap between lectures and life at the Bar.

For many law students, the Bar can feel like a distant, almost abstract goal (and we won’t lie, it’s an extremely competitive industry), but mooting gives students the chance to develop core skills like structuring a legal argument, public speaking, and quick thinking under pressure. In short, it’s one of the best ways to step into a barrister’s shoes before you’ve graduated. And that’s exactly what events like The Times 2 Temple Gardens Moot Competition aim to offer.

In March, we went along to The Times 2TG Moot Final to witness some first-class advocacy and had the opportunity to speak to some of the finalists about their motivations for entering, how they prepared for the final, and get their advice for students who want to do the same. The Times 2TG Moot is a partnership initiative between 2 Temple Gardens and The Times newspaper. Now in its 11th year, the final took place in the impressive News UK Building and was judged by a formidable panel.

“...it was a great, accessible way to do more mooting and advocacy.”

The event is famously open to all students in tertiary education, a feature of the competition which stood out to one of the winners, Maddie Underhill, who studied her undergrad degree at the University of York and did her Bar training course at BPP: “The issue I’ve had in the past is that if one university is sending one team of two, and you don’t have that much experience, you won’t get on the team,” she explained. However, as The Times 2TG Moot doesn’t require a university’s endorsement, all you have to do is sign up, write an argument answering the Moot problem provided, and you’re in! Maddie reflected on how “it was a great, accessible way to do more mooting and advocacy.”

A member of the winning team Gbenga Oniyelu, who studied his undergrad at Nottingham law school, and did the Bar course at BPP, spoke to us about his reasons for entering the competition: “My aspiration is to become a barrister,” he told us, “and I thought the best way to practice the key skills required would be to enter advocacy competitions.” He explained that he saw the competition and decided to enter to see how far he could go – and went on to win! Gbenga told us that over 100 teams took part in the competition.

According to data from Chambers Student, the majority of junior barristers stated that the intellectual challenge of becoming a barrister was their primary reason for joining the Bar. Alternatively, 20.8% of non-Oxbridge students stated that their reasoning for joining the Bar was to make the world a better place, this was an increase from 11.1% of Oxbridge participants.

“I haven’t even started at the Bar yet, and this evening we’ve argued a case in front of Lord Neuberger, Dame Victoria Sharp, and Lady Justice Cockerill. It’s an extraordinary position to find yourself in.”

Runner-up Benjamin Deery, (a career-changer moving away from life as an actor) explained that in the journey to become a barrister, people are often looking for as many opportunities as they can to take part in on-your-feet advocacy. He shared that “the Times 2TG Moot is the gold standard for that, especially for someone at my level who has only studied the GDL.”  Benjamin excitedly added: “I haven’t even started at the Bar yet, and this evening we’ve argued a case in front of Lord Neuberger, Dame Victoria Sharp, and Lady Justice Cockerill. It’s an extraordinary position to find yourself in.” Statistics show that 22.03% of people studied their BTC at BPP – shout out to Maddie and Gbenga – however, the data shows that the most popular place to study the BTC was City Law School, with 32.75% studying there.

So, not only did these participants have to stand in front of a room full of industry professionals, but the judges that asked them questions are some of the biggest names in the industry – if that isn’t nerve-wracking, I’m not sure what is! “It was scary,” agreed Maddie, “but it feels like an honour; we are very early on in our career.”  She noted that, “Lord Neuberger was very nice, sometimes you get scared with big judges like that, but it felt as though he was really listening, understanding what we were saying and asking questions that were necessary.” Gbenga lamented how he was thrown right into the deep end: “notwithstanding the fact it was Lord Neuberger, it’s the fact that he asked me a question that I never prepared for!” He put his hands up and acknowledged that “you’ve got to expect the unexpected.”

Tim Lamb KC, a judge in one of the earlier rounds of the competition, expressed that “tonight we have been blessed with some prime examples of high standard advocacy.” Benjamin also noted how the journey to the Bar “can be a very testing process and there are times where you feel very insecure and unsure of yourself, so to hear somebody of that level of eminence say something like that is incredibly encouraging.”

When it comes to preparation, the big takeaway is practice, practice, and more practice! Maddie explained that they received the problem three weeks before the final and that her and Gbenga had immediately started prepping their skeleton, which had to be handed in a week before the event. If you’re sat thinking, what on earth is a skeleton? Fear not! To put it simply, a skeleton argument is the bare bones of what the participants’ argument will be: it breaks down the main arguments and legal submissions into a few key points.

The finalists all emphasised the teamwork aspect of the Moot. Benjamin told us that helping each other prepare is the most important part: “Me and my partner have been running through our oral submissions thinking of every question that may be asked.” Gbenga advised students to “find a partner that you know is reliable and good because the competition is fierce and you’re always going to go against a team who know what they’re doing.”

"I have no legal background in my family. I remember feeling so daunted by the process ahead like Bar courses, scholarships and pupillage… It really helps to break down the process, so it feels a little bit more achievable.”

Maddie noted how doing your research is the key to success. She highlighted that: “I remember going into my final year of university, and I have no legal background in my family. I remember feeling so daunted by the process ahead like Bar courses, scholarships and pupillage… It really helps to break down the process, so it feels a little bit more achievable.” Statistics show that 93.5% of Oxbridge grads took less than a year to obtain pupillage compared to 60.42% of their non-Oxbridge counterparts, showing how competitive the profession really is. Maddie emphasised how “the Bar is a great profession but it’s also a difficult one, so you want to be 100% sure that you want to do it before committing. Not only is it a lot of time, but also a lot of money.”

Tim also spoke to how hard of a profession it is to enter: “It’s difficult, nobody can pretend that getting to the Bar is easy. The key in my experience having dealt with a number of students and pupils is that if you are determined, you will get there.” Tim also went on to highlight, “it’s been 50 years since I became a pupil and the profession was closed, it was about who you knew. Now it’s come a long way and it’s open to anybody with talent and determination.”

The event was a vivid reminder that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives strengthens, not dilutes, meritocracy within the legal profession, widening access and expanding the talent pool. The participants’ performances reinforce the need to reduce class‑based barriers so that talented individuals from every background can access the Bar. 

2TG’s commitment to inclusion aims to address systemic barriers to the profession, not only through university outreach but also via a partnership with a Sixth Form College in Newham, introducing school‑age students to the barrister profession and helping to equip them with advocacy skills, aiming to reach talented children who might not otherwise have considered a legal career.

This Moot Competition is a wonderful example of what a high-impact DEI initiative can look like, not just because of the exposure it gives to students, but also because 2TG have gone on to recruit talented individuals who took part in the competition.