Moot Point
The United Arab Emirates is a dynamic and fast-developing society.
In order to continue this growth, the UAE government aims to
develop a workforce that can offer world class skills to the
private sector. This includes legal skills, and DLA Piper is
committed to playing a role in encouraging the development of home
grown talent.
Mooting contests have long been seen as a great way for aspiring
lawyers to develop their reasoning skills and powers of persuasion.
For two years running we have sponsored a team from the Faculty of
Law of the UAE University in al Ain. The selected team travel to
Washington, DC and compete in the finals of the Philip C. Jessup
International Moot Court Competition. Now in its 50th year, the
Jessup is the world’s largest moot competition, attracting teams
from all over the world.
For the UAE team, it was a chance for participants to test their
skills against law students from every continent and gain valuable
experience of thinking on their feet against 117 other teams (only
three of whom were from the Arab World).
Our Mooting Committee offered guidance and training sessions to
the students. We also teamed
up with Etihad Airways which provided seven free airfares for the
mooting team to travel with their chaperones. In Washington, the
team visited the DLA Piper offices and was also invited for lunch
at the UAE embassy in Washington DC. The visit was a great success
generating positive publicity amongst the UAE press and the UAE
University in Al Ain.