Advocacy
Whatever career our students opt to pursue on graduation, an ability to speak confidently in public, to articulate complex points with clarity and put forward persuasive oral arguments are likely to be essential skills. CEPLER’s extensive extra-curricular advocacy offering gives students the opportunity to develop all these and more.
Our programme is led by experienced academics and practising advocates. Students are able to gain practical experience in a range of different types of advocacy and rhetorical skills, such as Mooting, negotiation, client interviewing and debating.
Making use of our state-of-the-art mock court room facilities, students participate in practical advocacy skills training sessions and then go on to compete in teams in mock Moots, debates, negotiations and client interviews. These competitions are often judged by experienced solicitors and barristers who volunteer their time to share their experience and insight with our students.
Each year we also put forward teams of students to represent Birmingham Law School in national and international advocacy competitions.
In recent years our students have competed, with great success in the:
- UK Sports Law Negotiation Competition held at the Etihad Stadium
- LSE-Featherstone Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Moot
- Helga Pederson Moot Court Competition on international human rights law in Strasbourg
- National Client Interviewing Competition
- Oxford International Intellectual Property Moot
CEPLER also hosts a number of advocacy training workshops each year, delivered by guest practitioners from local barristers’ chambers and law firms. These workshops cover a range of civil and criminal advocacy skills, introducing students to different types of court advocacy as well as providing an opportunity to speak with barristers and solicitors about a career in legal practice.