3rd Gibson Dunn-OSCOLA Commercial Law Moot

Jake Emerson and Oliver Clement.

The third edition of the Gibson Dunn-OSCOLA Commercial Law Moot took place in Michaelmas Term 2021, with the Grand Final held on the 26th of November 2021. The Mooting Championship was, one again, co-organised by the Oxford Society for Commercial Law (OSCOLA), and leading international law firm, Gibson Dunn.

The competition was open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students. Following a written selection round, it saw the top eight teams compete over four oral stages. The moot problem surrounded issues of legal advice privilege; questioning the standard for foreign lawyers, and when legal advice privilege should apply in cases of online communication. The problem invited participants to consider tricky and highly technical points of procedural law.

The appellants were Oliver Clement (BA Jurisprudence, Magdalen), and Jake Emerson (BA Jurisprudence, Magdalen); the respondents were James Marshall (DPhil, Christ Church), and Viktoria Winzer (MPhil, Christ Church). Following a close final which saw James Marshall declared best advocate, the appellants Oliver and Jake were declared the overall winners of the competition.

The Grand Final was judged by Penny Madden QC, Co-Partner-in-Charge of the London office and Co-Chair of the International Arbitration Practice Group at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and Piers Plumptre, an Associate at Gibson Dunn, and a member of the Dispute Resolution and International Arbitration Practice Groups. The final was followed by a Q&A with the judges and other members of Gibson Dunn.