The London Universities Mooting Shield, mostly known as LUMS, is an annual mooting league competition featuring teams of undergraduate students from University Law Faculties across London. The competition is run 'by students, for students' , and a strong emphasis is placed on personal development and networking, making LUMS noticeably different from other mooting competitions[1]. As a domestic mooting competition, LUMS is concerned only with the Law of England and Wales, with moot problems being derived from the core topics studied by students on every LLB programme in that jurisdiction[2].
The competition is currently sponsored by law firm Allen & Overy, barristers’ chambers 3 Verulam Buildings and 5 Stone Buildings, and Kaplan Law School (which, as a BPTC, LPC and GDL provider, cannot enter a team itself)[3]. The LUMS Grand Final, between the two teams that come top of the competition league, is held in March each year at Allen & Overy's City offices, with a representative from each of the sponsors sitting on the judging panel[4].
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LUMS was founded by the student Masters of Moots from the four original participating universities; John Harrison (UCL), Daniel Jackson (SOAS), Richard Padley (LSE) and Krishan Thakker (King's College London)[5], each of whom continue to be actively involved with the competition. Each year, five competitors from the previous year are invited to form the LUMS Executive Committee which runs the day to day operations of the competition. This ensures the student focus and the link to participating institutions.
Ten London Universities currently take part in the competition namely; University College London, King’s College London, London School of Economics, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of Westminster, London South Bank University, Queen Mary, Birkbeck College, City University London and University of Hertfordshire, which is located just outside of London.[6]
In 2010-11 the competition underwent significant expansion with the addition of two more universities to the league, rounds at the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (before Justices of the Supreme Court), the Royal Courts of Justice and an advocacy training weekend at Caer Rhun Hall in North Wales, part of Kaplan.
LUMS is based on a league format, which ensures that each team competes against every other at least once. The fact that no teams are knocked out until the Grand Final differentiates it from other mooting competitions, and is intended to maximise the educational benefit of the competition - both in terms of advocacy and career development[7]. Rounds are hosted by the participating universities, certain of the competition sponsors and legal venues such as the Royal Courts of Justice and the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. The multiple moots which make up each round are always held on the same evening in the same place, enabling the competitors to get to know each other throughout the year and furthermore to find out more about the legal profession by meeting the Barristers who judged them in an informal context. At the end of the league rounds, the top two teams based on points go on to the Grand Final, meaning that the team coming top of the league does not always win the overall competition.
Each team consists of up to four undergraduate participants, of whom two act as counsel at each round. Team members therefore alternate between each round in order to evenly distribute their workload and promote teamwork. Team members are undergraduate students in order to prevent the competition being dominated by more experienced BPTC, LPC or GDL students, who might already have a training contract or pupillage, as is the case with some other mooting competitions.
At the Grand Final, the winning team receives the Shield, which lends its name to the competition, with additional prizes offered to the individual winners varying each year. These have previously included mini-pupillages at some of the prestigious sponsoring chambers, making participation in the competition highly attractive to law students who are intending to become barristers[8]. Prizes are also presented to the participant who has shown the best standard of advocacy throughout the competition’s league rounds, and to the team who has embraced the spirit of the competition. A further prize is awarded to a participant who has shown outstanding effort and teamwork.
| Year | Winning University | Winning Team Members | Runner-Up University | Best Advocate Award | Spirit of the Shield Award | Master/Mistress of the Shield Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-11[9] | London School of Economics | Ahmed Alani, Ingram Cheung, Lee Shi Min, Ting Yik Boh | Queen Mary | Emma Walker | University of Hertfordshire | Laura Thompson |
| 2009-10[10] | University College London | Simon Tysoe, Elizabeth Day, Aathmika Kularatnam, Jason Shardlow-Wrest | Birkbeck College | Aathmika Kularatnam | University of Westminster | Lucy McKinley |
| 2008-9[11] | University College London | James Chandler, Daniel Law, Chiraag Patel, Lisa Quelch | London School of Economics | Azan Marwah | University of Greenwich | Conor McCabe |
| 2007-8[12] | University College London | Matthew Abraham, Ronnie Dennis, Marco de Sousa | King's College London | David Prowse |