DIFC Academy
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Dispute Resolution Authority’s Academy of Law is fully supportive of helping develop future lawyers of tomorrow. “When it comes to legal education, it’s never too early to start. Attracting young people to choose a career in law at an early age is advantageous for so many reasons,” says David Gallo, Director, Academy of Law at DIFC. On January 26th, 2017, leading law firm Herbert Smith Freehills brought a delegation of Year 5-6 students from Dubai’s Repton School to the DIFC Courts to take part in a moot. The students were able to don gowns and participate in a mock trial in front of a panel of judges.

Previously, as part of the training dispute lawyers from Herbert Smith Freehills gave coaching sessions on Court Room Etiquette, Drafting Legal Arguments and Advocacy Skills as part of their community outreach. Commenting on the initiative, Zubair Mir, Managing Partner of Herbert Smith Freehills Dubai said: “The launch of the Annual Moot Competition is a fantastic initiative – in addition to demonstrating our strong commitment to and investment into the local community, it allows us to reach out, challenge and connect with future leaders.“

This was the first ever moot for Repton students and to have it held at the DIFC Courts made it a more immersive experience for the students, "The experience of the need for detailed research, for testing and reviewing arguments, the marshaling of evidence and then the ability to have to think quickly on ones feet, are all hugely valuable skills. I would love to see how we as a school can continue with this and indeed grow it. The fact that you were able to gain access to the DIFC Court provided a remarkable setting and added to the seriousness of the whole occasion." says Jonathan Hughes-D'Aeth, Headmaster of Repton School said.

The students presented the case “Regina v Torch” which was focused on the admissibility of an illegal intercept and a confession made as a result of the intercept. The participants were chosen by their teachers at Repton after submitting an email explaining why they should be selected. The students who participated were: Zara Zameer, Mohadeseh Zaki Zadeh and Niamh Grady for the Respondent Saud Pirzadah, Aadam Dhadhiwala and Giuseppe Barbaccia for the Appellant.

The two winners of the moot were Zara Zameer and Saud Pirzadah who each won a one week internship with Herbert Smith Freehills Dubai office. This is the first year that Herbert Smith Freehills has run the moot and there are plans to open this up to a few more selected schools in the near future.

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