Stamford Moots 2014

The Stamford Law Corporate Moot, now in its 3^rd edition, is one of the highlights of the mooting calendar. Proudly sponsored by Stamford Law Corporation, a premier regional law firm and a recognised market leader with its corporate, commercial, financial and disputes practices, the Stamford Law Corporate Moot provides students a chance to hone their mooting and advocacy skills in the context of issues arising from corporate practice, judged by a distinguished panel hailing from both Stamford Law Corporation and NUS Faculty of Law. On 5^th September 2014, students and faculty alike packed the moot court to support the finalists as they presented their submissions to a bench comprising of Mrs. Lee Suet Fern, Senior Director of Stamford Law Corporation, Mr. Tan Chuan Thye, Director, Stamford Law Corporation, and Associate Professor Eleanor Wong, Director of Legal Writing, NUS Faculty of Law. Professor Joel Lee, Vice-dean of Student Affairs, NUS Faculty of Law was also present as Guest-of-Honour.

The Bench (from left to right): Associate Professor Eleanor Wong, Senior Director Mr Tan Chuan Thye, Director Mrs Lee Suet Fern

This year’s moot problem concerned Kemli, an investment company, and Three Musketeers (BVI) Ltd, a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands and subsidiary of Three Musketeers Pte Ltd, which is a Singaporean company. The issue was whether the Appellant could make a claim in the liquidation of the Respondent on the basis that it had obtained a US judgment against the Respondent more than 6 years ago, beyond the statutory time limit. Nicholas Liu Sheng (Year 4, SMU) represented the Appellant while Leong Qianyu (Year 3, NUS) represented the Respondent.

Unlike the Attorney General’s Cup finals held the previous week, which was an internal affair with both finalists hailing from SMU, the Stamford Corporate Moots featured finalists from both local law schools coming head-to-head in direct competition. In addition, with the Mallal Moot Submission deadline looming, the student body was gripped with Mooting fever. The atmosphere was thus tense with anticipation as the submissions began.

First on the stand was counsel for the appellant, Mr Nicholas Liu Sheng, who submitted that the statutory time limit should not apply in this case. Calm and composed, he was able, upon questioning by the judge, to formulate the legal arguments required to support his case and cite the relevant legal authorities with poise and confidence.

Representing the Appellant: Mr Nicholas Liu Sheng (Year 4, SMU)

When counsel for the respondent, Miss Leong Qianyu, took the stand, she focused on the appellant’s interpretation of the statutory limitations by highlighting how the appellant’s interpretation of the law could potentially lead to abuse of the system when firms commence litigation proceedings in one jurisdiction after another until they obtain the result they want.

Representing the Respondent: Ms Leong Qianyu (Year 3, NUS)

When counsel for the appellant Nicholas Liu took the stand again for the reply submissions, Associate Professor Eleanor Wong eloquently directed his attention to the issue raised by counsel for the respondent: “Assuming a company initiates liquidation proceedings in US but fails, do we then have to chase him to France, Germany, UK, China as well?”. Counsel for the appellant Nicholas Liu was unable to provide a convincing response, and the result of the moot was no longer in doubt.

With the submissions completed, the judges took their leave to deliberate on the results. Upon their return, Mr. Tan Chuan Thye as head judge began by noting how the composition of both the bench and the finalists reflects gender equality in legal practice, while Associate Professor Eleanor Wong clarified how the judging criteria for moots considers not just communication skills but also the quality of the underlying legal arguments.

And so the results were released: Ms Leong Qianyu was declared the winner of the Stamford Law Corporate Moots 2014 with Nicholas Liu Sheng as first runner-up. Lim Yun Heng & Kow Fangjie Joshua feature as joint second runners-up while Wayne Chum Wai Lum clinched the Best Memorial. Congratulations, NUS!