A Kiwi victory in the Louis M Brown International Client Counselling Competition

UNIVERSITY OF Canterbury law students Julia Whitehead and Guy Carter have recently won the Louis M Brown International Client Counselling Competition in Hong Kong. New Zealand has now won this prestigious international competition four times in the last 10 years. “New Zealand is clearly the team to beat,” remarked a foreign coach after attending the competition.

New Zealand’s participation at the international competition is funded by a generous grant from the New Zealand Law Foundation. The Law Foundation has been supporting attendance of New Zealand law students at various international competitions for over 10 years and provides up to $72,000 a year for this purpose. “The Law Foundation supports New Zealand representative teams at these international competitions as it enhances the development of advocacy skills in this country, said Law Foundation Director Lynda Hagen. “This result is evidence of that and we congratulate Julia and Guy on their wonderful achievement.”

The competition requires each team of two law students to interview an actor pretending to be a client with a difficult legal problem. The law students must demonstrate good interviewing and communication skills, and give the client appropriate legal advice. The topic for this year’s competition was white collar crime, and the final round scenario dealt with a substance-abusing lawyer who was being blackmailed and also misusing her clients’ money.

Whitehead and Carter were coached by Selene Mize, a senior lecturer in law at the University of Otago, and the recipient of the 2009 Prime Minister’s Supreme Award for Tertiary Teaching. “Guy and Julia have incredible talent,” she said. “They are well organised in questioning and advising the client, and extremely quick at picking up on all ramifications of the client’s situation. They were the only team in the final round to appreciate fully the difficult ethical implications of the client’s situation.” Mize said that many observers at the final round reported that Whitehead and Carter gave the best performance they had ever seen at the competition.

“Client counselling competitions provide an excellent opportunity to practise important skills” said Mize. “The initial client interview forms the basis for the lawyer-client relationship. The establishment of rapport supports trust and candour, and clear discussion of the legal situation and options allows the client to make an informed choice.”

President of the New Zealand Law Students’ Association (NZLSA) Phil Thomson said he was very proud of the achievements of Whitehead and Carter as well as those of other New Zealand law students. “Guy and Julia’s win has built upon New Zealand law students’ successes at last year’s Australian Law Students’ Association Conference, and shows that we can match it with the best around the world.” NZLSA organises the regional and national law competitions, with the winners competing at the Australian Conference in July and the New Zealand Conference in September (this year to be held at the University of Otago). Thomson also said that “legal skills competitions should be an important part of legal education, and we are proud to run the domestic competitions in which Guy and Julia have done so well, and which enabled them to get to where they are today”.

Whitehead and Carter are both currently students at the University of Canterbury. Carter is studying law and political science, and is also president of LAWSOC, the Canterbury law students’ association. He has accepted future employment with Russell McVeagh, one of New Zealand’s largest law firms and a sponsor of regional and national client interviewing competitions. Whitehead has just completed an Honours degree in Law (focusing on Criminal Law and Evidence) and a second degree in Theatre and Film, and will soon begin a Masters degree in Criminal Law.

This year’s competition was the largest ever, with 22 countries from North America, Central America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia competing. The team representing England and Wales placed second, and the team from the United States came third.

NZLawyer, 30 April 2010