NUS trio win international law contest

A team from the National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of Law has won an international law contest, with its three members clinching individual honours as well.

The inaugural Herbert Smith Freehills Competition Law Moot - which was held at King's College London from June 12 to 14 - saw final-year students Jeremiah Lau, Benjamin Wong and Lisa Tan triumph against the University of Amsterdam in the finals, to finish first in a pool of 12 teams.

Ms Tan, 23, was also awarded the Best Oralist prize, while Mr Lau, 24, and Mr Wong, 25, finished as runners-up alongside two other participants.

Saying her individual prize was "completely unexpected", Ms Tan revealed yesterday that it was her first time participating in a moot since her freshman year.

She said: "It was very tough initially as I had many things to work on, but I'm thankful to the NUS team, in particular Associate Professor Eleanor Wong, for painstakingly helping me to identify my problems and giving me tips on how to overcome them."

Ms Tan credited the trio's teamwork as being crucial. It was the only three-member team in the competition, with the others having only two members, which gave the trio less time to make their individual presentations. However, they were able to benefit from having "greater stamina" to address questions posed by the moot bench, according to Ms Tan.

Coached by Associate Professor Burton Ong, the team spent more than five months preparing for the competition, including two weeks of intensive preparation for the oral rounds.

Prof Ong pointed out that not many would have expected the team to outperform its European counterparts, given that the competition was based on European Competition laws.

He added: "I am not surprised at all by the team's achievement - Jeremiah, Benjamin and Lisa are among the best students I have encountered in my years as a law tutor, and it was very satisfying to see them demonstrate what I already knew they were capable of to an international audience."

twtoh@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on June 24, 2015.
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