The sixth annual Shearman & Sterling/University of Oxford Moot Competition was won on Saturday by undergraduates Hannah Noyce and Emily MacKenzie. The pair received a cash prize of £500 and the right to represent the university in a national mooting competition next year.

Competing against 11 other mooting teams, the duo made it through two preliminary rounds and a semi-final judged by Shearman & Sterling partners and lawyers. The pair then successfully mooted in front of Court of Appeal judge, Lord Justice Mummery, who presided over the grand final.

Clifford Atkins, one of the Shearman & Sterling judges, said, “We are very pleased to support this event, which the Faculty of Law describes as ‘the most prestigious mooting competition within the university’. The standard of the arguments and all the teams’ presentations were impressive”.

This years problem concerned a claim based on promissory estoppel and an appeal against an original decision by trial judge, Her Honour Judge Precarious.

The competition, which is open to all students studying law or jurisprudence, attracted entries from 17 undergraduate and postgraduate teams. Contestants were short-listed on the basis of outline written arguments.

The preliminary and semi-final judging panels included partners Clifford Atkins (London-Finance) and George Karafotias (London-M&A), counsel Alex Bevan (London-International Arbitration), and associates Richard Kelly (London-Litigation) and Aatif Ahmad (London-Finance).

For more information, please contact Caroline Paul | London | T +44 20 7655 5068 |

Depicted from left to right:  Shearman & Sterling partner George Karafotias, Hannah Noyce, Emily MacKenzie, Lord Justice Mummery, Stefanie Wilkins, Tessa Khan and Professor James Edelman.