MPL: You were the first Indian team to win Jessup in 1999. How big was mooting in India at that time? Did you feel that you were world champions after you won the international rounds?
Sapna Khajuria: Mooting was one of the most important aspects at NLS from the time we joined there as freshers.
The moment I watched a demonstration of a moot court by our seniors in my first week at NLS, I was fascinated. And hooked. And a journey of mooting began that day. Once we ‘grew into’ the law school routine, we realised the importance of mooting as a national and international event. Words like bar council, Jessup, KLA moot, etc. started making sense. Mooting was important, however, the vast number of moots that occur these days were not around then.
In answer to the second part of the question, in a fairly clichéd manner, we did not feel like we were world champions immediately after our names were announced after the finals. It did take some time for the feeling to sink in. It really sank in when we reached NLS and a grand welcome was arranged for us. We had planned to take the competition one round at a time. We came across and defeated some of the best teams in the world, including Singapore and New Zealand, yet the feeling of unreality was there to begin with.
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MPL: How were you selected for the moot?
Khajuria: The selection of the NLSIU team for the national selection rounds of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court competition took place by a three-round college selection round. The first round selected mooters from each batch, who then went on to participate in a constitutional law moot court contest followed by an international law based moot court competition.
At the end of the intra college rounds, a ranking list was prepared and the top ranking participants were entitled to represent the University at the national selection rounds. Dipen, Priya and I had gone for a national level moot together as a team the year before and knew that we worked well as a team. Priya is an excellent researcher and we decided to have the same team.
The intra college rounds were fairly tough since NLSIU has always had a strong mooting tradition and that year had some excellent mooters too, all vying for the coveted Jessup ranking.
The rounds were gruelling and we had former moot court competition winners (including former Jessup semi finalists), practising advocates of the Karnataka High Court and Professors as judges for the intra college rounds.
MPL: How did you prepare for the moot?
Khajuria: We prepared for the moot mostly by researching from books and journals. We spent a lot of time at the library of the Indian Society of International Law during our research.
Students today may find it hard to believe, but online research was not developed then. We had recently got a full fledged computer room in our NLS library and were trying to learn the nuances of online research. It was a good thing that we did so, because we found a judgement online that was very relevant to our submissions, practically at the last minute before finally printing our written submissions.
MPL: How tough was the national rounds at that time?
Khajuria: The national rounds were tough since the best teams from India were competing to be able to represent the country at the international rounds. The judging standards were very good. Offhand I can recall Mr. Ambrose as being one of the strictest and best judges I have ever had the honour of mooting before.
MPL: Could you tell us a bit about your career after law school?
Khajuria: I worked in the field of corporate laws with Amarchand Mangaldas, India’s top ranked law firm. After four years of work I was awarded the Felix Scholarship to pursue a master’s degree (LLM) at the University of London. Upon completion of my studies, I joined the Legal team at Avaya GlobalConnect Ltd. For the past four years, I have been a full-time mother and a part-time lawyer.
MPL: Do you think mooting at law school has helped you in your career?
Khajuria: The skills of advocacy, research, legal strategy, reasoning and confidence, to name a few, that one attains and hones through mooting, helped me greatly in my career. Any lawyer would need such skills, whether inside a courtroom, a corporate legal advisory / strategy / drafting / negotiation or as an in-house legal resource.
I’d say all law students should experience the charm of mooting. More than being something that had ‘CV value’, it’s fun.
MPL: Do you regularly judge moots?
Khajuria: I do not judge moots regularly. I judged at the Jessup international rounds some years ago. Since then, I’ve judged once at a competition (I think it was the Space Law Moot at NLSIU in 2006), the university Jessup team selection rounds at the NALSAR in 2006 and once at the KK Luthra Memorial Moot Court Competition.
MPL: What is your most cherished memory of mooting at law school?
Khajuria: My most cherished memory of mooting at law school would be the first time I started researching for a moot court competition, full of enthusiasm.
Allen & Overy is the sponsor of the MPL 2.
Comments
Kian please get Priya's interview as well. She has done some very interesting work after NLS and Amarchand which will surely inspire the next generations of lawyers.
Y don't you interview NUJS kid who won Vienna first?
Joy: KCO, New Delhi
Mithun: JSA, Mumbai
Sidharth: Tata, Mumbai