Women’s Mooting Program

The Women's Mooting Program was established in 2018 by Sydney Law School alumni Alyssa Glass and Joy Chen and runs annually. In 2024, the WMP’s directors are current student Maja Vasic and Sydney Law School alumna Harriet Walker.

A team of experienced mooters – joined by guests from the Bar, Bench, and broader Sydney legal profession – will provide small-group mooting workshops to help you improve your advocacy abilities. The WMP includes workshops, social events, and a two-day mooting tournament.

Contact Maja and Harriet with any questions, at womensmootingprogram@suls.org.au.

About the Women’s Mooting Program

The WMP was created in 2018 to address persistent under-representation of women in the higher levels of mooting at Sydney Law School, both in terms of applications and participation. This deficit flows from early problems in making internal moots accessible and attractive to female and gender-diverse students, and then retaining students within the Competitions portfolio to accrue skill and experience so as to participate effectively at the intervarsity, national, and international levels.

The WMP aims to:

• Enhance the advocacy skills and experience of female and gender-diverse law students of all levels of mooting experience.

• Foster an enjoyable, collaborative atmosphere and supportive relationships between female and gender-diverse law students of different levels of degree progression and mooting experience.

• Inspire female and gender-diverse law students to be confident and courageous in seeking out and taking up opportunities for written and oral advocacy both during their time at the University of Sydney and afterwards.

Eligibility

The WMP is open to all female and gender-diverse Sydney Law School students and aims to cater to all levels of mooting experience. If you have never mooted before, done a few moots without quite getting the hang of it, or are seeking to sharpen your skills, the WMP is for you.

What does the WMP involve?

Workshops

The core of the WMP is weekly 2-hour workshops over four consecutive weeks. The workshops will run at regular time slots and participants will have the option to attend in-person or virtual workshops. These workshops are run by a team of Program Facilitators and are designed to prepare WMP participants for the Final Competition.

Demonstration Moot

The WMP kicks off with a demonstration moot, designed to give participants a better idea of the WMP’s goals. In past years, the demonstration moot has been followed by an informal Q&A panel with the judges and mooters, who discussed the skills, experiences and friendships that they have developed through mooting.

Final Competition

An integral part of the WMP is the Final Competition, which is held over a weekend at the end of the workshops. The weekend competition will use the same relatively short and simple moot problem used in the workshops. Following the competition, there will be an awards ceremony recognising success in both the competition and workshops. See below for past recipients of the WMP awards.

Social events

The WMP usually involves two social events, a ‘welcome’ event to get to know your workshop group and Facilitator, and a ‘wrap’ event following the Final Competition to celebrate the conclusion of the WMP and the results of the Final Competition.

Meet the Program Directors

The WMP was established in 2018 by Alyssa Glass and Joy Chen, who ran the program until 2023. In 2023, Maja Vasic joined the team, and in 2024, Harriet Walker commenced as a Director of the WMP.

You can contact Maja and Harriet womensmootingprogram@suls.org.au.

Maja Vasic

Maja is currently completing a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Sydney, having completed a Bachelor of Arts in 2022. Maja started mooting as a participant in the 2020 Women’s Mooting Program. Since then, her best mooting experiences include reaching the Grand Final of the UNSW Private Law Moot and competing in the Jessup Moot, where her team received prizes for their memorials. Maja has also been involved in mooting behind-the-scenes, particularly as a SULS Competitions Director alongside her co-director Harriet. Outside of law school, she enjoys exploring Sydney in search of the prettiest picnic spots and the best bottomless brunches.

Harriet Walker

Harriet completed the Juris Doctor at the University of Sydney in 2023, after studying a Bachelor of Biomedicine at the University of Melbourne. After finishing her last semester of law school in Paris at Sciences Po, Harriet commenced working as a graduate at Allens. Harriet’s best memories of mooting include travelling to Europe to represent the University of Sydney in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in 2023, including reaching the grand-final of the Stockholm pre-moot and winning the PCA Hague pre-moot. Harriet also co-directed the SULS Competitions Portfolio with Maja in 2022. In her spare time, Harriet enjoys running, going to wine bars, and working her way through Sydney’s best swimming locations.

Alyssa Glass

Alyssa completed the Juris Doctor at Sydney Law School in 2017, after studying a B. International and Global Studies (also at the University of Sydney). She went on to work for the Hon Justice Julie Ward, then Chief Judge in Equity, at the NSW Supreme Court (Court of Appeal) before reading for the BCL at the University of Oxford. Alyssa was awarded the Vinerian Scholarship for best performance on the BCL and then headed to Paris to work in public international law and international arbitration at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. She returned to Sydney to work as an Associate in international arbitration at Norton Rose Fulbright. Alyssa is currently completing her PhD at Oxford. Her best memories of mooting include winning the World Championship of the Jessup in 2017 and being named the Best Oralist in the World Championship round, before a bench of three ICJ Judges. Beyond the law, Alyssa holds strong opinions about the correct way to construct a cheeseboard, makes a mean espresso martini, and can usually be found drinking wine with Joy.

Joy Chen

Joy graduated from the University of Sydney in 2019, with a double degree in Architecture and Law. She is now at Gilbert + Tobin and previously worked as an Associate in the High Court of Australia. Highlights of Joy’s mooting experiences whilst at University included winning the Sir Harry Gibbs Constitutional Law Moot and being awarded Best Speaker in a grand final presided over by the Hon Justice Virginia Bell AC. She travelled to the Netherlands to represent the University of Sydney in the International Maritime Law Arbitration Moot, her team winning Best Memoranda and coming Runner-Up in the competition. In any spare time not occupied by running the WMP and drinking wine with Alyssa, you can find Joy wandering the beach, knitting her latest rainbow jumper, dreaming about boats, or delivering impassioned renditions of the latest Taylor Swift releases.

Facilitators and Contributors

We are incredibly grateful to our team of dedicated Program Facilitators who run the workshops, and to the contributing authors of our workshop materials. The WMP would be impossible without their assistance, time, and expertise. Their contribution helps us advance the core ideas behind the WMP, which are to facilitate mooting collaboration and confidence, and build community among female and gender-diverse mooters at Sydney Law School.

We would like to acknowledge the support of the following contributors:

2023 Program Facilitators

Freya Appleford, Kate Coyne, Cora Fabbri, Yidi Huang, Christin Ji, Olivia Maley, Isabella Monardo, Catherine Nguyen, Mikayla Perry, Caroline Xu

2022 Program Facilitators

Ruby Adler, Freya Appleford, Eden Blair, Cora Fabbri, Aoife Hogan, Shruti Janakiraman, Nicole Leong, Vanessa Li, Olivia Maley, Sofia Mendes, Catherine Nguyen, Caroline Xu, Kathy Zhang

2021 Program Facilitators

Rhiannon Bell, Maddie Bosler, Olivia Donovan, Shruti Janakiraman, Hae Soo Park, Sarah Purvis, Georgia Reid, Emma Tirabosco, Jules van Ratingen, Grace Wong

2020 Program Facilitators

Rhiannon Bell, Maddie Bosler, Rachael Li, Vanessa Li, Hae Soo Park, Georgia Reid, Jane Spencer, Anuki Suraweera and Caroline Xu

2019 Program Facilitators

Charlotte Lewis, Nina Mao, Jules van Ratingen, Beata Szabo, Calida Tang, Meg Winton, May Yang and Haiqiu Zhu

2018 Program Facilitators

Rebecca Brown, Joy Chen, Maxine Jelic, Jane Spencer, Calida Tang, Jules van Ratingen and Haiqiu Zhu

Authors of workshop materials

Joy Chen, Alyssa Glass, Nathan Hauser, William Khun, Angus Nicholas, Cassidy O’Sullivan, Eric Shi and Harry Stratton.

WMP Final Competition Results and Awards

2023

FINAL COMPETITION RESULTS

Winner: Ikshita Pandey

Runner-up: Angela Xue

Finalists: Camille Pollard and Angelica Wilson

Semi Finalists: Kuyili Karthik, Rosemary Li, Jax Rousselot and Julie Zhang

Quarter Finalists: Catherine Jiang, Laryssa Latt, Hui Ern Lim, Riley Rodewald, Mia Seisun, Hiya Shah, Lucinda Zheng, Zoe Williams

Octo Finalists: Mounica Akula, Seren Everingham, Himani Gupta, Sarah Khaled, Mabel Rytmeister, Natalie Neshev, Aneesa Sukkarieh, Barisha Tashnin, Akshita Verma, Annika Wang, Molly Wang, Jessica Xu, Alexis Zhang

Best Oralists in Preliminary Rounds: Catherine Jiang (1st), Angela Xue (2nd), Akshita Verma (3rd), Mabel Rytmeister (4th), Aneesa Sukkarieh (5th), Kuyili Karthik (6th), Jax Rousselot (7th), Camille Pollard (8th), Angelica Wilson (9th), Sarah Khaled (10th)

WORKSHOP AWARDS

Recipients: Seren Everingham, Hui Ern Lim, Natalie Neshev, Camille Pollard, Mabel Rytmeister, Emily Sun, Barisha Tashnin, Danielle Tweedale, Akshita Verma, Jessica Xu

2022

FINAL COMPETITION RESULTS

Winner: Yidi Huang

Runner-up: Sophie Tarr

Finalists: Claire Hsu and Veronica Lenard 

Semi Finalists: Remashree Baniya, Mia Chaaya, Caitlin Chan, Zoe Patterson Ross

Quarter Finalists: Sofia Barrera, Eliza Crossley, Isabelle Holthouse, Stacey Konstantopoulos, Kyra Sumner, Yadhavi Vasanthan, Jiao Yang, Doris Zhang

Octo Finalists: Tamsyn Bellew, Corinna Chen, Jane Chew, Taylor Collings, Gwendalyn Dabaja, Maisha Farzana, Julia Jacobson, Christine Muscat, Nicola Paterson, Amelie Roediger, Alice Shan, Yu Shi, Michelle Ung, Sarah Zacharia, Bethany Zhuang

Best Oralists in Preliminary Rounds: Yidi Huang (1st), Sophie Tarr (2nd), Remashree Baniya (3rd), Taylor Collings (4th), Veronica Lenard (5th), Claire Hsu (6th), Isabelle Holthouse (7th), Doris Zhang (8th), Mia Chaaya (9th), Bethany Zhuang (10th)

WORKSHOP AWARDS

Recipients: Remashree Baniya, Samantha Cenizal, Mia Chaaya, Lily Guo, Alicia Lee, Christine Muscat, Lea Nguyen, Alice Shan, Kyra Sumner, Sophie Tarr, Jiao Yang, Ruby Zhang, Bethany Zhaung

2021

FINAL COMPETITION RESULTS

Winner: Mikayla Perry

Runner-up: Holly McDonald

Finalists: Arundhati Ajith and Vivienne Davies

Semi Finalists: Amelie Yee, Brianna Ho, Selena You, Viveca Tang

Quarter Finalists: Kajal Buhagiar, Lucy Cook, Amy Duong, Christine Ji, Mia Li, Isabella Monardo, Naomi Murn, Goranka Trifkovic, Clare Veal

Octo Finalists: Naemat Brar, Zoe Faraj, Isabella Greenhalgh, Jihye Ha, Alice Huang, Ingrid Jones, Freya Leach, Isabel Leung, Audrey Meaden, Mae Milne, Demitra Nikas, Charlotte Ross, Niveditha Sethumadhavan, Paris Slade, Rebecca Wahl, Jiaxi (Jessie) Wang, Grace Wu

Best Oralists in Preliminary Rounds: Mikayla Perry (1st), Isabella Monardo (equal 2nd), Vivienne Davies (equal 2nd), Viveca Tang (4th), Christin Ji (equal 5th), Clare Veal (equal 5th), Freya Leach (equal 5th), Amelie Yee (equal 8th), Arundhati Ajith (equal 8th), Ingrid Jones (10th)

WORKSHOP AWARDS

Recipients: Gianna Huang, Christin Ji, Freya Leach, Isabella Monardo, Darcie O’Leary, Mikayla Perry, Charlotte Ross, Emily Theseira, Goranka Trifkovic, Leah Varvaressos

2020

FINAL COMPETITION RESULTS

Winner: Ruby Adler

Runner-up: Nicole Leong

Finalists: Catherine Nguyen and Maja Vasic

Semi Finalists: Samiha Asim, Isabella Barrett, Kate Coyne, and Boran (Regina) Wang

Quarter Finalists: Erika Blendell, Grace Farrell, Aoife Hogan, Laura Jorgensen, Madhuraa Prakash, Belinda Reilly, Mia Uzunovski, Deyi Wu, Jacinda Yang

Octo Finalists: Jasmine Crittenden, Jade Dawson, Bridget Hackett, Kimberley Hammerton, Annie Hong, Sally Judson, Sarah Rose Richmond, Lucy Rivkin, Jeanne Shu, Colleen Song, Lan (Serena) Wang, Jasmine Wilson, Chuqiao Wu, Angela Xu, Amy Zhang

Best Oralists in Preliminary Rounds: Jade Dawson (1st), Nicole Leong (2nd), Maja Vasic (3rd), Amy Zhang (4th), Belinda Reilly (5th), Mia Uzunovski (6th), Deyi Wu (7th), Isabella Barrett (8th), Angela Xu (equal 8th) and Kate Coyne (equal 8th)

WORKSHOP AWARDS

Recipients: Freya Appleford, Kate Coyne, Jasmine Crittenden, Kimberley Hammerton, Sally Judson, Madhuraa Prakash, Brooke Srour, Maja Vasic, and Deyi Wu

2019

FINAL COMPETITION RESULTS

Winner: Judita Hudson

Runner-up: April Barton

Finalists: Julie Litver and Emma Tirabosco

Semi Finalists: Amy Kang, Yvonne Lin, Julie McConaghy, and Sophia Semmler

Best Speaker (Preliminary Rounds): April Barton

Best Written Submissions: April Barton

2018

FINAL COMPETITION RESULTS

Intermediate Division

Winner: Olivia Maley

Runner-up: Julia Kim

Finalists: Lucy Baker and Caroline Xu

Semi Finalists: Gloria Chen, Kavya Nagpal, Sarah Purvis, and Pei-Ju Wu

Beginner Division

Winner: Anuki Suraweera

Runner-up: Nina Dillon Britton

Finalists: Hae Soo Park and Angela Zhang

Semi Finalists: Shruti Janakiraman, Helen (Yunlu) Lin, and Isla Miller

WORKSHOP AWARDS

Recipients: Charlotte Ball, Gloria Chen, Lyujing Huang, Olivia Maley, Isla Miller, Anuki Suraweera, Pham Thi Thu Thuy, Cinzia Tisano, Danielle Wilson, and Caroline Xu