Inner Temple Student Societies

DEBATING SOCIETY

By Colleen Cumbers and Konstantina Nouka (Co Presidents)

The Debating Society has had a busy year! We have been able to get back to more in person events without the disruption of last minute changes to COVID-19 restrictions – though train strikes have still kept us on our toes!

We started off the year with an in person social at Pegasus Bar. Plenty of bottles of wine were consumed whilst we chatted to members, new and returning, about the various competitions we had planned for the year. We also started up our weekly debating sessions again, opting to keep these on Zoom to allow members from all over the country to benefit.

We wasted no time in entering our members into a range of competitions. From Durham to LSE, Southampton to KCL, our debaters have been showing off their skills around the country. Internally, we hosted the Rawlinson Cup, which culminated in a very successful final in The Inner Temple, with students picking up a Qualifying Session point for observing the four talented finalists compete in front of a panel of Benchers. A special congratulations to winner Michael Rivelin. We are currently in the knock-out rounds of the Public Speaking Competition and the Debating Shield, both of which are proving equally thrilling.

Alongside the competitions, we have ensured that our members are getting the chance to prepare for pupillage applications – with weekly sessions focusing on interview preparation during the pupillage application period – and to unwind – with a Christmas Quiz, post Pupillage Gateway drinks reception in the Luncheon Room, and our upcoming Summer Party, which we are co hosting with ITSA and the Mooting Society.

We are looking forward to an exciting summer, with a talented team of debaters representing The Inner Temple at the Inter-Inns Debating Competition – which we, of course, expect to win! – and the finals of the Public Speaking Competition and Debating Shield.

We would like to thank our committee for their hard work over the year, and our members for their enthusiasm for debating.

Inner Temple Students’ Association (ITSA)

By Georgia Banks (President)

This academic year, ITSA has adapted in a post pandemic world and done its best to accommodate both in-person and remote attendance at events. This has allowed us to ensure our events continue to reach members based both in London and further afield.

The academic year began with a Welcome Event held at the local pub with an encouraging turnout. Although festive spirits were slightly dampened by rail strikes and stormy weather, we were pleased to return to hosting our Christmas Party at The Inner Temple Treasury Building and hope to continue doing so for many years to come! As always, ITSA Burns Night did not disappoint. It was our most successful in person event, with more than 150 attendees enjoying a traditional Scottish dinner and Ceilidh. In March, we entered a team into an Inter-Inn Charity Netball Tournament. ITSA, in a team combined with Middle Temple, won the competition. Most recently, we joined forces with the Debating and Mooting societies to host a joint Summer Party for student members in the Courtyard.

ITSA has continued in its goal of contributing to wider access to the Bar. In January, we hosted five pupillage application panel events focused on different areas of law. These events were open for all Bar students and were hugely popular. Both junior and senior practitioners very kindly gave up their time to assist hundreds of applicants by giving advice on the application process and answering questions. In May, ITSA hosted an online post-application cycle panel event specifically for individuals from minority groups providing advice on dealing with rejection and preparing for future applications. In what is now a yearly tradition, we also held an informational event for Bar Scholarship applicants, which was attended by more than 200 potential scholars. We hope to continue in this goal by hosting an in-person Welcome Event both in London and on Circuit in the new academic year.

Finally, as a student society, we are always looking for ways to help students find ways to develop their skills and experience in their route to the profession. In that vein, ITSA is launching a new annual Essay Competition in the new academic year that will be open to all student members of The Inner Temple. Alongside other prizes, the winning essay will be published in the Yearbook next year and highly commended essays will be published on the ITSA website.

Mooting

by Megan Bithel-Vaughan (President)

A central focus for the Mooting Society this year has been to increase accessibility and opportunities for our student members.

As such, we have run training courses for novice mooters, formed of four sessions: Introduction to Mooting, Legal Research, Skeleton Arguments and Oral Arguments. These have aimed to improve members’ confidence. Each syllabus has culminated in students participating in, or observing, a moot. This has included a Speed and Training Moot, aiming to give participants the opportunity to practice in an informal environment, as well as partnership moots against Pepperdine University and Notre Dame Law School.

We doubled the capacity of our flagship Lawson Moot, offering 128 student members the opportunity to compete in a five-round knockout competition. We would like to thank all our judges for their feedback, and congratulate our winner, Ruari Clark, and runner-up, Katie McLean.

The Ecclesiastical Law Moot was expanded this year to student members of all Inns. We thank the Ecclesiastical Law Society for the generous sponsorship and congratulate Hugh Jeffrey for winning this competition.

The Commercial Law Moot ran for the second year, kindly sponsored by One Essex Court. From a highly-talented pool of 32 participants, Nicole Terry triumphed.

The Intervarsity Moot Competition included 18 universities attending the Inn to compete in a one-day knock-out competition. We thank 4 Pump Court and 6KBW for their generous sponsorship, and congratulate the University of Law for winning the competition. It was a pleasure to showcase the incredible facilities and opportunities that being a member of The Inner Temple offers.

We have also sent teams to 16 external competitions, both nationally and internationally.

Our Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot team competed in Vienna, and the Telders International Law Moot team mooted in the Hague. Congratulations are also owed to our International Criminal Court Moot team, who reached the Quarter Finals in the Hague. Notable national achievements include: Gabriella Cutts and Tomas Higginson won the 4 Pump Court Pride Moot, Guy Lockwood and Carina Wong were runners-up at the University of Leicester Medical Law Moot, and Wiktoria Doniec and Jack Staples-Butler reached the Final of the Southampton National Moot.

This year’s increased participation has demonstrated the talent and formidability of The Inner Temple student members in mooting, skills which we hope they will carry into their future careers.

DRAMA

The Drama Society kicked off the academic year with our annual Christmas pantomime, Rumpolestiltskin: Legally Conned, written by Spike Western, Taylor Blair and Nicole Terry, and directed by Nicole Terry. This legal take on Rumpelstiltskin saw singing, dancing, laughter, and creative use of contract law to defeat the villain throughout three fabulous performances in The Inner Temple’s newly-built lecture theatre from 6–8 December.

In the spring, following the transfer of a number of committee roles, the Society put on its first Spring Show since COVID-19, with a performance of two burlesques of some of Shakespeare’s most famous works. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, A Tragedy by WS Gilbert and The Cup of Cold Poison, or Romeo and Juliet: A Travestie, by Andrew Halliday, both directed by Paul Goddard, were staged in the Temple Church Courtyard on 22 and 23 May. Both cast and audience got lots of laughs out of the Society’s fanciful and fun-filled take on these comedic parodies.

Following our sold-out run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2022, the Society is thrilled to be returning to the Festival this August to perform an all new, original play at the Ukrainian Community Centre from 17–19 August. Sanctuary by Debra Stanislawski and Nicole Terry follows a pupil barrister down the rabbit hole the night before her first trial on her feet. Through encountering Wonderland-esque personifications of her own insecurities and self-assurance masquerading as members of the profession, she gains the confidence to advocate effectively for her first client.

RACIAL EQUALITY SOCIETY

The main aim of the Racial Equality Society (RES) is to improve the representation on the Bar of ethnic minorities. We work with other societies in order to achieve this. To be a member you have to identify as an ethnic minority, though our main events are open to all. We have had an eventful year.

We are particularly grateful to Grace Brown, Sharnade George, Barbara Mills KC, Julius Nkafu (FCIArb), Master Tunde Okewale, Kitan Ososami, Master Leslie Thomas and the Student Engagement and Support Committee.

• 27 and 30 September 2022: We had two introductory evenings for members from all circuits in attendance.
• 25 October 2022: We had an event ‘Black History Month: Health and Wellbeing’.
• 24 January 2023: We had an event ‘Pupillage Applications 2023: Ethnic Minorities’.
• 22 May 2023: We took part in an ITSA-led event – ‘Minority groups at the Bar’.
• 28 July 2023: Wellbeing: Path to the Bar.

The Master with oversight of RES is Dr Tunde Okewale MBE. The current President is Kofo David, the Vice-President is Tahmina Miah, the Secretary General is Pearl Annin, the Social Media Officer is Rebecca Mckenzie and the LGBTQ+ Officer is Ogeh Obioha.