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Minter Ellison Rudd Watts NewsNZ law student wins trans-Tasman legal compeition 30 July 2009 Minter Ellison Rudd Watts congratulates Yogesh Patel from Victoria University, the New Zealand winner of the 2009 Australasian Witness Exam Competition held at the Australian Law Students Association (ALSA) Conference in Brisbane this month. This is the first time that a New Zealand law student has achieved this prestigious award, chosen from a field of over 30 trans-Tasman competitors. Minter Ellison Rudd Watts is proud to be the long-standing, corporate sponsor of the New Zealand Law Students’ Association Witness Exam Competition that is run annually at each of New Zealand’s five schools of law including Auckland, Canterbury, Otago, Victoria and Waikato University. The five winners of each law school competition then progess to compete at the Australian AWEC against competitors from approximately 30 law schools. The WEC is a simulated trial whereby two students compete against each other, one as counsel for the plaintiff (civil) or prosecution (criminal) and the other as defence counsel. Although much shorter than a real trial, all major elements remain: opening statement, examination-in-chief, cross-examination, and closing statement. Both must examine a “friendly” witness, and cross-examine an “unfriendly” witness. The aim is to persuade the court of your version of what happened, focusing on the facts. The next witness exam competition event is the New Zealand national competition that will be held in September in Wellington during the week of 1 – 5 September 2009.
The NZLSA is the parent body of the five on-campus Law Student Societies in New Zealand and is charged with the responsibility of coordinating the activities of these five societies. Upon enrolling as a law student, a student automatically becomes a member of the NZLSA. In this way, the NZLSA is the national body representing the interests of all law students throughout New Zealand. 
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