The thirteenth annual inter-university moot challenge was held on the evening of 2 May 2007, at the Land Court in Brisbane.

Approximately 40 students from University of Queensland and Queensland University of Technology, together with lecturers, RICS members and guests, watched two teams battle out a case for compensation for the compulsory acquisition of land.

The hearing was presided over by the President of the Queensland Land Court, Mr John Trickett FRICS, ably assisted by two expert valuers, Rodney Brett and Michael Slater.  Former Land Court member, Dr Neil Divett, acted as official timekeeper.

It was a closely-fought case, and for the first time one of the teams introduced an expert witness who was not a valuer, but a retail consultant.

Both teams carefully examined and cross-examined the expert witnesses, and the official judgement of the Court was that the acquiring authority, represented by UQ, won. The Bench also felt that a better standard of advocacy and cross-examination was shown by this team, and so they were awarded the RICS challenge trophy for the third year running. This was much to the delight of team members Jacob Elsworthy, Kylie Evans, Lauren Loors, Joseph Rennie and
Joshua Young.

Kylie Evans was also awarded a prize for the Best Expert Witness for the evening (having survived some tough questions from the Bench) and Joshua Young won the prize for Best Counsel.

QUT’s team consisting of Tom Gallagher, Julie Huynh, Will Lawler, Ryan McCausland, and Prasanna Subramaniam were congratulated as close runners up.

The Bench remarked that both teams performed extremely well and the level of preparation was clearly evident.

After the formalities, and the awarding of prizes the participants and audience adjourned to a nearby venue for some well-earned refreshments.

Moot Convenor, Robin Piper, expressed RICS’s thanks to Mr Trickett, the Land Court, expert valuers, sponsors, and the teams for once again contributing to a very successful Moot. The event is now very much an integral part of both universities’ teaching program.

It is hoped that the winning team from the Queensland Moot will be able to challenge a NSW team later in the year at another RICS
intra-state Moot Court.