DCU Voices

DCU VOICES 72 In 2020/ 2021, the School of Law & Government moved all of its alumni and School activities online to a virtual format. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, increased numbers of graduates engaged and participated this year in the various School events, as well as career, social and networking activities. In October 2020, several of our graduates hosted workshops for our students on mooting, advocacy and legal writing in advance of the various internal and external mooting and advocacy competitions. In November 2020, DCU hosted the annual National Moot Court Competition (sponsored by A&L Goodbody), which took place virtually for the first time and saw a record number of teams participating from 14 institutions across Ireland and the UK, including the University of Oxford for the first time. Many of our graduates volunteered as coaches for teams and guest judges for the live rounds. Over 300 people from the wider DCU community tuned in to watch the live grand final of the competition, which took place via a Zoom webinar. The grand final was chaired by ACU’s Judge in Residence, Justice John MacMenamin of the Supreme Court. The School’s move to facilitate online experiential learning activities continued in 2021 and there were increased numbers of students participating, and more volunteers from our alumni community and external stakeholders. In February 2021, DCU Law Society hosted the Criminal Mock Trial Competition, virtually for the first time. This was followed inMarch 2021 by the Aoife KingMemorial Moot Court Competition (named in memory of former EPL student Aoife King who tragically passed away during her Erasmus year in Hungary). Both intervarsity competitions, also sponsored by A&L Goodbody, saw record numbers participating and volunteering. In February 2021, DCU Law Society also hosted the annual Legal Speed Meet, which took place virtually for the first time. Over 300 students, graduates and legal professionals (including many law firms, multinational companies and public bodies) participated in this unique networking and mentoring event which showcased the variety of career opportunities available to law students and graduates. In May 2021, DCU Law Society received the Alumni Engagement Award at the Clubs and Societies’ Awards in recognition of the exceptional efforts to engage and build connections with our law alumni community for the benefit of our student body. In September 2020, BCL graduate Orlaith Cullen was announced as the recipient of the prestigious Scott Scholarship in Law in association with Arthur Cox. Orlaith is now pursuing the LLM programme at DCU. DCU School of Law and Government - Alumni activities 2020/2021 The School of Law and Government maintained and, in some cases, increased participation after moving its alumni calendar of events online DCU LawSociety Legal Speed Meet 2021. This virtual event won the Alumni Engagement Award at the DCU Clubs and Societies Awards 2021