The annual Charrett Moot is a national competition that involves 8 teams competing in a three–round elimination competition format, including the Grand Final at the annual SoCLA National Conference. 

Every effort is made to ensure that preliminary rounds are contested between teams in the same city, and are determined by local adjudicators.  However, videoconference moots have become relatively common.

The competition is not restricted to lawyers, and all interested members of SoCLA are encouraged to register a team of 3 to 4 members.  All team members must have no more than 4 years of post-qualification experience.

Please note: all participants must be current members of the Society of Construction Law Australia.

2023 Charrett Moot

The Society of Construction Law Australia (SoCLA) Young Constructors Committee is excited to launch the Charrett Moot 2023 for young practitioners in the construction industry.

The Charrett Moot 2023 will be conducted from March to May 2023.

Please click here for the preliminary information.

The 2023 Charrett Moot is proudly sponsored by 

Background and Purpose of the Moot

The Society of Construction Law Australia is pleased to run the annual Charrett Moot competition, a mooting competition for young professionals in the infrastructure and construction industries.  Participants include lawyers, engineers, quantity surveyors and other professionals (up to 4 years post-qualification experience).

The Charrett Moot is named in honour of Donald Charrett, Australia's leading figure in construction law.  Dr Charrett is currently a Barrister, Arbitrator, Mediator and Dispute Board Member practising in building and engineering disputes, and prior to signing the Victorian bar roll in 2004, Dr Charrett was a leading engineer and solicitor.  Dr Charrett oversees the competition and moderates the annual Grand Final.

A key objective of the moot is to encourage young practitioners to be involved in advocacy and public speaking, and to increase their exposure in the infrastructure and construction industries.  To achieve this aim, the Grand Final is conducted as part of the Society's annual National Conference in front of conference delegates and other leading industry figures.

The moot is designed to be a learning opportunity, whilst also giving participants the chance to step out of their comfort zones in a supportive environment.  Past moot judges have included leading solicitors and barristers, academics and Supreme Court judges.

History and Past Grand Finalists

The first Charrett Moot was contested in 2015. 

The reigning winners are Joseph Xuereb, Cameron Inglis and Harrison Frith, winners of the 2021/22 Grand Final moot at the National Conference in Hobart, Tasmania in May 2022.

Previous Winners include:

• 2020: No moot due to COVID impacts
• 2019: George Pasas, Sebastien Hanscomb and James Ahn
• 2018: Allison van Beers, Paul Tamburro, Noelle Alphonso-Loong and Lucy Groenewege (Clayton Utz (Melbourne))
• 2017: Sarah Cahill, Alexandria Hammerton, Ben Garvey and Hazal Gacka (Minter Ellison (Brisbane))
• 2016: Rebecca Lew, Sophie Westland, Stephen Moore and Timothy Rankin (Ashurst (Melbourne))
• 2015: Raeesa Rawal, Josh Singer and Sean Kelly

Contacts

The competition is organised by the Society's Young Constructors Committee and the 2021 Charrett Moot will be managed by Allison van Beers  and Zan Mazharullah