RULES OF THE
COMPETITION
NATIONAL LAW INSTITUTE UNIVERSITY, BHOPAL
Kerwa Dam Road, (M.P.) - 462044
E: [email protected] |W: www.nliu.ac.in
RULES
1. Purpose of the Competition
Interviewing and advising comprise a vital part of a lawyer’s work. It is often
assumed that lawyers have the listening and questioning skills required to
conduct an effective interview with a client. Unfortunately, however, this is not
true of every lawyer. Thus, through this Competition, it is intended to inculcate
among students of law, a greater knowledge of and a spirit of enquiry into the
preventive law and counselling functions of law practice. The Competition also
encourages students of law to develop interviewing, planning and analytical
skills necessary to build and maintain a relationship between a lawyer and
his/her client.
2. Definitions
2.1 “MCA, NLIU” – Moot Court Association, National Law Institute
University Bhopal. The MCA is the organizing and administrating body
for the Competition.
2.2 “Competition” – 4th NLIU-Link Legal National Client Counselling
Competition.
2.3 “Participant” – Any individual eligible and participating in the
Competition.
2.4 “Team” – Any team comprising of not more than two participants,
eligible and participating in the Competition.
2.5 "Undergraduate student of law” – Any student enrolled in an
undergraduate, dual-degree (5 years) course of law at a college and/or
university recognized by the University Grants Commission.
RULES
2.6 “Professional student of law” – Any student enrolled in a professional
(3 years) course of law at a college and/or university recognized by the
University Grants Commission.
2.7 “Lawyer” – A person who practices law, such as an attorney, or a
solicitor, or a legal practitioner.
2.8 “Country of residence” – For the sake of this Competition, any and
every client’s country of residence shall be as mentioned in the office
memo for a particular round.
2.9 “Client” – A person or organisation, as assigned by the MCA, NLIU in
accordance with the office memo for a particular round, seeking and/or
receiving the services of a lawyer(s), as defined in 2.7.
2.10 “Office memo” – A sheet of correspondence briefly describing the
client(s) and/or his or her problem(s) for which she/he seeks the services
of a lawyer(s).
3.Eligibility Criteria
Undergraduate and Professional students of law may participate in the
Competition.
4.Registration
4.1 The competition will be limited to a total of 24 teams and the maximum
number of teams in the competition may be increased subject to the
discretion of the MCA.
RULES
4.2 By registering for and/or entering this Competition, all participants agree
to be bound by the rules contained herein.
4.3 By entering this Competition, all participants consent to being
photographed or filmed and to such images photographed and/or videos
filmed being published by MCA, NLIU and/or NLIU, Bhopal.
4.4 Not more than two teams from any particular institution of law shall be
permitted to participate in the Competition.
Provided that, the second team doing the provisional registration from the
same institution would be allowed to compete in the competition if
subject to the date of final registration, the total number of teams
registered at the registration date is less than 24.
4.5 Participating teams must register themselves for the Competition by
submitting online a pro forma of registration and by depositing the
Registration Fees (i.e. INR 3,000), before the stipulated deadline for such
submission. The registration fees, once submitted, shall not be refunded
under any circumstance. For provisional registration click here.
5.Official Language
The official language of the Competition shall be English. All written and/or oral
submission made to and/or before the judges shall be in English.
6.Nature of the Competition
6.1 The Competition shall simulate a client’s interview on a video conference.
RULES
6.2 Each round shall be divided broadly into two segments, i.e. (a) client-
consultation session and (b) post-consultation session.
6.2.1 In the client-consultation session, Participants shall be expected to extract
fact-information from the client, briefly analyse the issue(s) at hand, and
make recommendations to the client in order to resolve his or her
problem.
6.2.2 In the post-consultation session, the Participants shall be expected to
legally analyse the interview and the various issues of the matter (or case)
presents, and discuss a future course of action. They shall further be
expected to discuss the recommendations made by them to the client and
whether an alternative approach could be or have been adopted to attain
a better outcome from the session. The judges may, during this period,
question the participants on their presentation.
6.3 It is clarified here that the Participants may tender legal advice to their
client(s) with reference only to the laws prevailing to the country of his or
her residence
6.4 Participants are advised to keep in mind professional rules of ethics and
conduct, as are applicable to lawyers, and act in accordance with them
during rounds. All participants, regardless of the country of their
residence, shall be deemed subject to the rules and regulations as issued
by the Bar Council of India under the Advocates Act, 1961 or any other
regulatory body.
7. Rounds
7.1 The Competition shall consist of two preliminary rounds following which,
one team out of the four groups shall qualify for the semi - final rounds on
the basis of their absolute score in the preliminary rounds.
7.2 Two teams with the highest absolute score shall qualify from the semi-
final rounds to the final round.
RULES
7.3 The winner of the final round, decided based on the highest absolute score
in the final round, shall be declared as the Winner of the Competition.
7.4 The counsel with the highest individual score at the conclusion of the
Preliminary Rounds shall be declared as the Best Counsel of the
Competition.
7.5 Provided that, any dispute arising out of such rounds shall be resolved by
the MCA, NLIU. The decision of the MCA, NLIU shall be final in such
regard.
8. Time Limits
The Client-Consultation Sessions shall be of the following lengths respectively:
Preliminary Rounds: 25 minutes
Semi-Final Rounds: 30 minutes
Final Round: 40 minutes
In each round, other than the Final Round, teams shall have not more than 5
minutes for the Post-Consultation Session. In the Final Rounds, 10 minutes shall
be provided for the same.
9.Use of External Equipments
Participants are expected not to bring any props or office furnishings of the kind,
for usage during the rounds. There shall be no marking done based on such
extra-offerings.
Provided that this shall not be construed as a prohibition against bringing books
or any other relevant materials into the room.
RULES
10.Competition Topics
The broad area of law, for all the rounds, shall be released a few hours before
the competition, which may be Law of Contracts, Sale of Goods Act,
Constitutional Law, Law of Crimes, Law of Torts, Consumer Protection Act,
Family Laws, Negotiable Instruments Act, IPR, IT Act, Motor Vehicles Act, RERA.
It shall be in the form of an Office Memo written by the Office Secretary for the
concerned lawyers.
11.Rules for Participation
11.1 For the purpose of the Competition, all teams shall be divided into four
pools, Pool A, Pool B, Pool C and Pool D by the MCA.
11.2 Each team in each group shall compete in two preliminary rounds in two
different room(s).
11.3 The matchups shall be released on the basis of team codes.
11.4 Upon breaking, one team from each group shall qualify to the semi-final
rounds.
11.5 The breaks shall be decided on the basis of absolute scores, i.e., the top
four teams shall qualify.
11.6 In the event of a tie of scores between two teams, the same shall be
resolved on the basis of–
First, the aggregate points of problem analysis, followed by client’s goals
and expectations (in case the aggregate points in problem analysis are the
same), followed by obtaining information (in case the aggregate points in
client’s goals and expectations are the same); and
Second, on the basis a coin (unbiased) toss, if and only if the tie is not
resolved by the above mentioned method.
11.7 The matchups of the semi-final rounds shall be on the basis of power
matchups.
RULES
12.Adjudication of Rounds
Each participant shall be marked out of a maximum of 100 marks by each judge
and every participant shall be judged for his/her performance(s) based on the
criteria that shall be notified at or before the commencement of the Competition.
13.Code of Conduct for Participants
13.1 The MCA, NLIU reserves the right to disqualify any team or participant
for any kind of misconduct on the part of any team member(s) or coach
during the Competition. In case of any doubt/dispute, the decision of the
MCA, NLIU shall be final.
13.2 Misconduct includes:
13.2.1 Disclosure of identity to other Participants during the course of the
round(s) or disclosure of the institution’s details to any judge;
13.2.2 Any attempt made by Participant(s) to obtain problem particulars with
regard to the Client-Consultation Session;
13.2.3 Any attempt made by Participant(s) to contact any judge before or
during the Competition, unless specifically invited to do so by that
particular judge(s).
13.2.4 Any other conduct which may give a team(s) unfair advantage over
another team(s).
13.2.5 Any other conduct which is regarded as such by MCA, NLIU.
RULES
14.Dispute Resolution
All grievances/disputes shall be addressed to the Convenor or Co-Convenor of
the MCA, NLIU. The body’s decision in this regard shall be final.
15.Power to Remove Difficulties
The MCA, NLIU reserves the right to add, modify or repeal any rule in order to
give effect to the purpose of the Competition.
16.Dress Code
All participants shall be in formal wear (Indian or Western) for the duration of
the Competition.
17. Competition Awards
Every Participant shall be awarded with a Certificate of Participation. However,
the best performing team(s) shall be awarded in the following manner –
Winner: Certificates along with a cash prize of ₹15,000/- and internships with
Link Legal India Law Services.
Runners-up: Certificates along with a cash prize of ₹10,000/-.
Best Counsel: Certificates along with a cash prize of ₹5,000/-.
RULES
18.Residuary
The MCA, NLIU may take such other measures as may be required for the
purposes of giving effect to any or all provisions of these rules and for the fair
conduct of the Competition.
