In what circumstances is it reason-able to expect naked photographs of yourself uploaded onto Facebook to remain private? This was the question grappled with by the finalists of the inaugural New Zealand Bar Association/Wellington Young Lawyers’ Committee Mooting Competition 2013. The moot final took place on Thursday 24 October at the Old High Court before a panel of three Supreme Court Judges: Justices William Young, Glazebrook and Arnold.

The finalists were Sean Conway and Matt Dodd, judges’ clerks at the High Court, as counsel for the appellant; and Edward Grieg and Hugh McCaffrey, solicitors at Bell Gully, as counsel for the respondent. It was a close and exciting match, with the respondents being declared the champions of the mooting competition at a prizegiving ceremony hosted at Thorndon Chambers. When announcing the result, Justice William Young praised the high standard of the advocacy, emphasising that he was “heartened” for the future of the legal profession.

The mooting competition took place over two months, beginning in early September, when the participants received the moot problem and attended a training session run by Karen Clark QC and Matthew Smith of Thorndon Chambers. There were three rounds of moots in the competition.

The moot judgment, authored by Tim Cochrane, is available online from the “NZ Bar Association/YLC Mooting Competition Final 2013” page at www.younglawyers.co.nz.

Elizabeth Chan was the co-ordinator of the NZBA/YLC Mooting Competition 2013. She also works as a judge’s clerk at the Supreme Court of New Zealand.