On February 11-12, EWMI’s Judicial Independence and Legal Empowerment Project (JILEP) sponsored Georgia’s first Client Counseling Competition for law students at Free University in Tbilisi. Unlike most “moot” competitions where students are asked to argue their cases in mock courtroom settings, the client counseling competition simulates a law office environment and student “lawyers” consult “clients” (played by actors) while being judged on their interviewing and problem solving skills by a panel of attorneys. Students from six Georgian law schools competed and found themselves wrestling with a variety of factual and legal scenarios that raised questions in such areas as professional responsibility, product liability, and criminal liability. The judge panels were made up of both local and international attorneys. JILEP will help the winning team (Free University) represent Georgia at the International Client Consultation Competition, to be held in Glasgow, Scotland in April, 2013. Just prior to the competition, JILEP spent two days training the law school teams in client counseling skills.
EWMI Sponsors Georgia’s First Client Counseling Competition for Law Students