The Moot
Each year Collas Crill hosts 'The Moot', a mooting competition for sixth form students in Guernsey. The 2015 Moot saw 16 teams compete for the Collas Crill trophy.
The students, coached by lawyers at Collas Crill, present submissions on a different set of fictitious facts each week (covering civil, criminal, negligence and employment law). Each student is marked on strength of argument, clarity, court etiquette, body language and time keeping.
Usually a senior associate or partner from Collas Crill judges, but in 2014 we were extremely honoured to have Lord Woolf sit as presiding Judge at the final, creating an amazing experience for the competing students who were (like us) delighted by Lord Woolf's enthusiasm for the event.
Feedback from students is overwhelmingly positive. Though terrified (more often than not) at first, by the end of the competition students find themselves having developed their ability to analyse, interpret and present information and are armed with a new found confidence at public speaking. Previous participants have told us that taking part in The Moot helped prepare them for interviews at university and enhanced their CVs.
In 2015 Will Thompson and Cameron Duckworth of Elizabeth College and Olivia Atkinson and Lily Davidson of The Ladies' College presented their submissions before judges Christian Hay, Ian Kirk and Paul Wilkes. With their parents, teachers, schoolmates and members of Collas Crill watching on from the public gallery, the students made their cases in relation to defamation claims brought by renowned television chef, Floella Dawson. The Ladies' College team was victorious (by a narrow margin) and their name will be engraved on the Collas Crill Moot Shield.
Sport
Paul's Channel Swim
In October Collas Crill's very own Paul Nettleship, a partner in our Guernsey property department, successfully swam the English Channel in a time of 11 hours 59 minutes. It was third time lucky for the advocate whose swim had previously been delayed twice during the summer due to poor weather conditions. Paul is a director on the board of Guernsey Chest & Heart and undertook the challenge in aid of the charity, as well as Hope For Guernsey. In total he raised over £8,000 for his chosen charities.
Swimarathon
Each year Collas Crill enters a team in Guernsey's Swimarathon, and in 2015, its 32th year, we took home the winning award in the legal category of swimmers. The event raised a record-breaking £55,000 for The Guernsey Cheshire Home which provides care for islanders with serious physical disabilities 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Over the years the event has raised over £1.25m for local charities.
Pétanque
CC team bouleish about their prospects in 2016
Pétanque
Criminally overlooked for inclusion at Rio 2016 by the International Olympic Committee, pétanque (a form of boules) is nevertheless increasingly popular in Guernsey, with its own business league in St Peter Port about to enter a fifth year.
The business league features a full four divisions and top of the pile in the Premier League in 2015 was Collas Crill's own superior pétanque pairing, David Jeffery and Tom Cutts-Watson.
The CC team achieved a perfect season – winning every game they played – on their way to the title and will be looking replicate that form in 2016.
Rowing Team
The Rowing Team
The Collas Crill Girls offshore rowing team was, in 2015, a novice crew of multitalented women including our very own Nin Ritchie. They made us proud in their debut year, rowing the grueling Sark to Jersey race (26,700 metres) in 2 hours 58 mins, taking on every race of the Herm weekend (successfully avoiding all rocks) and finished the season in an impressive 3rd place overall in the ladies quads class.
Happy New Year
from all at Collas Crill