THE LOUIS M. BROWN INTERNATIONAL CLIENT COUNSELING COMPETITION

The Louis M. Brown International Client Counseling Competition for the year 2007-08 is being hosted by THE NATIONAL LAW SCHOOL OF INDIA UNIVERSITY, Bangalore. This initiative, which was first started in 1969 and subsequently adopted by the American Bar Association in 1972, emphasizes the importance of extra legal and personal skills in the legal profession and focuses on a pertinent understanding of the needs of a client, informing them of all available options, including and emphasizing non-litigious solutions and alternate dispute resolution, these skills having been come into sharper focus in recent years.

This pioneering initiative was started in the 1960’s by Los Angeles lawyer Louis M. Brown to address the failure of legal education to include the apparently assumed skills of interviewing and advising. The competition became international in 1985 and has been an annual competitive event open to universities across the world. Today, client counseling is at the forefront of activities forming the mandate of professional associations and regulatory bodies in the legal industry worldwide, and is a critical component of any skill-set development needed in the legal field. The format of the competition simulates a law office where two lawyers interview a client for 35 minutes and reflect on the process and outcomes of the interview after the client has left. This takes place before a panel of two/three judges. Interviews are evaluated on several specified criteria. All involved can vouch for the intense learning experience and for the potency of the message to education and practice. Each participating country sends one team, usually the winner of its national competition. Past competitions have seen teams from dozens of nations participate, representing the top law schools in the world. This fact is unsurprising when one considers the fact that the Louis M. Brown International Client Counseling Competition is well accepted to have established itself as one of the few top international competitions aimed at law students to generate interest and exposure to the specific area of client counseling.

THE COMPETITION THIS YEAR It is a matter of great pride that this is the first time such an international event is happening at a South Asian varsity. The previous editions of this initiative have been held in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Singapore and the last edition being in Australia.The competition will take place between April 3 and 6, 2008 with a focus on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. We expect to host participants from the top law schools of over 35 countries. The inaugural function will see eminent dignitaries from the judiciary and the legal profession as well as representatives from the media and the international community. The event promises to be more than just three days of competition, it will be a medium of cultural exchange between delegates from numerous countries.