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Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli and Cambodian Bar President Ky Tech pose with the winning team.
Cambodia’s First Law Student Client Counseling Competition
Sunway Hotel, Phnom Penh
February 28 - 29, 2008
USAID’s first annual Cambodian Client Counseling Competition (CCCC) was successfully completed. Teams from five Cambodian law schools (Royal University of Law and Economics, Cambodian Mekong University, Pannasastra University, Build Bright University and University of Cambodia) competed for the honors of national champion. The competition was held at the Sunway Hotel in Phnom Penh. East West Management Institute and the American Bar Association were the implementing partners while the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia was the local partner. Over 100 law students, professors and members of the legal community attended the competition.
The U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia, Joseph Mussomeli, and President of the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Ky Tech, presided over the award ceremony. The national champion won a trip to India to represent Cambodia in the International Client Counseling Competition, which will take place in Bangalore, India from April 2 – 6, 2008. Over twenty countries are expected to compete in the international competition, including the United States, England, Australia, India, Malaysia, Hong Kong and others.
The competition places teams of law students in a simulated law office environment where they are challenged to conduct a counseling session with a “client” that is played by an actor. Their performances were scored by local and international judges. The students learned to employ important practical legal skills such as active listening, interrogation, empathy, issue spotting, legal analysis, problem solving and teamwork. The students worked with local lawyers to prepare for the competition. USAID also helped prepare the students by conducting a client counseling workshop earlier in the month.
The CCCC is part of USAID’s Program on Rights and Justice. The program focuses on rule of law and human rights issues. The CCCC is an example of the creative and exciting new methods used to teach law students important practical skills that are not being effectively taught in Cambodian law schools. These skills will make for more effective advocates in the Cambodian justice system.
