Meet team ‘Maienduo Litigators’

EDUCATION

By ZEDAIAH KANAU
THERE is a story behind every achievement in life but it is the legacy of those achievement that will be long remembered by those passing through the same corridors.
Earlier this year, three friends graduated from the Legal Training Institute (LTI) in Port Moresby.
For Francis Marus Jnr, Methuselah Pandukasi and Paul Kumanga, it’s about setting the path for fellow school of law students behind them to follow through in their legal careers ahead.
During their time at the University of Papua New Guinea (2016-19), they formed a group called the ‘Maienduo Litigators’.
The main agenda was to bring together likeminded law students to compete in the annual Sir Buri Kidu Moot court competition at UPNG.
A moot court is a competition held by many law schools around the world that replicates some aspects of real life court proceedings where law undergraduates participate through oral arguments.
They say Maienduo Litigators is more than just a moot court team, but is now an avenue to mould, develop, cultivate and foster the growth of the country’s next batch of lawyers ahead.
Marus said: “The story behind it was to bring our boys together and keep us united and try to at least take part in the Sir Buri Kidu Moot Court.
“It’s an annual competition and the law student society is always in charge of that competition and that competition is backed by many law firms as well as the Government.
“So we started in 2017, but the talks were in 2016 and then 2017 it was Methuselah Pandukasi, Paul Kumanga and myself Francis Marus Jnr and we are graduating now.
“We also have other brothers, Yavavu Luluaki, Johannes Sogoromo, Tyson Boboro, John Oveai, Alois Sinen, those were the boys we sat down and decided that we’ll come up with the Moot Court team Maienduo Litigators.

“ We just want to encourage our boys (in the Maienduo Litigators) that every level is significant, you don’t just go out there and try to be the best. You can be the best at where you are and use whatever little that you have to improvise and cultivate the culture of work”.

“One of our senior members who already passed out last year, Vincent Suapi, is now with Exxon Mobil.” Marus said in 2017 (during our second year), we went all the way to the semi-finals.
“In our third year (2018), the boys saw the potential in me for leadership roles and they nominated me within that group to be running as the Law Students Society president.
“I became the president so I pulled out of the team to be independent and the boys continued from there.”
Again (third year) they went all the way to semi-finals, lost again.
“The Moot Court team is still there; the Maienduo Litigators is still there. We are trying to as much as possible get our boys to be involved in Litigation practice. We want to get in the culture of mooting and litigation in general.
“Being a lawyer, there’s two sides to it, there’s court room lawyers and commercial lawyers so we’re trying to see the whole aspect of being a lawyer and that’s through appreciating what’s litigation and advocacy is like and what being a lawyer, commercial lawyer is like,” he said.
“We’ve been encouraging all our boys to come in and continue to maintain.”
“We also have plans that we’ll try to make this moot court team be something that if the three of us now that we go out, we will work and put money into.
“We will create an account, try to register this moot court team and we do it as a stage to develop boys in the University,” Marus Jnr said.
Another member Methuselah Pandukasi said much of law school involved inundated theoretical work so the formation of the team was to ensure fellow law students get much practical exposure as possible.
“Back then in UPNG there’s so much theory but not much practical experience so the only practical experience is through this moot court competition,” Pandukasi said.
Marus Jr acknowledged his fellow pioneer members, adding the bond they’ve created through the Maienduo Litigators moot team will carry on in their professional careers.
“For the three of us, I want to personally say congratulations for successfully completing LTI. I think we will be going into practice. We believe three of us will establish a law firm out of that moot court competition so that’s the idea,” Marus Jnr said.
“We just want to encourage our boys (in the Maienduo Litigators) that every level is significant, you don’t just go out there and try to be the best. You can be the best at where you are and use whatever little that you have to improvise and cultivate the culture of work”.
Marus Jnr said the group is made up of people from all parts of the country and students taking law in UPNG are encouraged to join the team to not only participate in moot courts but to build long lasting bonds.
“Our doors are open; we want to encourage many students to join. Our group is more diverse. We want to build that diversification; we want everyone to join us. If they want to practice and they don’t have a moot team, they can join Maienduo Litigators, he said.
The trio have been officially certified as practising lawyers in the National and Supreme Courts in Waigani.