Intraschool Competitions

 Advanced/Mock Trial/ Freshman

Advanced Moot Court Competition:

The Advanced Moot Court Competition begins during the first few weeks of classes.    This competition gives second and third year students the opportunity to practice necessary skills in appellate advocacy.  This competition requires that teams of two students combine and write an appellate brief and then present oral arguments.  During the oral arguments, each team member should be prepared to argue both Petitioner and Respondent for their individual issues. 

During oral arguments, first year students have the option to serve as bailiffs which gives them the opportunity to experience appellate advocacy before they themselves compete in the Freshman Moot Court Competition in the Spring Semester.  Participating as a bailiff does not count towards Moot Court credit. 

This is a school sponsored competition which means that scores from performance on the brief and oral arguments can be used to determine eligibility for membership on the moot court board and successful completion of the competition goes toward obtaining credits for graduation. 

The problem for the Advanced Moot Court competition is written by members of the Moot Court Board and headed by the Associate Justice for Advanced Moot Court.  Please see the Associate Justice for Advanced for information on how to access this year’s problem.

Rules for the Brief/ Oral Argument

Pointers for the Brief and Oral Argument

Past Issues/Past Winners

Mock Trial Competition:

The Mock Trial Competition is held at the beginning of Spring Semester every year.  It is open to second and third year students and grants them the opportunity to improve and practice skills in trial advocacy.  This competition requires teams of two to combine and submit a trial notebook and then participate in a mock trial.  During the mock trial, each team should be prepared to represent both Plaintiff and Defendant for their individual cases. 

During the mock trial, the Plaintiff for each round must provide two witnesses and a bailiff.  The Defendant must also provide two of its own witnesses.  It is each individual team’s duty to make sure that the witnesses are briefed and prepared to testify.  Participating as witnesses and bailiffs provide first year students with an opportunity to experience trial advocacy on an upper-class level.  Participating as a bailiff or witness does not count towards Moot Court credit. 

Though this is a trial advocacy competition, students do not have to have completed the Trial Advocacy or Evidence classes in order to compete successfully.

This is a school sponsored competition which means that scores from performance on the trial notebook and oral arguments can be used to determine eligibility for membership on the moot court board and successful completion of the competition goes towards obtaining credits for graduation. 

If you have any questions regarding this competition, please contact the Associate Justice for Mock Trial.

Rules for the Trial Notebook and Mock Trial

Pointers for Trial Notebook and Mock Trial

Past Winners

Freshman Moot Court Competition:

The Freshman Moot Court Competition is held exclusively for First year students.  The competition is held during Spring Semester every year and it provides First year students with real world experience in a litigation setting.  This competition requires teams of two to present oral arguments based on the Legal Methods II appellate brief assignment.  During the oral arguments, each team member must be prepared to argue both Petitioner and Respondent for their individual issues. The scores for the competition are based solely on performance during the oral arguments.

During the competition, the Petitioner must provide the bailiff for the round.  The bailiff can be anyone who is not currently a participant in the competition. 

This is a school sponsored competition which means that scores from performance during oral arguments can be used to determine eligibility for membership on the moot court board and successful completion of the competition goes toward obtaining Moot Court credit for graduation. 

The problem for the Freshman Moot Court competition is written by members of the Moot Court Board and headed by the Associate Justice for Freshman Moot Court.  Legal Methods II adjunct professors give the students information on how to access the problem during the Spring Semester. 

Pointers for Oral Argument

Past Issues/Past Winners