How to: Moot Court Edition

Moot court competitions are an invaluable part of every law school experience. As a Dual JD student, I have had opportunities to compete in moot court competitions on both sides of the border.

In my very first semester of law school, I had the opportunity to participate in an American law moot. Then in the second semester of my first year, my classmates and I were supposed to complete a Canadian law moot. However, the effects of the pandemic prohibited us from effectively doing so. Based on the inability to directly advocate in a Canadian law moot, I applied this year to compete in the Adam F. Fanaki Competition Law Moot in order to gain more experience with aspects of Canadian litigation. Most recently, I competed in the Patrick A. Keenan Memorial Appellate Advocacy Tournament along with my fellow colleagues. This competition was held remotely and was based on American law.

This article contains tips on how to deliver a strong oral argument in a moot court setting. These tips have helped me tremendously whenever I have had to prepare to advocate in front of others. Whether you are a student of a Canadian or American law school, these general tips will still apply, and some of them will be especially applicable to current students who have to advocate remotely over a virtual platform.

Aside from the obvious requirements of making sure you have adequately prepared by doing the research and (if required) submitting a memorandum or brief; the most important piece of advice would be to thoroughly understand the facts of the case, along with your relevant position to them. In addition, it is just as important to understand the opposing side’s arguments, since you will be referring to them during your submissions to further establish why your argument is stronger. It could also be the case where the competition requires all participants to prepare arguments for both sides, as the rules could allow for a team to choose which side they want to represent. Despite many fact scenarios usually being evenly balanced between the opposing sides, it is always helpful to know both sides of the argument…especially if you get to choose which side to argue, as you could be more comfortable with one position over the other.

The following are extra tips that have helped me during any moot court competition I have completed:

1. Memorize your entire introduction.

• Make sure to include an overall theme that will guide you through your submissions, as it ultimately stands for why the Court should rule in your favour.
• An example of how to start your theme could be “This case is centered around ____.”

2. Have a clear roadmap (and make sure it is memorized).

• Roadmaps are a necessary part of any oral argument, as it is used to clearly state your position and the relevant arguments that you will use in order to prove your case.
• An example of a roadmap is “The Court should grant/deny X for the following # of reasons ____.”

3. Introduce your arguments using numerical signposts.

• Using words such as first, second, third, etc. helps organize your arguments so you can easily guide the judges throughout your submission.

4. Be able to easily move between all of your arguments.

• If a judge asks a question about your second argument while you are only on your first argument, do not say you will address it later — go straight to your second argument to answer their question. Then you can go back to your first argument by simply saying, “now going back to my first argument”.

5. Make a point-form outline (if needed).

• When making your outline use point form instead of full paragraphs, as it will deter you from reading and will be helpful if you need to get back on track during your submission.

6. Have extra case information handy.

• In the event that you have a cold bench (very few questions from judges) or end up having time left, it is always helpful to have some extra supplemental information prepared, as ending early is often frowned upon by judges.

7. Maintain eye contact.

• If you are doing a remote moot, then consider minimizing the virtual platform so you can drag the video box right underneath your camera, so it looks like you are holding direct eye contact with judges. If you don’t do this and instead use the split screen function, then it can look like you are reading from your computer, rather than maintaining eye contact.

8. Prepare a short and long conclusion.

• This is all time-dependent. If time is almost up or if you have time to spare, you will be prepared to conclude your argument effectively in either case.
• In addition, make sure to memorize the long conclusion in order to end on a strong note. By memorizing the long conclusion, you will also remember the main points to use if you end up needing to give a short conclusion.

9. Prepare a list of all relevant legal authorities along with full citations.

• This is good to have, as it ensures you are prepared in the event that you are asked to provide direct authority for the case law that you brought up.
• I would have a simple list of all the citations that I am are bringing up and some that I might predict the opposing counsel will address as well.

I hope that this article was helpful in clarifying aspects of competing in moot court competitions during law school!