Moot Court
Moot Court is a prestigious honor unique to law school. In substance, it is similar to the Legal Skills II oral argument. In practice, it is much more rigorous and time intensive. As a Moot Court competitor, you and your partner will be solely responsible for the substance of your brief. It will require strong research, writing and oral argument skills. It is one of the highlights of any law school career.
You will compete against the top writers and oralists from the top law schools in the nation. Recent competitors have included U.C. Berkeley, Brigham Young, Chicago, Duke, Fordham, Georgetown, Loyola, Michigan, Ohio State, Tulane and William and Mary. Pierce Law has done very well in recent competitions ranking in writing, arguing and overall categories.
Students who participate in moot court competitions gain skills in both
written and oral advocacy. Students are able to:
- Choose their competition
- Secure faculty sponsorship and coaching
- Work out internal selection procedures to select the team
- Do the research, writing and practice necessary to prepare professional solutions to the problems posed for the contests
- Trial advocacy - criminal and civil
- Health law
- International law
- Intellectual property - patents and trademarks
- Cyberlaw
- Client counseling
- Appellate advocacy
- Corporate law
Appellate Moot Court Intra-School Competition
Interested 2Ls and 3Ls may apply to compete on one of the appellate moot court competitions. To apply, students must complete Legal Skills I and II. Furthermore, applicants must enroll in Advanced Appellate Advocacy as well as the substantive course related to the competition in which they seek to compete.
The Moot Court Board evaluates and selects applicants from through a try-out process consisting of three parts: moot court oral argument, Legal Skills II appellate briefs and individual interviews. First, thr Moot Court Board will provide applicants with a moot court problem, which generally includes a brief fact pattern, relevant statutes and case law. Using the material provided, the applicants must prepare a ten minute oral argument.
Professors, Moot Court Board Justices and outside attorneys will judge the oral arguments. Second, the applicants must submit a copy of their Legal Skills II Appellate Brief. Third, the Moot Court Board will interview each applicant individually.
The most qualified applicants will be selected to compete and represent Pierce Law across the nation in the inter-school moot court competitions. The moot court teams range in size from two to five person teams.
Contact us
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| Margaret Sova McCabe Professor of Law and Moot Court Adviser (603) 228-1541 ext. 1261 mmccabe@piercelaw.edu |
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| Deborah Hoefs Administrative Assistant Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program Administrative Assistant (603) 228-1541 ext. 1116 dhoefs@piercelaw.edu |
