moot court tips

7/30/2019 Moot Court Tips

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Moot Court 5 Years, 4 Months ago Karma: 5

I have prepared an outline of tips and hints for moot court arguments and little reminders on how

the process works. I thought someone might find it helpful, so, I decided to share it. I really madethings much clearer for me and easier when it came time to go through the process...Enjoy...

MOOT COURT MODUS OPERANDI

General Reminders, Hints & Tips

1. Have a yellow pad and pen next to you at all times.

2. Take with you to the podium a vanilla folder and all cases cited or relied upon, but refer only

to notes in the vanilla folder if at all possible.

3. Take a deep breath before you engage the bench, and do not begin until you are relaxed and

ready.

4. Make eye contact as much as possibleall the time, if possible. Address questions asked by

specific judges to that judge, but general points to the entire bench.

5. Stand-up straight and tall, with good posture. Do not lean on the podiumever. Do not moveor walk about. Keep your hands either at your sides, or posed in front of your torsonever in

your pockets or fiddling with papers, pens, or other objects. Move your hands to make specific

points, but do so carefully and sparingly: youre not guiding a 747 in for a landing, so dont actlike it.

6. Show respect and give due deference to the bench at all times, and never lose your cooleven

if the bench intentionally provokes or tests you.

7. Speak s-l-o-w-l-y, LOUDLY!, confidently, calmly, and take your time. SLOW and STEADY

dont speak until ready.

8. Class beats the smart-ass every time. And its better to over-dress for success than under-dress

and look like less.

9. Smile! Its a proven fact that doctors and lawyers who smile are 50-70% less

likely to incur malpractice suits. (This also implies that smiling lawyers win more cases.)

10. You are presenting and projectingnot reading or relaxing, so act accordingly. Remember:

to sell meat, you have to sell the sizzle and the steak.

11. Be aware of red herring or white elephant questions that may be asked: avoid them, oracknowledge and dismiss them, but stay on track!

12. Lead the court: you are in control. Do not let the court guide you; however, if the court asksyou a question, answer it immediately and definitively.


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13. Watch your tone: how you say it is as important as what you say.

14. Pay attention to your time and keep on schedule.

15. Only address the bench as, Your Honor, Judge, or Justice, never sir or maam.

16. Remember (or at least write down) the judges names.

17. Know the facts and parties of the case on appeal down cold.

18. As obvious as it sounds, make sure you know if you are appellant or appellee.

19. Never use the word I always We, or, It is our position. . ., or Appellant/Appelleerequests. . ., et cetera.

20. Know the names, cites, facts, and holdings of cases supporting your position cold.

21. Listen very carefully to the question asked by the bench.

22. Listen very carefully to the comments made by the bench.

23. Answer only the question askednever volunteer more information than is necessary or

required.

24. Avoid the past passive, present passive, and future passive tenses at all costs. For example,

never say, It would have seemed . . .. or It would seem . . .. Employ active future, present,

and then past tenses as much as possible. For example, It will be . . .. or It is . . .. or It was .. .. Be firm and assertive.

25. Remember that secondary authority has no mandatory judicial applicationthis includes,treatises, law review articles, ABA opinions and rules, restatements of the law, all other non-

primary non-mandatory authority, et cetera. But also remember that other primary, non-

mandatory authority is especially persuasive, particularly opinions from: US Circuit Courts ofAppeals; US District Courts of the Primary State; US District Courts of Secondary States; State

Supreme Courts; State Appellate Courts; State Circuit Courts (virtually unpublished decisions);

State District Courts (virtually unpublished decisions).

26. Be sure to distinguishand be wary ofcriminal versus civil case citings.

27. If you dont know the answer to a question, say so. A fantastic way to dodge the answer to an

unknown question is to say openly, Your Honor, I apologize but I am not privy to thatinformation at this time; however, if it please the Court, I would be happy to research and brief

the issue, and provide the Court with a copy of my findings by 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.

28. If youre appellant, at the beginning or your argument always request 3-5 minutes of rebuttal


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time.

29. If youre appellee, always begin your argument by answering questions posed by the benchto the appellant.

30. Cite to the law first and public policy arguments second: remember, the Court couldnt careless what you think, so dont! Know your position and stand your ground no matter what: donthypothesize about what would, should, or could be.

31. When you receive the 3 or 2-minute warning, end your current point and move to yourconclusion immediately.

32. If time exhausts while you are still speaking, stop immediately, then state: If it please the

Court, I recognize that my time has expired, yet I respectfully request that the Court permit me tocomplete this final point. If the Court permits you to continue, then make your point

effectively and efficiently; if the Court doesnt permit you to continue, then say, Thank you,

and shut-up and sit down.

33. Pay very careful attention to ethics ramifications of (potential) decisions and comments:

judges love to hear about the ethical and moral implications. But along those lines, also never let

the bench force you to betray an ethical obligation you have to your client or the laweven if itmeans losing the case, being told to answer or stand silent for the duration of your time, or being

held in contempt of court. A great response may often times be, I apologize to the Court, but

due to ethical, loyalty, and confidentiality requirements that I have to my client and the law, it isinappropriate for me to disclose that information at this time. If this means youre cuffed n

stuffed, then so be it.

34. Practice. PRACTICE! PRACTICE!!!Know your shit, and KNOW you know your shit.And, when you KNOW that KNOW that you KNOW. . .PRACTICE SOME MORE!!!!! Over-

preparation will guarantee that youre retired a multimillionaire and lounging on the beach by the

time youre 40; under-preparation will guarantee that you work till 80 as a civil servant in theinner city. Practice.

35. You are an advocatechampioning a valid cause, embracing truth, and promoting justice!Your opponent is the adversaryunsure, incompetent, and a general cluster fuck. Thus, BEAT

YOUR OPPONENT AND PROVE YOUR POSITION! Losers say, I tried my best, and then

go home alone and cry in their milk and cookies. Winners say, I am the best and I just proved

it! and then go out with a group of friends, drink hard liquor, eat lobster, and entertain offersfrom wanna-bes all night. Dont be a loser. Be a winner.Believe youre the winner; think like

the winner; act like the winnerbe The Winner. As the saying goes, Play like a champion

TODAY!

APPELLANT

GREETING


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1. May It Please The Court?

2. Good Morning/Afternoon.Todd Branch [insert your name],representing the petitioner, [insert clients name), in the

case before the Court today.

3. At this time, I respectfully request that I be granted 3 [or 4 or 5, depending upon yourpreferencebut never more than 5] minutes for rebuttal at the conclusion of appellees

argument.

ISSUE

4. The issue before this court today is. . . [state issue on appeal in the form of a question]

5. The answer to that question is an unequivocal YES/NO [select one, obviously] And thus. .

. [state what answer/resolution to question should be]

REQUEST

6. We respectfully request that this Court REVERSE and REMAND the Court of Appeals and

the Lower Courts holdings. We ask that the Supreme Court find that. . . [state specific reliefrequested]

FACTS

7. Would the Court like a brief recitation of the facts of the case at this time?

[If Yes, then recite the facts from memoryand state them in a light most favorable to yourposition; if No, then proceed to the next section.]

INTRODUCTION

8. [Prepare a 1-3 minute introduction to acquaint the court with the basic ideas of the case and

explain in general terms why your position is the correct one.]

REASONS

9. Based upon these simple and apparent ideals, the Supreme Court should OVERTURN the

Lower Courts rulings for the following [state number between 3 and 5] reasons:

1. [Reason 1one sentence]


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3. [Reason 3one sentence] et seq., if need be. . .

PERSUASIVE CASE LAW and GUIDING POLICIES

10. Since there are no controlling cases in [state jurisdiction], the Supreme Court reviews this

case as a matter of first impression. Thus, Appellant respectfully requests that this Court seek

guidance from [state case name of strongest case, i.e., the one most on pointwhich usuallysupporst Reason 1 from above].

11. [Upon the completion of summarizing the first cases facts, holdings, and logic, move on to

your second strongest casewhich usually supports Reason 2 from above.]



13. [et cetera, as the Court and time permits]

CONCLUSION

14. [State a 1-3 minute conclusion here, using facts of the case to support your position, how

your clients position is well-aligned with the holdings and cases from other jurisdictions, andconclude by stating something similar to: Thus, for the reasons identified, Appellant once again

requests that this Court. . ..]

15. Thank you.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Appellees Argument Time------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

REBUTTAL

16. [Listen carefully to Appellees arguments, and questions posed, then use this time to address

those points, then concluded with Thank you. The Appellant rests.]

APPELLEE

GREETING

1. May It Please The Court?

2. Good Morning/Afternoon.

Todd Branch [insert your name], representing the respondent, [insert clients name), in thecase before the Court today.


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ISSUE

3. The issue before this court today really is. . . [state issue on appeal in the form of a question,

distinguishing itif at all possiblefrom how Appellant stated it, in a way which is more

favorable to your client.]

4. The answer to that question is an unequivocal YES/NO [select one, obviously] And thus. .

. [state what answer/resolution to question should be]

REQUEST

5. We respectfully request that this Court AFFIRM the Court of Appeals and the Lower

Courts holdings. [Make sure that the lower courts actually do agree with your position: if not,then adjust the statement accordingly.] We ask that the Supreme Court find that. . . [state

specific relief requested]

FACTS

6. Would the Court like a brief recitation of the facts of the case at this time?

[If Appellant has already stated the facts of the case, then ask the court if they would like the

facts re-stated again?If Yes, then recite the facts from memoryand state them in a light

most favorable to your position.

If No, then proceed to the next section. Or, if No, then you may request to add facts that the

Appellant may have skewed or omitted in order to make his client appear more favorable.

Thus, this means that it is imperative that you pay careful attention to any and all facts that

Appellant states during his/her argument; you need to correct inaccuracies at this time.]

RESPOND to POINTS and QUESTIONS POSED by BENCH to APPELLANT

7. [Use the opportunity to address and answer specific questions asked to Appellant that you candistinguish in a way that is more favorable to your position. For example, you may begin by

saying, At this time, I would like to address the question asked by Judge X about. . ..

Obviously, to pull this off effectively, you need to have paid careful attention to the questions

and comments directed at the Appellant, as well as the Judge who posed the question or made thecomment. Note: if you cant do it, i.e. you lack the confidence or you didnt pay close enough

attention and take the appropriate notes, then skip this part, otherwise youll screw yourself

royally.]


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INTRODUCTION

8. [Prepare a 1-3 minute introduction to acquaint the court with the basic ideas of the case andexplain in general terms why your position is the correct one.]

REASONS

9. Based upon these simple and apparent ideals, the Supreme Court should UPHOLD the Lower

Courts rulings for the following [state number between 3 and 5] reasons:



3. [Reason 3one sentence] et seq., if need be. . .

PERSUASIVE CASE LAW and GUIDING POLICIES

10. Since there are no controlling cases in [state jurisdiction], the Supreme Court reviews this

case as a matter of first impression. Thus, Appellee respectfully requests that this Court seek

guidance from [state case name of strongest case, i.e., the one most on pointwhich usuallysupporst Reason 1 from above].

11. [Upon the completion of summarizing the first cases facts, holdings, and logic, move on toyour second strongest casewhich usually supports Reason 2 from above.]



13. [et cetera, as the Court and time permits]

CONCLUSION

14. [State a 1-3 minute conclusion here, using facts of the case to support your position, how

your clients position is well-aligned with the holdings and cases from other jurisdictions, andconclude by stating something similar to: Thus, for the reasons identified, Appellant once again

requests that this Court. . ..]

15. Thank you. The Appellee rests.

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