The information provided in this document pertains to students seeking to compete on any Moot Court team during the 2009-2010 school year. Tryouts are conducted jointly. Thus, you may try out for any team – and more than one team – through this process by submitting a single application, providing a single tryout brief and participating in a single oral argument.
Eligibility
You are eligible to try out during the spring 2009 tryout period if you will be a full-time, third-year student or a part-time, fourth-year student during the 2009-2010 school year. In addition, to try out you must either have successfully completed Appellate Advocacy or be enrolled in a spring 2009 section of the course (if you are presently enrolled, placement on a team will be conditioned on your passing the course). Finally, you must be in good academic standing (and remain in good academic standing during the time that you are serving on a team).
Registering to Try Out
The first thing you must do is join the Moot Court Tryout TWEN page NO LATER THAN 10 P.M. ON FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2009. On WestLaw, go to TWEN. Click on “Add Course.” Scroll down to and select “ 2009-10 Moot Court Tryouts.” Push “submit.” You must be registered on the TWEN page by the April 10 deadline even if you have not submitted any other documentation. This will allow the Board to determine with some precision the number of candidates and to schedule accordingly. Be certain that your registered e-mail address is for an account you check regularly. Much important information regarding the tryout process will be distributed via TWEN page e-mail. Therefore, you should check your e-mail daily until the process completes. Failure to promptly read an e-mail message will not be an acceptable excuse for noncompliance with any tryout requirement. In addition, you should check the TWEN page frequently – information may be posted on a piecemeal basis as it becomes available. WE CAN NOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH: YOU MUST READ YOUR E-MAIL AT LEAST ONCE A DAY – EVEN AFTER YOU HAVE SUBMITTED ALL INFORMATION AND COMPLETED YOUR ORAL ARGUMENT – UNTIL TEAM MEMBERS ARE ANNOUNCED OR RISK DISQUALIFICATION.
The Tryout Process
Candidates will be scored on the basis of their written tryout brief and a 7 to 10-minute oral argument presented before a panel of judges selected by the Board. Your tryout brief will be the final brief you submitted in your Appellate Advocacy course and will be scored anonymously. The subject of your oral argument will be the problem covered in Appellate Advocacy. Judges for both the oral argument and your brief may be Moot Court team coaches (though not necessarily the coach of a team you wish to join), faculty members, practicing attorneys, or currently-enrolled students who have served on Moot Court teams.
Logistics
Within the next week the Board will provide information on how to arrange for your Appellate Advocacy brief to be turned over to the Board and how to register for an oral argument time. We must receive your brief directly from your Appellate Advocacy instructor – no revisions will be permitted or required. The Board will not accept briefs directly from students. As part of the tryout you will also be asked to submit an application form on which you must represent that you received no unauthorized assistance in writing your brief, provide identifying information and list the teams for which you wish to be considered. On this form you must also rank teams according to your preference. Time slots for oral arguments are expected to be available by April 10 and will remain open until on or about April 28. Applicants will sign up for oral arguments on TWEN. Students who completed Appellate Advocacy prior to the Spring 2009 Semester must complete their tryouts by no later than April 22. Students currently enrolled in Appellate Advocacy will have until April 28. (No applicant will be required to give his or her oral argument until after completing the oral argument for Appellate Advocacy.) Any exceptions to the April 28 deadline must be approved by the Moot Court Executive Board.
Academic Credit
Students competing on a Moot Court team during the 2009-2010 school year must register for two units of academic credit in the semester in which their team participates in competitive oral arguments. You may not enroll in Moot Court on Web Advisor for academic credit until after you have been accepted on a Moot Court team.
Your Role on a Team
Some teams have specially-designated brief writers who do not argue and oral advocates who do not write the brief. Some teams designate a lead brief writer who is assisted by other team members. Other teams distribute brief-writing responsibility equally. If you would like details on the policy of the teams that interest you, please contact the specific coaches listed below.
Time Commitment and Responsibilities
Students who serve on Moot Court teams receive benefits from the Law School not enjoyed by other students. These benefits include (but are not limited to) extensive and ongoing feedback from Faculty coaches as well as paid travel to competitions. Providing these benefits requires the expenditure of Law School resources which, as a result, can not made available to other students. The Board and the Faculty expect students chosen for teams to take full advantage of these benefits by demonstrating a high degree of commitment to the team effort and a professional work ethic. Although the commitment varies from team to team, you should expect to devote substantial time to your Moot Court responsibilities, comparable to that which a very hard-working student would commit to a very demanding course. In addition to fulfilling any brief-writing responsibilities, students are expected to regularly attend team practices. Students must also devote substantial time outside of practice to researching issues that emerge in practice or otherwise refining arguments.
Student do not automatically receive academic credit simply because they are selected for a Moot Court team. As in any other course, the credit must be earned. Although so far it has never happened, coaches may remove people from a team, withdraw the team from a competition, and/or deny credit and report a grade of “unsatisfactory” if the coach feels that a student is not fulfilling his or her responsibilities to the team.
Students selected for a Moot Court team are automatically appointed to the Moot Court Board, an honorary society. Although the bulk of the Board’s work is performed by elected executive members, non-executive members will be called upon and will be expected to assist in general Moot Court activities. The Executive Board reserves the right to establish service requirements at the start of the fall 2009 semester. This will mostly likely entail participating on one service project per semester such as evaluating Fellows tryouts, judging at the First Year Moot Court Expedition, and assisting in the 2010-2011 team tryouts process.
Moot Court Fellows
A limited number of people who will be full-time, second-year or part-time, third-year students in 2009-2010 will be selected as “Moot Court Fellows” early in the fall 2009 semester. Fellows are apprentices assigned to particular teams. They assist in practices, provide other general assistance to the Moot Court Program, and travel with the teams to competitions at school expense. Fellows also serve as bailiffs or timekeepers at some competitions. Fellows are selected in the fall of their year of service and must commit to complete Appellate Advocacy during that year of service, if they have not already done so. Moot Court Fellows should develop skills that will greatly enhance their performance if they ultimately compete on a team. Fellows are not guaranteed selection as a competitor on a Moot Court team, nor do they receive academic credit. However, we anticipate that the skills and experience gained by Fellows should place them among the strongest students who try out. Fellows will also be expected to comply with service requirements established by the Executive Board in the fall 2009 semester.
Available Teams
Philip J. Fulton Law Office National Moot Court Team
The Philip J. Fulton Law Office National Moot Court Team provides students with an intense intellectual challenge in a practice setting, with training from attorneys, judges, and faculty advisors.
In 2002, the Philip J. Fulton Law Office agreed to enhance the advocacy program at Capital University Law School by underwriting the Philip J. Fulton Law Office National Moot Court Team. The firm agreed to financially support the team with an annual contribution to be used towards expenses associated with competitions.
There are actually two Philip J. Fulton Law Office National Moot Court Teams, one competing in the fall and one in the spring.
The fall team competes in the National Moot Court Competition sponsored by the Committee of Young Lawyers of the New York City Bar Association. The problem for this competition is released around Labor Day, a written brief is due approximately in mid-October. Practices begin in mid-October and continue until the regional competition in approximately mid-November. If the team advances out of the regional competition, students would have additional practices in the month or so leading up to the national finals. For more information about this team, please e-mail Professor Lazaroff or Professor Cohen.
The spring team competes in the American Bar Association National Appellate Advocacy Competition. The problem for this competition is typically released in early December and the written brief is typically due in early January, usually a week or two after spring semester begins. Thus, members of this team should plan to devote substantial time to brief writing over winter break. Practices run from January to the time of the regional competition, which can vary depending on the location which is chosen by the team. Students should plan to be available to practice from late January through March. If the team advances out of the regional competition, students would have additional practices in the month or so leading up to the national finals. For more information about this team, please e-mail Professor Blocher or Professor Anderson.
Child Welfare and Adoption Law Moot Court Team
This team competes in the National Moot Court Competition in Child Welfare and Adoption Law in Columbus, Ohio, which is typically held at the Ohio Statehouse and the Supreme Court of Ohio. The competition is hosted by the National Center for Adoption Law & Policy at Capital University Law School. The problem is released in early December and written briefs are due in early February. Team practices occur from mid-February through the date of the competition in mid-March (before spring break). Although it is helpful to have taken the adoption law course or other courses in family law or child welfare law, this substantive background is not necessary to be successful at the competition. For more information about this team, please e-mail adjunct Professor Lisa Eschelman at Lisa.Eschleman@erac.state.oh.us.
Corporate Law Moot Court Team
The Corporate Law Moot Court Team competes in the Ruby R. Vale Interschool Corporate Moot Court Competition hosted by Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware. This one of a kind competition in the area of corporate law includes 24 law schools from all over the U.S. The competition allows students to present oral arguments to some of the top corporate attorneys in the country. The final Bench from the 2009 competition included 3 current and former Delaware Supreme Court Justices, a U.S. District Court Judge and a Vice Chancellor from Delaware's Chancery Court. The problem typically deals with a hot topic in corporate law. For example, the 2009 problem was based on recent lawsuits against the directors of AIG and Citigroup in connection with the subprime mortgage crisis. The problem is typically released in the third week of January and written briefs are due approximately one month later. Team practices occur from late February through the date of the competition in late March (competition is sometimes held during our spring break, sometimes a week before or a week after). Practice judges include members of the Columbus area corporate bar and law school faculty members. The 2009 Team won the Donald E. Pease Award for best corporate law brief for the appellant and finished in the top 8. The team is co-coached by corporate governance expert Professor Burch, and two adjunct faculty members/practicing attorneys Adam Saad and Brandon Borgmann. For more information about this team, please e-mail Professor Burch.
Environmental Law Moot Court Team
This team competes in the National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition at Pace Law School. The problem for this course is typically released in the first week of October and a written brief is due in the first week of December. Students will devote time to brief writing in November and December and participate in practices from January until the competition, typically in the third week of February. For more information about this team, please e-mail Professor Hirsch.
Frederick Douglass Civil Rights Moot Court Team
Created by the National Black Law Students Association, the purpose of the Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition (FDMCC) is to examine legal issues of relevance to the African-American community. The problem is typically released late in the Fall Semester and written briefs are due in January. Regional competitions are generally held in February. National rounds are held later in the Spring Semester. Students participating in FDMCC must be active members of BLSA for at least one year, or apply for a waiver of this requirement. Please e-mail Professor Weatherspoon for more information.
International Criminal Law Moot Court Team
This team competes in the Pace International Criminal Court Moot. The competition is held toward the end of January. It requires learning the inner workings, policies, and procedures of the newly formed International Criminal Court, which tries cases of crimes of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes of aggression. There are three sides presented: the prosecutor, the defense, and the victim’s advocate. Each team writes three briefs (called memorials), one from each position. Then each team argues on behalf of each position on the first day of the competition. The top two teams get to compete in the world competition held at the Hague in the Netherlands.
Jessup International Law Moot Court Team
This team competes in the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. The problem for this competition is typically released on October 1 and a brief is due in early- to mid-January. Team practices occur in mid-January and continue until the competition in late February. For more information on this team, please e-mail Professor Snapp.
Labor and Employment Law Moot Court Team
This team competes in the Robert F. Wagner National Labor and Employment Moot Court Competition at New York Law School. The competition problem is typically released in mid-December, a brief is typically due in late January, and oral arguments typically occur in early March. Students who have completed course work in labor or employment law or who have other experience in this area are preferred. For more information on this team, please e-mail Professor Weatherspoon.
Sports Law Moot Court Team
This team competes in the Mardis Gras Invitational Sports Law Competition at Tulane University. In recent years, the problem has been released in mid-October, with a brief due in early January. The oral argument competition takes place in late January or early February. For this team, a single designated brief-writer will produce the brief with the assistance of other students, but will not participate in oral arguments. The brief-writer will travel with the team to the competition. Please e-mail Professor Turack with information about this team.
For information about specific teams, please contact the professors listed above.
For information about tryouts in general, the Moot Court Board or the Fellows program, please contact Professor Cohen, Faculty Advisor, at ccohen@law.capital.edu or Tony Eufinger, Chief Justice of the Moot Court Executive Board, at aeufinger@law.capital.edu.
