Opportunities in the Advocacy Program

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE ADVOCACY PROGRAM

There’s normally a big meeting in the spring to introduce rising 2Ls to the Moot Court Board and the Advocacy program and to let everyone know of the opportunities. Since the meeting is impossible this year, here’s the basic information that we would have covered in the meeting. I don’t know how to make up for the pizza we would have provided.

MOOT COURT BOARD

The Moot Court Board is an organization of twenty third-year students that runs the in-school moot court competitions and coordinates the travel team program. Students who have successfully completed two moot court competitions (in-school or travel teams) are eligible for Board membership. Students are elected to the Board in the spring of their second year based on success in competitions. A five-member executive committee (Chief Justice, Associate Chief Justice, and Associate Justices for Advanced Moot Court, Mock Trial, and First-Year Moot Court) runs the Board. Board members on the executive committee receive two academic credits in spring of their third year; other members receive one credit.

IN-SCHOOL COMPETITIONS

The Board runs two competitions for second and third year students: Advanced Moot Court in the fall and Mock Trial in the spring. Students in both competitions compete in teams of two. Successful completion of an in-school competition earns half of an academic credit. Students who competed in the First-Year Competition, for instance, are eligible for one credit on completion of Advanced.

Advanced Moot Court is an appellate advocacy competition, arguing two timely legal issues before the mock Supreme Court. Students write a brief and then compete in the oral argument competition. The competition is closely integrated with the Appellate Advocacy class in much the way the First Year Competition is integrated with Legal Methods. Students work on the brief in Appellate Advocacy and the draft brief for class is the competition brief. The class then turns to oral argument as the oral arguments begin for Advanced.

Mock Trial is a mock jury trial competition. Teams write motions and then compete in mock trials from opening statement through closing. The competition is not integrated with a class but gives students a chance to put what they learn from Evidence into practice.

TRAVEL TEAMS

The School sponsors teams in a number of interschool moot court and mock trial competitions. Outside groups (such as the ABA) write the problems and organize the competitions. Students from schools across the country work with coaches to prepare for these competitions and then travel to compete against other schools. Some competitions, such as National Moot Court and the National Trial Competition, have regional competitions from which the top teams advance to Nationals; others are single competitions. Members of Moot Court travel teams who work on the brief and argue orally earn two academic credits; students who

only work on the brief earn one credit. Mock trial team members earn one credit because the competitions do not have a writing component.

Try-outs for travel teams are held at various points in the fall semester. The first team for which try-outs will be held in the fall is the National Moot Court team; this is the only team that actually competes in the fall. (National Moot Court team try-outs are usually held in the spring after the First Year Competition is concluded but we’re waiting this year in light of the exceptional circumstances). Memphis hosts one team of two or three students who compete in one of the largest competitions in the country, hosted by the New York City Bar Association. The problem comes in mid-September, the brief is due in mid-October, and teams compete in regionals in mid-November. The top two teams in each region advance to Nationals, held in New York in late January or early February. Students who are in Appellate Advocacy and on the National Moot Court team use the Nationals problem for the Appellate Advocacy course and the Nationals brief is the brief for the course.

COURSE OFFERINGS

The Law School offers courses in all aspects of advocacy: appellate advocacy, trial advocacy, arbitration and mediation. There are also advanced writing courses in the advocacy area. While students may take the courses in any order, the standard progression is to take Appellate Advocacy in fall of the second year because it is integrated with the Advanced Competition and then take Trial Advocacy and other courses beginning in the spring.

Appellate Advocacy is a three-credit course offered in the fall that covers the basics of written and oral appellate advocacy. Students use the Advanced problem as the basis for the course. The first half of the course follows the steps in writing an appellate brief, resulting in a brief that students in the Advanced Competition submit as their competition brief. The class then turns to Appellate Advocacy during Advanced and the semester concludes with in-class arguments.

Appellate Advocacy is the basic course for all moot court competitions. Almost all students selected for moot court travel teams begin by taking Appellate Advocacy and competing in Advanced.

What should I do to get involved? Students interested in participating in moot court should enroll in Appellate Advocacy. In the fall, keep an eye out for information on National Moot Court try-outs and the Advanced Competition. Information on mock trial and other travel teams will follow later in the fall. Questions? Email Director of Advocacy Kritchevsky (bkrtchvs@memphis.edu) or Chief Justice Angelica Jacox (Angelica.Jacox@memphis.edu) with any question