LSE SU Law Society: Mooting

+Introduction

The life of law has not been logic; it has been experience.

- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Welcome to the LSE SU Law Society Mooting Blog Page. This area is designed to provide information about all mooting events organised by the Law Society, a detailed guide to mooting, as well as all information regarding the structure and timetable of all Internal mooting activities for the year 2009-10.

An experience in mooting is pretty critical to any law student’s education as it is designed to simulate, as closely as possible, the experience of presenting a case in a real court. It compliments the practice of law by honing one’s skills of advocacy, interpretation, public speaking, research and presentation. Mooting also helps aspiring barristers and solicitors to acquaint themselves with the legal community by fostering relationships with judges, barristers, solicitors, distinguished academicians and moreover other students of law within the university as well as nationally and internationally.

Adversarial positions do not preclude warm friendships.

- Rosalyn Higgins, President, International Court of Justice

+What is Mooting?

A moot is the argument of the legal issues raised by a hypothetical case which takes place in the imaginary setting of a court of law.(1)

Mooting is the practice of oral presentations of legal arguments in a simulated courtroom.

A Moot Court is a mock or fictitious court of law wherein ‘mooters’ argue on the legal issues raised by a hypothetical case or problem before a judge or bench of judges.

Each moot takes place between 2 teams representing the two sides of argument, namely ‘appellants’ and ‘respondents’(2). Each team consists of 2 members, namely the lead and junior counsel. Each side seeks to convince the judge(s) to rule in their favour by way of legal arguments. The two must together research the case, draft an argument, and present that argument to the court, dealing with any questions from the judge along the way.

Participants (mooters) will be judged on the basis of their Knowledge of Law, Application of Law to Facts, Ingenuity and Ability to Respond & Rebut, Style & Formalities of Mooting and Organisation of Arguments & Mooting Strategy.

(1) J. Snape and G. Watt, How to Moot: a Student Guide to Mooting (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) at 1

(2) Note that the word ‘appellant’ may by substituted by ‘applicant’ or ‘plaintiff’ and the word ‘respondent’ may be substituted by ‘defendant’, depending on the problem of the moot and level of the court specified therein.

+The LSE Internal Mooting Competition

Mooting at LSE attempts to stretch the boundaries of classroom education, by introducing students to different areas of the law and provide a greater exposure to the vast opportunities and areas of practice within the profession.

The LSE Internal Mooting Competition is divided into two initial competitions, one for first year students and the other for second and third year students.

MOOTING FOR FIRST YEAR STUDENTS

For the first year law students, the moot will be conducted in two stages: the Qualification Stage and the Finals Stage. At the Qualification Stage, there will be 2 mooting rounds. Although mooters will be appearing before the court as a team, judges will award points to each mooter individually. Participants may change their team partner after the first Qualification moot, but not after the second.

At the end of the second round, individual scores from both moots will be totalled, and the two teams with the highest combined individual scores shall qualify for the Finals.

All moots for both the Qualification and Finals Stages will take place during Lent Term.

MOOTING FOR SECOND AND THIRD YEAR STUDENTS

For the second and third year law students, the moot will be conducted in two stages: the Qualification Stage and the Finals Stage. At the Qualification Stage, there will be 4 mooting rounds.

Although mooters will be appearing before the court as a team, judges will award points during the four Qualification moots to each mooter individually. Participants may change their team mates after the first, second and third Qualification moots. The team partners selected for the fourth and penultimate moot of the competition cannot be changed thereafter. Only teams that participate in the penultimate moot will be qualified to participate in the Finals.

In order to qualify for the Finals, individual scores of each mooter for the four qualification moots shall be totalled. The team of two mooters with the highest combined score at this stage shall qualify for the Finals.

The first two Qualification moots shall take place during Michaelmas Term. The third and fourth Qualification moots as well as the Finals shall be held during Lent Term.

THE GRAND FINAL ADVOCACY MOOT

The two Finalists of the first year Mooting Competition and the two of the second and third year Mooting Competition shall participate in a Grand Final Advocacy Moot, where each team shall be required to participate in two Mooting rounds.

The team with the highest aggregate score shall be the winners of the LSE Internal Mooting Competition. The Grand Final Advocacy Moot shall take place during Summer Term.

+Diaggramatic Structure of the Internal Mooting Competition