opposing mooters and to the judgebefore the moot takes place.The judge may be a lecturer, a

lawyer or even a real House of Lordsjudge, depending upon the type ofmoot. There are a wide range ofmooting opportunities available,from the very informal practicemoots which many universities offer,to local, national and internationalcompetitions.

Why do it?There are many good reasons to getinvolved in mooting if you are a lawstudent. On a very practical level, ifyou intend to become a barrister or asolicitor advocate, then it is danger-ous to commit your time, money andfuture to a career without the valu-

T hhee nneewwss tthhaatt tthhee llaaww sscchhooooll iissoorrggaanniissiinngg aa mmoooott uussuuaallllyymmaakkeess mmoosstt ssttuuddeennttss sshhiivveerr,,

with many thinking of a good excusenot to take part and only a fewcompetitive souls genuinely thinkingit is a great idea. Yes, taking part in amoot will raise your heart rate but itis a risk-free opportunity to sharpenyour presentation skills. And while itis a formal process intended tomirror that of a court case, it isorganised by people whose aim is totrain you up to become a lawyer, notby the opposite side out to get you.

The basicsA moot is a simplified form of mockappeal, where students argue thelegal issues in a hypothetical case.There are normally two teams of twostudents, with one team represent-ing the appellant and the otherrepresenting the respondent, buteach mooter is judged on their ownperformance. A moot problem isdistributed to the mooters inadvance, containing the ‘facts’ of thecase, details of the original trial andthe two, or sometimes more,grounds of appeal. The case will usually involve legal

issues from one of the core legalsubjects, although sometimes a ficti-tious statute is given for mooters tointerpret and apply to the facts of thecase.Each mooter then researches and

prepares a legal argument address-ing the appeal ground which theyhave been assigned, and drafts awritten document called a skeletonargument which is given to the

able practice of advocacy skillswhich mooting provides.Even if you are sure that you do

not want to be an advocate, mootingwill improve your research skills,presentation skills, and confidence,all of which are transferable to manyfuture careers or situations in life.Looking to the present, since somany moot problems are based onunresolved issues in core legalsubjects, the in-depth researchundertaken for a moot will help youto get to grips with such key issues,which may well improve your marksin coursework and exams.Mooters often say that they never

forget the authorities which theyhave researched for a moot. There isalso a social aspect to mooting,

16 l YOUNG LAWYER l autumn 2008

standing out

It’s arealmoot

Although speaking in public andpresenting a reasoned argument mayappear daunting, the skills and benefitsof mooting outweigh the fears of failure

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autumn 2008 l YOUNG LAWYER l 17

including the opportunity to meetstudents from other universities and,if you do well in competitions, realsenior judges.

Prepare yourselfYou’ve taken the plunge and signedup – what do you do next? Do notpanic: there are many hints andguides available to help you toprepare for your starring role (seebelow for both paper and electronicresources).Confidence as a mooter is all in

the preparation; if you have doneyour research thoroughly, rehearsedyour arguments so that you canmake them without reading outpages of notes, and prepared therequired documentation for the

moot, then you should find that it iseasier than you expect.The first thing to do is to check

very carefully which ground ofappeal you need to prepare, andwhether you are arguing for theappellant or the respondent; thejudge will not be impressed if twopeople make the same argument!Next, you will need to read through

the rules for yourmoot, which shouldcontain details such as the lengthand order of speeches, how longyour skeleton argument should be,how many case authorities you maycite, whether you should send mate-rials to the judge in advance of themoot, and when you shouldexchange skeleton arguments withthe opposing team.You will normally need to prepare

a ‘bundle’ for the day of the moot,containing your skeleton argument,and full copies of all case authoritieson which you intend to rely.Successful mooters have well-

prepared and well-organisedbundles to present to the judge- usenumbered or coloured tabs, highlightany passages which you are plan-ning to quote, and aim to make itlook professional. As for the skeletonargument, remember that it ismeant to be brief- usually only oneside of A4 paper – but must containfull citations of all your case authori-ties, plus the key points of your argu-ment.

Formulating argumentsIt is important to know the strengthsand weaknesses of your own argu-ments and, once you receive youropponents’ skeleton argument, oftheirs too. If you have consideredthis, then any questions which thejudge asks should not throw you.But it is also important not to

prepare a full written speech, and

standing out

“Mooting will improveyour research skills,presentation skills,and confidence, all ofwhich are transferableto many futurecareers”

� How to Moot: A Student Guideto Mooting – Snape, J and Watt,G OUP (2004)

� Blackstone’s Book of Moots –Kaye, T and Townley, L,Blackstone (1996)

� The Art of Argument: A Guide toMooting – Kee, C, CUP (2007)

� Mooting and Advocacy Skills –Pope, D and Hill, D Thomson,Sweet & Maxwell (2007)

� Flick through books in your lawlibrary or at a bookshop to seewhich style of writing suits youbest before purchasing. Seewww.mootingnet.org.uk forsome reviews

MMoooottiinngg bbooookkss

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then read it at the judge; mooting isnot a test of your ability to read notesaloud, and judges often ask ques-tions designed to test whether youknow your material and understandyour arguments.So, keep your notes brief and use

‘palm cards’ rather than clutching alarge pile of A4 paper nervously. Agood mooter should be sufficientlywell-prepared that if they drop theirnotes on the floor, they can stillmake their case with only the help ofthe skeleton argument. But this iseasier than it may sound; practiceexplaining your arguments andauthorities to a sympathetic friendand they will be more convincingthan if you read a speech to them.

Selecting authoritiesAs you conduct your research, itshould become apparent quitequickly that there are several keycases which support your line ofargument, and also several veryinconvenient ones.Sadly, you must be able to deal

with the cases which go against yourargument as well as those whichsupport it; a judge will be distinctlyunimpressed if you try to misleadhim as to the law!You will often only be able to rely

upon three or four authorities, butthat should be sufficient if youchoose them carefully.It is unlikely that there will be a

recent House of Lords decisionwhich is directly relevant, since thepoint of a moot is that there shouldbe no clear legal answer to thegrounds of appeal. Make sure thatyou know whether you are referringto themajority or minority judgment,

and when you find helpful quotes injudges’ speeches, you must be ableto put them into their proper context.Many successful mooters start

their research by reading the rele-vant practitioner’s text (see below)but although very helpful, that is notenough; you need to immerse your-self in the relevant cases andresearch the academic debate onthe issues.Most moots concern very narrow

points of law, which makes theamount of research manageable inthe time available.

What are judges looking for?Most moot competitions have guid-

18 l YOUNG LAWYER l autumn 2008

standing out

Making animpact…impress thejudge withgreatpresentation

ance on the judging criteria, whichwill generally include the quality ofyour research and of your advocacy,as well as presentation. Some obvi-ous and perhaps some less obviouspointers: dress smartly, proof readall documents which will be seen bythe judge, know your way aroundyour bundle, and do a run-through ofyour moot speech so that you canask a truthful friend or relativewhether you sway, wave your handsaround or fidget when speaking.But even if amoot is very informal,

a judge will want to be persuaded byyour argument and by the manner inwhich you present it. Learn and usethe correct etiquette but avoid over-doing it. The best advocates arethose who are natural and usesimple language rather than appear-ing stiff and stilted.Judges will often attempt to get

you to make your arguments in adifferent order from that on yourskeleton argument; if this happens,it is important not to fight them!Be prepared for questions such as

‘what is the most important elementof your argument‘ or ‘what is theweakest part of your argument’; theability to answer difficult questionsshows that you have done theresearch properly and are not simplyreading pre-prepared speech. Learnfrom the feedback from any practicemoots you have had.

CCllaaiirree ddee TThhaann (left), LLB programmedirector and senior lecturer, and EEmmiillyyAAllllbboonn (right), law librarian and head ofinformation literacy, The City Law School

� Lawbore (www.lawbore.net) is City Law School’s portal, offers somebrilliant material to help you with all elements of mooting

� Check out the how-to wiki, Learnmore (http://learnmore.lawbore.net)By choosing the ‘Mooting’ category you’ll find guides to help you dealwith different types of moot judges (what do you do if your judgelooks like he’s falling asleep!), a video tutorial demonstrating hownot to moot, and a mooting beginners guide via a talking slide show.In addition to these, there are also some useful guides via the moot-ing topic guide in Lawbore, written by alumni who were extremelysuccessful mooters – see www.lawbore.net/mooting

� The alumni guides in Mooting Tips will go through all the detail wecouldn’t include here, including how to research, skeleton arguments,mooting etiquette, dealing with nerves, a big collection of FAQs andmuch more.

� Another great site is Mooting.Net (www.mootingnet.org.uk) whichincludes a wealth of information on technique, etiquette and the rest,but has lots of sample moot problems to practice on.

OOnnlliinnee mmoooottiinngg rreessoouurrcceess

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