Participating in Moot Court is Not a Moot Point

Barring a winter class, you are probably on break, doing whatever you can to avoid thinking about law school, and that is what you should be doing. But if your break is anything like mine, the days are flying by, and before you know it, spring semester is going to start.  

While you have time over break, it makes good sense to invest a little bit of that time into planning your next semester. Part of that planning should involve re-evaluating your study habits. Another part should include thinking about your extra-curricular involvement.

In August, we discussed getting involved in student organizations from a practical perspective, talking about the time investment different organizations take, and their benefits. In the spring semester however, there is one organization that is truly worth the time, Moot Court. 

In my post on Kaplan PMBR's blog Beyond Hearsay, I discussed the usefulness of and lessons I learned from participating in my school's First Year Student Intramural Moot Court Competition. The full post is available here, but below are the highlights. 

Arguably the most important benefit of participating is facing any lingering speaking fears. I had two major fears going into the competition during my 1L year. First, I absolutely despised public speaking. Not that I actually feared speaking per se, but standing up to speak in front of an audience, particularly one watching with critical eyes, was one of my biggest obstacles. However I found the competition to be a great place to foster my confidence in this area. As a voluntary competition, there was no real detriment to trying my hand at public speaking. If I got up and froze, I could work my way through it, and then try again another day. And it’s better for me to freeze now than to freeze during an actual case in court in front of a grumpy judge and a paying client!

The second benefit that I found from participating in the Moot Court competition was the experience. Our Moot Court competition focused on a Criminal Procedure issue, exigent circumstances. This topic is something that students usually learn in a Criminal Procedure class during their second or third year of law school and not during their first year Criminal Law class. Participating in the competition gave me both experience with and a cursory understanding of a topic that other first year students did not necessarily receive. And believe it or not, being armed with knowledge in a different topic area allowed me to set myself apart from some of my classmates for certain interviews. For instance in one interview, the employer not only asked me general questions about the competition and what it entailed to compete, but also wanted to know specific details of my argument, how I structured it and what case law I used.

The last major benefit I found from partaking in my school’s Moot Court competition was the marketability that resulted from the competition. At a minimum, competing in a competition means first, that you can read and understand case law, second, that you can formulate an argument and present it, and third that you can handle yourself in front of a judge. Naturally, the further you advance in a competition, the more meaningful it could be to an employer. However the point of the competition for me, and presumably many others, was not merely just to say I did it, although that was certainly one reason. In my case, it was also to gain membership to my school’s Moot Court Board, which is among the highest honors in law school and worthwhile membership. Employers generally favor Moot Court experience. Nearly every employer in my school’s On-Campus Interview program either required or preferred Moot Court experience, and membership to the Moot Court Board might be exactly what someone needs to get an interview at the firm they would like to work for.

If you are wondering what a Moot Court Competition is, you can watch videos here:

Hofstra University School of Law Moot Court Fall 2011 Competition: 

http://livestre.am/18j4n

Brooklyn Law School, Jerome Prince Memorial Evidence Competition:

http://www.brooklaw.edu/newsandevents/mediagallery/Videos/otherprograms/4-2-11/1.aspx

New York Law School, Robert F. Wagner National Labor & Employment Law Moot Court Competition:

http://nyls.mediasite.com/mediasite/SilverlightPlayer/Default.aspx peid=9da8b89d07fc4577b440abfc2b71335d1d