What is mooting?

A moot is a form of legal argument, presented orally in front of a judge, between two pairs of advocates. In a moot, two teams of advocates argue a hypothetical legal case, usually appealing a decision from a lower court. Each of the four advocates will present his or her argument to a judge and will be scored on a number of different criteria. Mooting is absolutely vital if you are considering a career in law, but is equally useful to those people planning to pursue different paths. It is a common misconception that mooting is only for wannabe barristers, and yet many LPC providers now include advocacy as a compulsory module on the course. The skills that mooting will help to develop will enhance your degree and can be transferred to many occupations. Mooting is a very good way of discovering how to use the library, honing research skills, increasing confidence and improving public speaking, as well as developing the art of legal argument.

How do I get involved?

At Exeter we have a range in mooting standards and competitions to fit all abilities. The annual Western Circuit Mooting Competition, our internal competition, is open to everyone from complete beginners to seasoned experts. The first round is very laid back and we encourage everyone to give it a go. If you decide that mooting is not ‘your thing’ there is no obligation to continue to the second round. In addition there is the Ashfords Mooting competition for beginner mooters against Plymouth, which was established in 2006. You cannot take part in external competitions in your first year (other than the Ashfords Competition), as you will not be eligible for external moots until you have reached a certain level in the Western Circuit Mooting Competition. Generally in order to qualify for external moots you must have reached the semi finals in the preceding year, although this can change from year to year and could instead be the quarterfinals. Once you have reached the required standard of mooting there are opportunities to take part in external competitions at both a national and an international level. Have a look at the Mooting Events page to find out more!

How does it work?

A typical moot problem deals with a disputed area of law, in the form of an appeal against the decision in a lower court. In the problem there will usually be two grounds for appeal that are clearly stated.

There are usually 4 participants who are divided into two opposing teams. On each team there is a lead and a junior counsel. The lead counsel deals with the first ground of appeal and the junior deals with the second. Each mooter is allocated a certain amount of time in which to speak and it is important that you don’t exceed this. During the first few moots that you do it is unlikely that you will have to speak for more than 5 minutes. It might sound like a long time, but once you’re on your feet and presenting your argument the time will fly! In addition to the set time that you’re given you will also be responding to judicial intervention – questions or comments from the judge. As you progress through the rounds you are given longer to speak. In the Grand Final it will be 15-20 minutes, as it is in external competitions.

In competitions such as the internal one that we hold, each mooter is scored individually. In an external competition, however, the lead and junior appellant are scored as a team, as are the lead and junior respondent. The judge will listen to all four arguments and then allocate scores based on 4 main criteria.

These 4 criteria are: Law, Presentation, Etiquette and Response to Judicial Intervention.

When entering a mooting competition, it is essential that you prepare your argument well. This involves researching the relevant area of law, selecting appropriate statutes or cases to use as authorities and preparing some structure for your argument. You may also be required to provide a skeleton argument for the judge and your opposing counsel.

Structure

At the start of a mooting competition (or at the beginning of each round in the internal) you will be given the mooting problem. You will generally be asked to submit to the organiser of the moot, the citations of the authorities that you wish to rely on, 48 hours before the moot. In the initial rounds of the Western Circuit competition at Exeter this is simply to give us time to collect together all the relevant books. In later rounds and in external competitions it is also so that the opposition know which cases you are going to rely on and vice versa.

In the Western Circuit Moot there will be one judge in each moot until the Grand Final where there are three. In external moots this can vary and even in Ashfords there will probably be two.

In a standard moot court there will always be at least six people in the room. In addition to the 4 mooters and the judge there will also be a clerk. The clerk’s job is to assist the judge throughout the moot. This includes passing books or bundles to the judge and timekeeping. The clerk will let you know when you start to run out of time. In the first few rounds the clerk will hold up a warning sign when there are 2 minutes remaining, 1 minute remaining and when you are out of time, but this varies between competitions.

The first person to speak is the Lead Appellant, followed by the Junior Appellant. The Lead Respondent will then present his or her case and finally the Junior Respondent will conclude the moot.

The judge may then give some feedback or give a judgment on the law and announce the winner of the moot. Remember that the winner on the law and the winner of the moot may be different sides!

The room will be set out for the moot as follows:

Dress smartly for the moot. You will be provided with mooting robes to wear which will help make it feel like a courtroom, but would look silly with jeans and trainers! Try not to move around or gesture too much when talking to the judge. This may distract the judge and detract from your argument. Remember that if there is anyone watching the moot they will be behind you, so you won’t have to see them or even know that there is someone there! It's only the judge who has to worry about people watching!