MOOT COURT COMPETITIONS
2009-2010

National Appellate Advocacy Competition

Oregon Law Students Advance to Nationals. Read more.

Dates
September 16, 2009

MCB Contact
Grady Goodall
Mary Margaret Montgomery

Description
This competition is open to second year law students. The competition involves brief writing, research skills, oral argument, and appellate procedure, generally building upon skills learned in Legal Research and Writing. Selection process: students are initially selected based on their LRW appellate brief score. The sixteen top candidates present oral arguments to a panel of judges in Fall. Four of these students will then be selected to compete at the regional competition in the Spring. Each student competing at regionals prepares a brief on a significant appellate issue, as well as an oral argument on that issue. For more information please consult: http://www.abanet.org/lsd/competitions/home.html.

NEGOTIATION

Dates
September 22, 23, 29, and 30

MCB Contact
Marco Boccato
Jen Maks
Lauren Charles
John Kesselring

Description
This competition is open to all law students. The negotiation competition focuses on alternative dispute resolution skills. Teams of two will be selected at random to compete. In total 32 teams will be selected to compete. The two top teams will be sent to the regional competition. For more information contact the designated organizers. For more information please see www.abanet.org/lsd/competitions/home.html.

MOCK TRIAL

Dates
October 6th and 7th

MCB Contact
Annette Smith
Blake Johnson
Jennifer Nicholls
Jeff Kane

Description
This competition is open to second and third year law students. Competitors watch a direct examination on video and then enter the courtroom to conduct a cross-examination of the same witness. The following evening competitors deliver a closing argument. The competition's panel of judges is comprised of local attorneys and/or judges. The top competitors advance to the Regional Mock Trial Competition, in which the teams participate as counsel in a full trial. The winners from the regional competition advance to the national competition. For more information please see www.tyla.org/advocacy_ntc.html.

NATIONAL TAX LAW MOOT COURT COMPETITION

Dates
Oral Arguments: November 3rd, 2009

MCB Contact
Amy Summerer
Kristin Denmark

Description
This competition is open to second and third year students. Competitors will write a short appellate brief (closed universe) on a tax law issue and present oral arguments to a panel of judges. The top three students will advance to the national competition in Florida, which will take place in Spring 2009. One alternate will also be selected.

CLIENT COUNSELING

Dates
October 20 - 21

MCB Contact
Jon Liou
Annika Leerssen
Aaron Millstein
Sharlei Hsu

Description
This competition is open to all students. Competitors conduct a client interview in self-chosen teams of two. The teams act as a mock law firm, conducting an initial client interview for approximately 15 minutes. A panel, comprised of local attorneys and psychologists, judges the teams. After two nights of elimination, the winning team competes in a regional competition. Winners of the regional competition advance to a national competition. Winners of the national competition then advance to an international competition. Several years ago, our team made it all the way to Australia, where they won the international competition! This year's topic will be Nuisance Law and Disputes Between Neighbors. More information will appear as it becomes available at www.abanet.org/lsd/competitions/home.html

PACE ENVIRONMENTAL LAW MOOT COURT COMPETITION

Dates
Oral Arguments: October 8th

MCB Contact
Casey Gillham
Sung Yon (Christine) Kim
Jonathan Sanders
Liz Holsapple

Description
This competition is open to second and third year students. The Pace Environmental Moot Court competition focuses on brief writing and oral advocacy skills relating to issues in environmental law. Teams of two to three participants will join together to write a brief on the topic, then will go before a three judge panel to make their oral argument. The written and oral portions of the competition will be equally weighted in grading, and the top team will advance to the national competition. For more information contact the designated organizers, or see http://www.law.pace.edu/environmentalm/

MOOT COURT BOARD

WHAT IS MCB?

The Moot Court Board is a long-standing and prestigious 20-member student organization comprised of 10 third-year students and 10 second-year students. The Board organizes and runs the law school's oral advocacy program. Currently, the Board runs six intraschool competitions each year. At these competitions, a regional team is selected by judges from the local legal community. These teams then compete at the regional level against other law school teams for a chance to represent their school and region at the national level.

MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of the University of Oregon Moot Court Board is to: (1) provide students with academically challenging and diverse opportunities to develop oral and written advocacy skills which are essential components of the practice of law; (2) provide the School of Law with a viable competitive moot court program that will enhance the school's professional development of its students and produce competent and professional student representation in competitions with other law schools; (3) provide the practicing bar with an opportunity to help shape the skills development of future attorneys; and (4) provide Board members with an opportunity to develop legal research and writing skills through problem development and competition coordination.

MEMBERSHIP SELECTION

New Board members are chosen each spring from the first-year class through a combination of their LRW appellate brief, a cover letter and an interview. While excellent LRW skills are one qualification for Board membership, additional criteria include an active interest in leadership, organizational and administrative skills, and the ability to resolve disputes in a professional manner. Ten new members are selected every year. Membership for 2010-2012 will be selected in March and April 2010.

Each member of the Board serves for a two-year period. Duties include organizing and running one of the intraschool competitions, attending regular Board meetings, and completing miscellaneous projects on an as needed basis.

The organization of a competition can involve the research and writing of the particular competition's problem, judging the memos or briefs submitted for the competition, contacting members of the local legal community to request their participation as judges, and other administrative duties inherent in running a competition. For their efforts, each member of the Board receives one credit per semester.

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