Moot Court: 4 Ways to Be Professional
Last time, we explored how the threshold for professionalism is higher in Moot Court than other events. Now, let’s figure out how to meet it.
There are lots of ways to boost your professionalism: keeping movements controlled, tempering vocal dynamism, and using closed gestures, just to name a few.
However, in this post, I want to hone in on four strategies, specific to Moot Court, and teach you how to master them.
Strategy 1: Answer Immediately
Moot Court isn’t a political debate. It’s not the time to deliver anecdotes about your working-class army veteran uncle who worked through the American healthcare system after a coal mining accident. Justices need clarity and candor. When a Justice asks you a question, your answer should be an immediate yes or no. “Yes, your honor. As this court has previously ruled in…”.
This shows that you aren’t afraid of your positions. You know exactly what you’re talking about and exactly what your answer is.
Strategy 2: Quote the Court
You should be citing cases a minimum of seven times in your speech. No argument should be made without ample case precedent.
Not only is this logical (the United States has a system of common law, meaning that all new rulings are based on past legal precedent), it tells the judge that you know your research. If you’re able to deftly reference a plethora of cases, not just in your case, but also in your answers to questions and rebuttals to opposing counsel’s points, the judge knows that you aren’t just reading a script, but truly understand how these cases apply to the arguments.
Strategy 3: Explain Cases
Many competitors fail to explain the details of the precedent they cite and instead settle for a short summary and then an explanation of how the ruling relates to the case. While this is efficient at times, find one or two cases to explain the context and situation of in order to draw a parallel between the scenario offered in the past case and the situation in the case at bar.
This demonstrates a depth of knowledge that simply citing rulings and legal tests from these cases won’t give you. Knowing and understanding the people, places, and things involved in the cases paints a visual picture in the judge’s mind that they’ll remember, as well as cementing you as the most credible person in the entire room.
With this level of expertise, you can also correct the interpretations and explanations of caselaw that your opponent’s offer. When you explain the full story of the case to the judge, you’ve gained a credibility advantage over your opponent that you can leverage to win interpretative battles.
Strategy 4: Table Manners
As in all events, reacting at the table is always a mistake. It shows that your opponent’s arguments get to you you. But they shouldn’t. You’re the professional, after all.
In Moot Court, another dimension is added. Minimize nearly all discussions with your co-counsel. Ideally, you should not be whispering or talking to each other at all. Speaking to each other demonstrates that you aren’t prepared for an argument your opponents are offering and typically looks unprofessional in the formal Moot Court setting
Instead, have a notepad between the two of you where you can write notes to each other. All necessary communication can be contained on that notepad.
If you have to speak to your partner, lean away so that the justices can’t see your lips, or use a flowpad to cover your mouth and keep it short and sweet.
Want to hear more on Moot Court? Drop us a line. We’d love to answer your questions in a future post.