Imagine a courtroom. A slickly dressed lawyer with impeccably combed hair turns to the jury, slams documents down on his table, and yells, “Your Honor, I rest my case!” A murmur ripples through the audience, a white-faced witness steps down and returns to his seat. The air is electric.

That’s not Moot Court.

Moot Court is created to emulate oral arguments presented before the Supreme Court. In the Supreme Court, the stereotype of impassioned trial lawyers is left outside.

The NCFCA rules reflect this, saying, “Delivery should be formal, exhibiting the utmost professionalism and respect toward the justice(s) presiding in the round.”

On Monday, we discussed how to begin building your case and researching. Today, we hone in on presentation.

Why? Presentation Wins Rounds.

One of the distinguishing factors of Moot Court is the fact that prelim rounds are decided by speaker points. The ballot for the 2020 season has yet to be released, but if past seasons are any future indicator, the winner is the team that best exhibits an understanding of the material, responds to questions well, and masters persuasive delivery. In Moot Court prelim rounds, presentation is the key to victory.

The Credibility Threshold

In a past post, Coach Joseph discussed minimum thresholds in delivery competencies. In Moot Court, these same thresholds exist, but with one adjustment.

Judges expect a higher threshold of professionalism from you in this event. In future posts, we’ll explore how to adjust your presentation to meet judge expectations. But to understand why you need to, let’s explore what each judge is looking for in a Moot Court competitor.

Judge 1: The Community

A community judge is going to enter Moot Court with only the information that NCFCA gives them. This consists of a training video which you can (and should) view here, and an explanation of the case with a handout of example questions which they can ask you.

After this training, the judge will have some knowledge of the case, but not a lot. They’re likely walking into the round with a lot of questions as to how it should go.

For this judge, the demeanor of a professional is reassuring. Your gravitas signals to the judge that even if they don’t know exactly what you’re doing, you do.

Judge 2: The Parent/Alum

A parent or alum has likely judged a Moot Court round before or coached and worked with competitors. They may even have familiarity with the case at bar.

This judge wants you to get all the facts right. They want you to behave in the way befitting a Moot Court competitor. Their experience with the event means that if you begin shouting about the tyranny of government or crack a joke about your childhood experience with ‘cruel and unusual punishment’, they’ll mark you down. Professionalism is a prerequisite to high marks because of their past experience with the event.

Judge 3: The Legal Expert

The NCFCA does a phenomenal job of reaching out to State, Circuit, and District courts, law firms, and law schools to bring in justices from the community. Often, you’ll get current lawyers, judges, or law students judging your rounds. This is especially prevalent in outrounds. At nearly every Moot Court tournament, the NCFCA solely stacks their panels with this category.

If you’re not a professional, they won’t even take you seriously.

This type of justice has experience in the legal field. They know what constitutional lawyers are supposed to look and act like. If you don’t fit into that category, they’ll discount you immediately. Impress them! As they throw question after question at you, don’t falter, respond intelligently and maintain the most professional demeanor possible.

They’ll admire you for it.

Next week, we’ll break down how you can become the professional.