The Forum

By:  Joanna Lekkas and Erika Nelson

Moot Court Executive Board Members

Attention all 1L & 2L’s! Are you looking to become involved with a competitive team next year?  Are you looking to get more practical legal experience beyond the books?  Are you looking to shine and refine both your written and oral advocacy skills?  Then tryout for the Moot Court Society this Spring! Moot Court is a team comprised of second and third year law students who compete in both intraschool and national competitions.  It is an intense and competitive team that requires fine tuned oral argument skills as well as clear and concise writing at the appellate level.   A number of employers require or strongly recommend that potential applicants have this team or law review on their résumés.  

The highlight of the fall semester is the annual Swygert Competition where members receive a legal problem, write an appellate brief and then argue both on and off brief in front of panels of judges.  All members participate in the oral arguments, and judges advance competitors to subsequent rounds based on both their advocacy skills and written briefs.  The number of competitors then decreases for the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, and Final Four rounds.  The final four competitors argue in the final round of competition.   The final round is judged by actual judges and justices.  In fact, two years ago Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia participated as a member of the panel for the final round!  

The second semester mostly involves preparation for national competitions. Team members travel to competitions across the country.  Teams write appellate briefs together, travel to their competition location, and compete against numerous other high profile law schools in the country.  This year, our team placed third in a Trademark competition in Chicago while outshining top law schools!

If you are interested in trying out and hopefully joining this team, please come to our informational meeting during Chapel Break on April 1, 2010 (date subject to change) to learn more and ask any additional questions.  Tryouts will take place April 19^th and April 21^st.  (times TBA). The first round of tryouts involves arguing for 10 minutes on brief.  There will be a cut after the first round of tryouts.  Those who make it to the second round of tryouts will argue 10 minutes off brief.  Those who are successful in the second round of tryouts will become members of the Moot Court Society.

Remember, all are encouraged to tryout and we look forward to seeing YOU at the informational meeting on April 1, 2010.  Please contact Joanna Lekkas (Joanna.Lekkas@valpo.edu) or Erika Nelson (Erika.Nelson@valpo.edu) with any further questions.

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