Student Question Series- QUESTION- 3 HOW TO PREPARE FOR MOOT COURT COMPETITIONS?
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FEATURING THIS WEEK
Kajal Singh
- Qualified for International Rounds of SAARC Moot court competition
- Runner up at the 8th Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board-NLIU Corporate Law Moot Court Competition
STEP 1: Research
1. Read and familiarize yourself with the facts. Summarise the same and filter the unimportant facts to help you memorize and focus on the important ones.
2. Research thoroughly, distinguishing the facts from factoids.
3. Make an exhaustive list of authorities you intend to use.
Step 2: Memorial
1. Identify who in the team can articulate arguments better. The arguments are to be crisp and precise.
2. Putting your argument into words in a written draft might concentrate your mind. Thus, keep arguing your points with each other.
3. Avoid sloppiness in language, inconsistencies and errors.
4. Be consistent in your structure. You can follow a LRFC format (Law, Reasoning, Facts and Conclusion).
5. Make sure you include full citations and references for any material relied upon.
6. The final draft must be presentable and formal in appearance.
Step 3: Oral Rounds
1. Make a written draft of your speech and structure it with important sub-points under each issue.
2. Submit your arguments in a conversational style
3. Learn the right, formal expressions to address the judges
4. Try to plan or your oral arguments in accordance with time allowed per speaker
5. Be thorough with your arguments and focus on delivering the same in simple yet effective language
6. Listen to questions raised with utmost patience and avoid interrupting the judges
7. Be concise in your reply to a question. The time taken up by questions and replies counts against your time allocation.
Deepak Singh Jadon
- Adjudged as Octa-Finalist at 11th NLUJ Antitrust Moot Court Competition
- Semifinalist at World Rounds of Commonwealth Moot Court Competition
- Adjudged as Winner and Second-Best Memorial at 16th Commonwealth Legal
Education Association (CLEA) Moot Court Competition- Indian National Rounds 2019
In a moot court competition, the first step is to have a thorough understanding of the moot proposition. It is very important for all the team members to read the moot proposition daily. Students are required to familiarize themselves with all the legal and factual nuances of the proposition. A good knowledge of facts coupled with a legal authority to substantiate the argument helps the students to answer the questions during the oral rounds in a better way. Trust me, when the speaker confidently refers a particular fact along with its page number and paragraph number during the oral rounds, it creates a good impression of the team before the judges and shows the well preparedness and knowledge of the team members.
I feel that before dividing the issues among the team members, it is more beneficial to decide first, who will be the speaker one and two, so that both the speakers will get to research on their respective issues. However, all the team members should not restrict themselves only to their issues, it is important to discuss their individual research with other team members at least once a week, so that all of them will have an idea of the entire case. When a substantial amount of research had been done, you can start to prepare a rough draft of the memorial so that you will not get overburdened during the time of submission of final draft.
When it comes to the oral rounds, it is like a conversation between the Judge and the Advocate, so students should try to make eye contact with the judges while presenting their arguments and avoid reading of the prepared text during these rounds; instead, they can prepare an outline of their arguments which will help them in confidently arguing the case before the judges.
Self-practice of oral rounds is very important. From my experiences, I can say that no one knows you better than your own team members. So first, you should start the practice of oral rounds among yourself and once you get comfortable with your speech and issues you can call your seniors and faculty advisors to judge your practice rounds. The teams should try to give as many practices rounds as possible before different judges. By arguing before different judges of different knowledge level, they will be able to anticipate all the possible question which can be raised during the competition and can also prepare the candid responses of likely questions. This will help them to get accustomed with handling the questions.
Shalini Mishra
- Best memorial at 61st Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, 2020
- National Law School Trilegal International Arbitration Moot
Having done three prestigious moot which includes Philip C. Jessup and NLSTIAM, I can say that we need a lot of preparation on different aspects for presentation of arguments from researching on the moot issues to oral rounds. We need to learn how one must access databases for research, citation of legal authorities, a proper method for drafting, formatting and editing on MSWord and most importantly the right questions to research upon. All the things require a lot of hard work on the researcher’s part.
The oral arguments require another level of drudgery. One needs to memorize the arguments with such ease and confidence that we do not fumble at the slightest discomfort. Moreover, speakers should be prepared with the basics of all the laws relating to the moot proposition. The moots require teamwork and dedication along with the skills and brilliance.
Samyak Jain
- Adjudged as Quarterfinalist in the 7th International Maritime Arbitration Moot organised by the National Law University, Cuttack in association with Bose & Mitra and Co
- Memorial selected at the 12th National Law School Trilegal International Arbitration Moot Court Competition among top 24 entries.
In any moot court competition, what matters most is the understanding of your basic concepts on which a moot court competition is based. As per my experience, I had been on both sides of the mooting experience i.e., oral rounds or in organising rounds with MCC. I understand this now with clarity that in order to achieve success in any competition is your thorough knowledge of your basic concepts.
After reading and understanding basic concepts, it is essential to read problem many times before starting any kind of research and only starts after you start familiarising with the moot proposition. It is a key to success in any moot court competition along with hand work, positive team environment and dedication.
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