At Newcastle Law School mooting is a tradition that is going from strength to strength. The Law School runs two internal competitions: The Junior Competition (for first years) and The Senior Competition (for the rest of the Law School). Externally, the Law School also participates in Inter Varsity Competitions.
The quality of the Law School mooting is no better emphasised than by looking at the success in the Inter Varsity competitions. Our teams reached the Quarter Finals of the E.S.U. National Championship and won the Oxford University Press National Competition. In 2004/2005 we successfully mooted against Edinburgh University, Glasgow University, Durham University, Manchester University, Southampton University, Sheffield Hallam University, University of Central England, Staffordshire University and Kings College London. These significant achievements were followed by a very strong internal competition in 2005/06. This year promises to be just as successful.   

The most important aspect of mooting at Newcastle Law School, however, is that everyone has the opportunity to take part. First Years have a special opportunity by way of their own competition to participate with their peers who generally have had no experience before. This is also yet another way to meet your future friends! The fiercely competitive Senior Competition is open to all non first years and culminates in the Senior Team Final held at the Moot Hall in Newcastle. Above all though is the sense of enormous achievement and pride that all mooters feel, many of whom rate mooting as one of the best things they’ve done with their time in the law school.

Please read on to find out a bit more about mooting below, but if you want any further information or have any questions please feel free to contact myself (Nick) at Nicholas.Moule@ncl.ac.uk or Faz at Farruh.Shermatov@ncl.ac.uk

A Rough Guide to Mooting

So…What is Mooting?
Mooting can simply be described as a legal argument on a point of law between two sides. The moot will consist of two teams of two people arguing against each other on a point of law. Both sides will be presented with a fictitious case in either the Court of Appeal or The House of Lords, and will be told whom they are representing.

These cases will nearly always be “hard cases.” In other words there is no right or wrong answer. You will be judged on your ability to argue your side of the case, and not on the eventual outcome. Winning the argument does not mean winning the moot.

What's Useful About Mooting?
Mooting helps develop useful legal skills such as the ability to analyse, pick key aspects of a case or problem areas of law and develop logical arguments. It also develops public speaking skills and undoubtedly improves the participant's confidence. This development of confidence is not only in their legal knowledge but also their ability to reason with a hostile Judge or an opposition argument.

With this in mind, mooting is very useful when applying to law firms or Barristers Chambers for vacation schemes and mini-pupillages. Showing an interest in the law is a prerequisite of applications for vacation placements and training contracts, and mooting is one of the easiest ways to show this. It also evidences an interest in the law extending beyond your degree and helps to begin to develop those skills that will be needed in your professional life. Even for those of you not intending to pursue a legal career it looks great on your CV, provides a discussion point in interviews and helps to develop communication and research skills that could be beneficial to any career path.

Mooting can also help enormously while studying and as it means you look in depth at some areas of the course and will know them inside out after preparing for a moot. This can save hours of revision time later on and enables you to concentrate on other sections of the course when it comes to revision.

Junior Competition
When given the chance, are you persuasive? Do you think you can argue a point of view with clarity? Can you empathise with an opposing argument but subtly reinforce your own? Do you answer questions clearly and succinctly? If you can, you are already an advocate, you just don’t know it yet!  

 The skill of being able to successfully present a legal argument is one that students new to the law school will in all likelihood not realise they possess. Many students entering the law school may not even have heard of the practice. However, this is why Mooting should be attempted by all.

Mooting provides you with the opportunity of developing your confidence and knowledge and maybe even getting your name on the prized Mooting Board! In many ways this is how first years should approach the first year competition…you have nothing to lose and everything to gain, all you have to do is stand up and have a go.
 Just remember…

• Everyone will be in the same boat of having never mooted before.
• There are 8 final places up for grabs…all that are awarded prizes.
• In all likelihood and from past experience, the winner wont be the most intelligent person in the year, may not be the hardest working person in the year…but the winners will be confident in their preparation, picked the areas of the case where they can submit a persistent and logical argument and have developed confidence through the proceeding rounds to answer the Judge with confidence and clarity.
• To be a finalist in the Mooting Competition is gold-dust on a CV

“No matter how hopeless the cause…what counsel must do is to follow the great tradition of advocacy: to make mountains out of molehills, to find a point of law where none had previously been known to exist, to ensure that the client does not lose the case without everything possible (and, on occasion some things impossible) being said on his behalf.” Pannick, D. Advocates OUP, 1993 p5.

Senior Competition
 The Senior Competition is open to all 2nd and 3rd Years, the important aspect is the participation of all who wish to. You do not need to have competed in the Junior Competition to take part. It culminates in the Flagship event of the year for mooting, the Senior Team Final at the Moot Hall in Newcastle.
If you haven’t mooted before here is your chance, it’s never too late to start mooting! If you have already mooted, this may be year of ultimate success!

Which Areas Will be Mooted On?
For the Junior Competition (1st year Law Students and 2nd Year Dual Honours Students), all moots will be on Contract Law.
For the Senior Competition, problems will be on Criminal Law, Tort Law or Equity. Getting startedWhen you pick up your moot problem, read it thoroughly. Your first task is to work out which side you are representing. If you are the Appellants, then look at which Court you are in. If in the Court of Appeal, then you are arguing against the decision of the judge at first instance. If in the House of Lords, you are arguing against the Court of Appeal judgment. Likewise, the Respondents are seeking to affirm the decision of the Court below. It is also important to note that judges cannot overturn decisions in the Court above. Remember, therefore, that you cannot ask a judge in the Court of Appeal to overturn any decision made in the House of Lords.
More often than not, the points to be argued will be listed and numbered at the bottom of the problem. It is important to stick to these points. Many mooters lose marks by going onto irrelevant points.

The next job is to divide the work between the two members of the team (Senior and Junior Counsel). It is usual that the Senior Counsel in each team will deal with point 1 of the moot, and the Junior Counsel with point 2, but this is not a prerequisite. Although you are splitting the work, it is still useful to work together, as this will allow your argument to flow more easily than if you work separately.

Work out the area of law involved and research this area. This will involve reading textbooks, cases and academic opinion on the area. If any cases are mentioned in the problem, it is vital that you read the relevant parts of the case at the very least, and it usually advantageous to know both the facts and the rest of the judgments fairly well for when you are questioned. Look at the major cases mentioned in the textbooks, especially if you feel that they go against your case. If you feel you have the more difficult argument to make, then you can almost always tell exactly what your opponents will use as authority, enabling you to structure your argument around refuting the points you feel they will make, as well as making your own.

Once you have decided what your “angle” on the problem is going to be, and once you have found the passages in judgments that you feel support your case, your next task is to produce a “skeleton argument” to hand to your opponents and your judges. This consists of a short summery of your arguments (don’t give too much away!) and ALL legal authority you will be using. There is a limit of authorities you may use. This limit does not include cases mentioned in the problem, but does include academic comment. It is important that you do not exceed this limit. The skeleton authorities allow each side to get a rough idea of the arguments the other will be making, and allows the judges to read up on the case law.Writing your speech Once the skeleton authorities are in, all that remains is to write your speech. The first thing to do is to look at your point of appeal. This will usually consist of a one-line breakdown of the contentious part of the previous judge’s decision, and can almost always be broken down into smaller points. Look at each of the smaller points you wish to make and look through your authorities, then structure a verbal argument around these to make the points you wish to make. Remember that your citations do count in the time allowed for your speech, so try not to make them too long! Remember to ask the judge if he is aware of the facts of any of the cases you cite, and also remember that if you are asked to recount the facts, this does not count in the time allowed. If you are the Senior Appellant, it is your job to introduce yourselves and your opposition, and ask the judge if he/she would like a run through of the facts. Junior Counsel for both sides may also like to run through a summary of the side’s arguments, but try not to make this too long.

Court Etiquette
Etiquette is one of the hardest things to master in mooting, purely because the speech used is so different to everyday.
 When addressing the judge, you must always use “My Lord/Lady,” or “Your Lordships.” When presenting an argument, make sure to always ask the judge first – “May it please your Lordship, I would like to proceed with my first point.”- You must then wait for the judge’s approval. When introducing the Moot, Lead Counsel for the appellant should introduce him or herself – “May it please your Lordship, I am Mr/Miss _, Lead Counsel for the appellant in this matter. This is my Junior Counsel, Mr/Miss _. Our learned friends, Mr _ and Miss _ will be representing the Respondent. Is your Lordship aware of the facts of this case?”
When answering a question first of all pause to think through your answer. You are not timed on questions and so take care with your answers. Always respond to the judge with “While I take your Lordship’s point, I would submit with respect...” or “I would respectfully contend that…” All points must be made, with respect, or respectfully to the judges, as they are the sole arbiters. Library Rules All mooters must note that any books left in the Mooting Room must be accompanied by a Mooting Sheet, otherwise the books will be removed. Any books removed from the library for a moot must be cleared with the library staff first, and re-shelved immediately following the moot.

Please Note…
This is intended only to be a guide! You can use your own phrases and ideas along the way. Mooting is supposed to be fun, as well as looking good on your CV.

More in depth help can be found in the mooting books in the library, and at: http://www.mooting.net and http://www.ncl.ac.uk/nuls/lectures/mooting

Good luck!

Nick - Master of the Moots Nicholas.Moule@ncl.ac.uk

& Faz – Vice Master of the Moots Farruh.Shermatov@ncl.ac.uk