What is Fordham Law Moot Court?
Fordham Law moot court is an elected honor within the law school, suggestive of overall merit rather than a particular aspect of the law. Thus, unlike other programs at the law school, admission to moot court does not necessarily correlate with academic performance. Instead, its members – who are made up of second and third year students – are chosen from the student body based on writing and oral argument ability. Like many other opportunities for recognition within the law school, it is highly competitive.
Moot Court is one of the best-known electives at the law school and offers the top mock trial experience both nationally and internationally. Every September, approximately 300 students are selected (out of 900 applicants) to participate in the competition, which continues through the spring semester. The top 30 candidates are chosen to argue in the Regional Rounds of the September Competition, the top 6 of which will continue on to argue in the National Rounds at George Washington University in late February. The remaining 260 candidates continue through the multiple rounds of the competition until they are evaluated based on their briefs and oral advocacy. The top 14 teams participate in the regional rounds, and the top 2 teams are invited to argue in the final rounds , where they compete for a trip to compete at the National Championship in Washington, D.C.
The program is divided into two sections, an oral argument portion and a brief-writing component. The first half of the program is an oral argument competition that is assessed entirely on a random basis by the seven student board members. Each candidate may argue before six different boards, both civil and criminal, consisting of a professorial and judge panel. The second half involves a 24-hour problem where the candidates must work in pairs to draft a written appellate brief. Finally, each candidate appears both as an Appellant and as a Respondent, arguing in front of their peers and faculty.
The program not only offers students an opportunity to develop their writing and oral advocacy skills, but it also gives them the chance to form valuable bonds with top scholars in the legal field. The complexity of the competition and the time-constraint nature is designed to simulate that of the high-pressure environment of practice once a student leaves the law school. Fordham Law moot court has a long and storied tradition at one of the premier law schools in the nation, where even the most recent competition is already shaping to be an unforgettable year.
Moot Court Competitions at Fordham
Fordham Law School organizes several moot court competitions, which serve as an opportunity for students to hone their oral advocacy skills and ensure they are trial ready. Fordham holds four intrascholastic competitions: the Joseph L. Mangano Moot Court Competition, the McMahon Adversarial Moot Court Competition, the Stein Scholar’s Tax and Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition, and the New York Times Regional Mock Trial Challenge. The school also hosts a series of intramural competitions for first-year students.
An early season moot court competition, the Mangano Moot Court Competition has been held annually since 1989, making it the longest-running moot court competition at the Law School. Named after Fordham Law alumnus and former Board of Visitors member, the Most Rev. Joseph L. Mangano, the competition is sponsored by the Orel Foundation. The competition’s final round is held before a panel that includes New York State Supreme Court justices, federal judges, and distinguished attorneys and is televised on Manhattan Neighborhood Network. Recent final judges have included U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Robert A. Katzmann, and New York Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence K. Marks.
The McMahon Adversarial Moot Court Competition is the most prestigious and largest competition at the Law School, with around 200 students participating per year. Established in 1989, the competition is held in honor of former Dean William Michael McMahon, a member of the Law School’s Class of 1943. After serving as a lieutenant in World War II from 1943 to 1946, Dean McMahon returned to Fordham and graduated from Fordham Law in 1949. Elected to the New York State Assembly in 1953, Dean McMahon served as assistant to President Lyndon Johnson in the White House beginning in 1963. He later became a professor at the Law School in 1965, where he remained until taking a 10-year hiatus to serve as the first dean at Cardozo School of Law. In 1977, he returned to Fordham as the Dean from 1977 to 1985. On the faculty from 1977-1991, Dean McMahon oversaw many initiatives that helped secure Fordham Law’s reputation as one of the country’s top law schools.
Named after the Law School’s first Stein Associate alumni who established the Stein Scholars program, the Stein Scholar’s Tax and Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition was first launched in 2006 as a response to the increased role tax and bankruptcy law play in the practice of law today. The competition challenges teams of student advocates to present legal arguments for both the plaintiff and the defendant in a hypothetical case. The final round is presented before a panel of judges consisting of legal practitioners, academics, and other distinguished members of the legal community.
Benefits of Moot Court for Students
Busting the myth that moot court is just for trial and appellate advocacy types, Fordham Law students rave about their experience in the program. Whether you are interested in litigation, transactional, or some other form of law practice, the skills you develop in moot court are transferable to almost any legal field and can be helpful in areas outside of the law. Fordham Law students talk about how moot court helped them stay calm and think on their feet during their last OA, which are the backbone of most law school classes, and also about how moot court taught them how to conduct legal research. As one student explained, "we had to look at statute, cases, and legislative history to figure out what [the law] really meant and how to use it to help [our] clients. That experience of thinking like a lawyer was one of the most important tools vultures graduated with." Many students find that the skills they develop in moot court appeals to employers. In fact, several former students credited their moot court experience as a contributing factor to securing summer associate positions and in some cases permanent placements after law school. Those who participated in our Options program were able to hone their public speaking abilities before the finish of their 1L year and build a more solid resume because they were able to demonstrate significant involvement over the course of two years.
Moot Court Preparation
As with the training sessions, moot court members are assigned a faculty mentor in their second year, and individual feedback is provided throughout the election process. Students are selected to participate in a section based on the category of the competition – oral advocacy, appellate brief writing, or trial advocacy. Selection for a team does not guarantee that a student will participate in the competition. Students may be asked to participate in mock arguments before the competition, to serve as a fact witness or victim for other teams, or to compete as a prosecutor or defense attorney against their fellow moot court members. An oral advocacy selection round is held for screening purposes only. Students participating in an appellate writing (prebriefing) competition must submit a writing sample; students may be asked to submit a second writing sample if the mentor deems it necessary. Students not selected for a team are encouraged to continue working on their skills.
Brief writing
Students participating in brief competitions attend a writing workshop in the fall semester. In the spring semester, each student meets with the faculty mentor to discuss the outline of the brief to ensure that the contestant’s approach is well-reasoned. The mentor then serves as a sounding board for the student and provides constructive criticism as needed. There may be opportunities to interview witnesses in the spring. Performance in this competition serves as the major basis for selection in the third year. Those who do well will probably not require a great deal of extra help, but some may need additional assistance to fully develop their skills.
Oral advocacy
This is the most selective category of moot court and is available to Student Association members, Early Assurance Program students and Advanced Standing Transfer students. Because of the limited number of slots available on this team, mastery of skills is essential. Additional training is provided beyond the general training in the fall semester. Students are placed into "groups" to simulate the experience, and participate in a series of oral argument rounds, where a judge provides real-time feedback after an argument. After these rounds, the faculty mentor and members of this group meet again to discuss concerns and improvements within the group. To prepare for the final round, the faculty mentor meets individually with each member of the group to provide additional assistance and to ensure that the group is ready for presentation. Although performance in this competition is considered when determining selection for other competition teams, this competition impacts this selection most heavily.
Accomplishments and Awards
Over the years, Fordham Law Moot Court has played host to a number of distinguished professionals. From practitioners to judges and international attorneys, our guests hail from the ranks of the Supreme Court of the United States, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces and numerous other state and regional courts. We have also welcomed judges from numerous countries, including Canada, Costa Rica, China, the United Kingdom, Russia, Australia and numerous others . The Moot Court Honor Society has appeared at top interscholastic competitions, performed impressive service work and distinguished itself both at home and abroad.
Recent accolades include:
In addition, both current members and alumni have served as editors for the New York International Law Review and have contributed articles to the publication on a variety of topics.
Application and Participation
Applications for participation in the Fordham Law Moot Court generally open in early fall of each academic year with a publicized deadline for all interested students to submit their respective applications. Included within the application process is an on-campus interview with a selection committee composed of Fordham Law activists and coaches.
On-campus interviews are typically conducted in late September and early October. With a limited number of spots available on each Fordham Law Moot Court, only a select few will be chosen as participants. Students chosen to be members of the Fordham Law Moot Court are referred to as "Ward Court," named after legendary 20th century coach Jerry Ward. Students accepted into the program may begin writing and editing their briefs over the winter holidays (end of December, early January) and during the students’ alternative winter intersession or spring break (end of February, early March). An opening round competition is held at the beginning of April to determine which four teams will move on to the semi-finals and finals. The winners of the semi-finals are then selected as the finalist teams for the final round.
The Road Ahead for Fordham Moot Court
As the legal profession continually evolves, so do the requirements and expectations of law students. To better equip its students for the rigors of practice, Fordham Law’s administration has taken great strides to enhance the educational experience of all its students, with an eye toward keeping the school at the forefront of legal education. Fordham Moot Court is no exception to this trend, and in recent years the program has rolled out several new initiatives that reinforce the arguably most important value an attorney can have – believing in their argument.
There are several new initiatives on the horizon for Fordham’s Moot Court program. As of two years ago, the current Clinical Performance Rubric has been supplemented by a yellow card system, to help facilitate more constructive feedback for first-year students. Score sheets and cards will be distributed anonymously to the team members depicting how they performed in each competition.
This past year , Fordham’s Moot Court program underwent another significant change, with the launch of pre-semester pretrials. Pretrials offer a unique opportunity for first-year students to increase their chances of making a Joseph M. McLaughlin Competition team, as the top 16 teams from each trial are invited to compete at pretrials, with the winners being granted automatic berths to Finals. Pretrials was a great success and we look forward to its continued development.
Lastly, Fordham recently implemented mandatory team trainings during the first semester for all students who made their respective teams. These trainings took place in the weeks leading up to Autumn Finals and were intended to provide team members with substantive and practical skills to help them as they gear up for top-tier competitions. With these innovations in mind, we are excited to see how the Fordham Moot Court program continues to evolve for the benefit of its students.