Moot Court Board: What You Need to Know

What is it?

Moot Court Board (MCB) is a student group that competes by public speaking. Members of MCB prepare arguments and then argue a side in front of a judge. It is different than a normal public speaking exercise because a judge can interrupt you to ask questions, kind of crazy right?

How do I decide if I want to be on it?

If that sounds fun to you, even just a little bit, I would encourage you to learn more about MCB at your school. Often, there are interest meetings and people you can talk to about the experience. I first asked someone I just met what it was like and her thoughts on the experience.

How do I get on MCB?

Most Law Schools have a first year competition where everyone is required to practice “mooting” (weird verb, ikr). You prepare an argument (for us, it reflected a paper we were writing) and then we gave it in front of practice “judges.” If you did well, you move on, etc. I would like to note here, you do not have to do perfect to still make it onto MCB. Of course, it depends on every school, but my school uses a holistic application process. So how did I get on MCB? I wrote the best application I could, attended available practice sessions (cannot recommend enough, do as many as possible), interviewed well and overall just tried my best. I was not perfect, but you do not have to be.

What if I do not get on MCB?

You are interested in public speaking and didn’t get on MCB? Relax! Do not fret for a second. It will all be okay. Doing MCB signals to employers a few things: you want to litigate or maybe you are an excellent speaker. However, these can be clear in other ways: join a trial advocacy class, join a trial advocacy team, try to join MCB later and many more!

Thank you for hanging out to chat about MCB!