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The overwhelming majority of people who choose to train for the Bar are, first and foremost, interested in advocacy. And for many people, gaining advocacy experience through mooting is the perfect place to start. This article explains what mooting is, what to expect, how to get involved and how mooting can not only help you develop your fundamental skills as advocates, but also give you a competitive edge when it comes to seeking pupillage.
Mooting is the process of representing one party in a mock appeal court (usually the Supreme Court) to argue why the judgment of the court below is either right or wrong. If you represent the appellant, you will be seeking to undermine the reasoning of the judgment you are appealing against. If you are for the respondent, you will be seeking to support it.
The process of mooting involves both written and oral advocacy, so you will produce a written skeleton argument setting out your case in outline, often on a single page (which is excellent practice for the future, because real judges genuinely appreciate brevity). You will then bring your case to life in the courtroom with oral submissions, which will be time-limited (something which judges will also applaud), often to around 10 minutes.
In most moots there are two advocates per team, who will take the roles of leading/junior appellant and leading/junior respondent. Moot problems are usually written to include two key issues to argue for both sides, so there will always be a single argument for each advocate to focus on.
The starting point in any moot (as in any real case) is to gain a thorough understanding of the facts in the moot problem, and then a thorough understanding of the relevant law.
The key is to apply the law to the facts you are provided with. Usually the court below will have relied on one or two key authorities in support of its judgment. Your task will be to critically analyse the reasoning behind that judgment and either seek to sustain it or demonstrate why it is incorrect. Do the authorities relied upon by the court below really support the argument, or can they be distinguished in some way? Are you able to find additional authorities to support an alternative contention?
Often, moot arguments are based on cases which themselves are going to the Supreme Court, so there is no ‘right or wrong’ answer to the problem. It means you will never find that elusive case which provides you with the definitive answer. Rather, your hard work, preparation and analysis is key to achieving a good result, just as it is for barristers in practice. Even strong cases usually have at least one weak point, so acknowledge this, think expansively and work around it. The judge will have noted the weakness (I promise), so best you note it too, and work on it. When it comes to achieving success, as any judge or barrister will tell you, the most important work that ensures your advocacy is effective occurs before you walk through the courtroom doors. Preparation therefore reigns supreme.
When you know your case and know your law, you will be able to formulate your submissions. My advice is to keep it simple, which is good for you and good for the judge. Keep in mind the sage advice of Lady Justice Andrews, “How would you explain to a friend who gets easily bored why you should win?”
This means structuring your arguments (your submissions) clearly. Discard your least convincing arguments and instead focus on your best points. It is a mistake to seek to shoehorn in every point you could possibly make (albeit a common mistake), not just because a bad point can overshadow a good one, but because it is an easy way to lose your audience. There is, after all, a reason why judges sometimes say, “start with your strongest argument”, so adopt this approach from the outset.
Moots are judged not just on the skeleton argument and legal analysis, but also on the presentational skills of the advocate, so when you are fully prepared and confident in the case you intend to present, the next part to focus on is your oral advocacy.
My advice is to practise, practise, practise. The more familiar you become with speaking in public, the more natural it becomes. Not only will mooting teach you to speak at a pace which your audience can follow, but it will give you the confidence to engage with the judge, recognising that eye contact is a good thing which can add to the impact of your submissions. You will gain the confidence to speak without simply reading from a script, instead using notes to prompt you as you develop your arguments. You will come to realise that whispering, shouting, gesticulating wildly, pointing and clicking your pen are not the most effective ways of persuading your audience. Instead, you will begin to appreciate why clarity, brevity and simplicity of language are significant assets.
You will (I guarantee) make mistakes, but these are part of the learning experience. Be kind to yourself and move on, remembering that every great advocate was once a very junior advocate who stood up for the first time to address an audience.
There are many mooting competitions for you to get involved in. Many universities have Bar and Mooting Societies to help you take the first step on the ladder, and many even run mooting societies for non-lawyers. You will also find mooting opportunities at many organisations running the GDL (law conversion) and the Bar Training Course. The Inns of Court provide excellent mooting opportunities and there are a vast number of other mooting competitions to get involved with (too many to name but a simple Google search will help) for people both at undergraduate and postgraduate level. To dip your toe in the water, you could even try speed mooting, a useful starting point to enhance your oral advocacy skills.
Mooting will help develop your skills in advocacy, skills which for obvious reasons are highly prized at the practising Bar. Involvement in mooting is one useful (and persuasive) way of demonstrating your motivation and enthusiasm for a career at the Bar. Achieving success in one or more mooting competitions is one very good reason why your desired chambers may put a tick against your name when it comes to selecting candidates for pupillage.
These many considerable benefits aside, when your hard work pays off – when you are inside the moot courtroom and you realise that you are actually persuading the judge – it allows you to experience the essence of what it is to be an advocate. Not only will this bring you a sense of personal achievement and satisfaction, but it will prove to you that your chosen career as a barrister is a choice wisely made.
Chris Kessling is a practising barrister and Vice-Dean of the Inns of Court College of Advocacy.
The overwhelming majority of people who choose to train for the Bar are, first and foremost, interested in advocacy. And for many people, gaining advocacy experience through mooting is the perfect place to start. This article explains what mooting is, what to expect, how to get involved and how mooting can not only help you develop your fundamental skills as advocates, but also give you a competitive edge when it comes to seeking pupillage.
Mooting is the process of representing one party in a mock appeal court (usually the Supreme Court) to argue why the judgment of the court below is either right or wrong. If you represent the appellant, you will be seeking to undermine the reasoning of the judgment you are appealing against. If you are for the respondent, you will be seeking to support it.
The process of mooting involves both written and oral advocacy, so you will produce a written skeleton argument setting out your case in outline, often on a single page (which is excellent practice for the future, because real judges genuinely appreciate brevity). You will then bring your case to life in the courtroom with oral submissions, which will be time-limited (something which judges will also applaud), often to around 10 minutes.
In most moots there are two advocates per team, who will take the roles of leading/junior appellant and leading/junior respondent. Moot problems are usually written to include two key issues to argue for both sides, so there will always be a single argument for each advocate to focus on.
The starting point in any moot (as in any real case) is to gain a thorough understanding of the facts in the moot problem, and then a thorough understanding of the relevant law.
The key is to apply the law to the facts you are provided with. Usually the court below will have relied on one or two key authorities in support of its judgment. Your task will be to critically analyse the reasoning behind that judgment and either seek to sustain it or demonstrate why it is incorrect. Do the authorities relied upon by the court below really support the argument, or can they be distinguished in some way? Are you able to find additional authorities to support an alternative contention?
Often, moot arguments are based on cases which themselves are going to the Supreme Court, so there is no ‘right or wrong’ answer to the problem. It means you will never find that elusive case which provides you with the definitive answer. Rather, your hard work, preparation and analysis is key to achieving a good result, just as it is for barristers in practice. Even strong cases usually have at least one weak point, so acknowledge this, think expansively and work around it. The judge will have noted the weakness (I promise), so best you note it too, and work on it. When it comes to achieving success, as any judge or barrister will tell you, the most important work that ensures your advocacy is effective occurs before you walk through the courtroom doors. Preparation therefore reigns supreme.
When you know your case and know your law, you will be able to formulate your submissions. My advice is to keep it simple, which is good for you and good for the judge. Keep in mind the sage advice of Lady Justice Andrews, “How would you explain to a friend who gets easily bored why you should win?”
This means structuring your arguments (your submissions) clearly. Discard your least convincing arguments and instead focus on your best points. It is a mistake to seek to shoehorn in every point you could possibly make (albeit a common mistake), not just because a bad point can overshadow a good one, but because it is an easy way to lose your audience. There is, after all, a reason why judges sometimes say, “start with your strongest argument”, so adopt this approach from the outset.
Moots are judged not just on the skeleton argument and legal analysis, but also on the presentational skills of the advocate, so when you are fully prepared and confident in the case you intend to present, the next part to focus on is your oral advocacy.
My advice is to practise, practise, practise. The more familiar you become with speaking in public, the more natural it becomes. Not only will mooting teach you to speak at a pace which your audience can follow, but it will give you the confidence to engage with the judge, recognising that eye contact is a good thing which can add to the impact of your submissions. You will gain the confidence to speak without simply reading from a script, instead using notes to prompt you as you develop your arguments. You will come to realise that whispering, shouting, gesticulating wildly, pointing and clicking your pen are not the most effective ways of persuading your audience. Instead, you will begin to appreciate why clarity, brevity and simplicity of language are significant assets.
You will (I guarantee) make mistakes, but these are part of the learning experience. Be kind to yourself and move on, remembering that every great advocate was once a very junior advocate who stood up for the first time to address an audience.
There are many mooting competitions for you to get involved in. Many universities have Bar and Mooting Societies to help you take the first step on the ladder, and many even run mooting societies for non-lawyers. You will also find mooting opportunities at many organisations running the GDL (law conversion) and the Bar Training Course. The Inns of Court provide excellent mooting opportunities and there are a vast number of other mooting competitions to get involved with (too many to name but a simple Google search will help) for people both at undergraduate and postgraduate level. To dip your toe in the water, you could even try speed mooting, a useful starting point to enhance your oral advocacy skills.
Mooting will help develop your skills in advocacy, skills which for obvious reasons are highly prized at the practising Bar. Involvement in mooting is one useful (and persuasive) way of demonstrating your motivation and enthusiasm for a career at the Bar. Achieving success in one or more mooting competitions is one very good reason why your desired chambers may put a tick against your name when it comes to selecting candidates for pupillage.
These many considerable benefits aside, when your hard work pays off – when you are inside the moot courtroom and you realise that you are actually persuading the judge – it allows you to experience the essence of what it is to be an advocate. Not only will this bring you a sense of personal achievement and satisfaction, but it will prove to you that your chosen career as a barrister is a choice wisely made.
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