Value of Moot Court vs Mock Trial Forum

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pleasedonttouchmyRAP

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Value of Moot Court vs Mock Trial

Post by pleasedonttouchmyRAP » Mon Sep 10, 2018 7:06 pm

2L trying to decide whether to do moot court or mock trial. I only have time for one, and I'm leaning towards mock trial. Is there an appreciable difference in value (resume or otherwise) between the two? I did 1L moot court (intramural; about 20% of the class qualifies) last year. Thinking primarily with an eye towards federal clerkships.

nixy

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Re: Value of Moot Court vs Mock Trial

Post by nixy » Mon Sep 10, 2018 10:42 pm

If you're interested in federal clerkships, I don't think either is going to make much difference, but unless you run across a judge who was a mock trial nut in law school/super invested in training mock trial now, moot court is going to be more valuable. It involves sustained research/writing, which is exactly what judges want in clerks; they don't care if you can open/close. I get that your 1L moot court was competitive, but doing moot court after 1L, presumably competing against students from other schools, is going to be more impressive.

(Though like I said to start, I don't think either are going to make a huge difference, so if you loathe the idea of moot court and really want to do mock trial, life is short, do the one you'll like better.)

chelssd3232

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Re: Value of Moot Court vs Mock Trial

Post by chelssd3232 » Tue Sep 11, 2018 10:58 am

Depends on your school. I go to a school where the trial team is very nationally recognized, so employers really liked that I had it on my resume. Both are important and useful so you can't go wrong.

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