Does moot court matter if you want transactional work Forum

[lawhopeful10]

I'm a 1L and we have our moot court competiton coming up. The people running the competition said it looks really good on a resume if you do well and make moot court but I'm 90% sure I want to do transactional work. If that's the case can I just mail this in or should I still try and be on moot court.

Thanks in advance.

[CanadianWolf]

Arguably supports claims re: research & writing skills--but law review would be better.

[lawhopeful10]

Ok so if I did law review which I was planning on doing than does that make moot court even more unecessary?

[gdane]

Just do both. You have no idea if you'll end up getting a job that easily. Moot court is a nice resume boost, you meet cool people, and you often make relationships with local attorneys and judges that judges the competition.

[Tiago Splitter]

Ok so if I did law review which I was planning on doing than does that make moot court even more unecessary?

How are you planning on law review so early? Did you end up with a killer GPA after first semester? If not, finding a job isn't going to be that easy and you may not have the choice to "just do transactional."

[Anonymous User]

I'm going to do transactional work but I've still been involved with the moot court program. But I do it because I enjoy moot court (did speech and debate back in the day). I am also on Law Review, and I find moot court more enjoyable than Law Review. I hated editing poorly written and cited articles so much, I didn't volunteer for a LR board position. I don't know if moot court has any benefit, but I've learned how to argue better and think more clearly about arguments.

[CanadianWolf]

Moot Court is certainly a resume enhancer as well as a valuable learning experience, but it's not as important as grades or law review for one focused on transactional work. Nevertheless, if you enjoy moot court, then you should continue to participate as your interests may expand & it should help your resume stand out from the crowd.

[lawhopeful10]

Thanks for all the responses. For our 1L moot competiton they give the final 8 people auto bids on and then everyone all can try out 2L year. I'm just trying to decide if I should just focus on school and not spend much time on this 1L thing and then I could always try out 2L if I wanted.

[downinDtown]

Thanks for all the responses. For our 1L moot competiton they give the final 8 people auto bids on and then everyone all can try out 2L year. I'm just trying to decide if I should just focus on school and not spend much time on this 1L thing and then I could always try out 2L if I wanted.

Focus on school. If you go into a firm and say "I definitely want to do transactional work," having moot court on there may lead some employers to think you don't really know what you want to do so you're just saying that or lying, etc. It's better to have a consistent, targeted resume that demonstrates you're interested in what that firm does

So, I recommend focusing on getting good grades. All employers will like that. Not every potential employer will like someone with moot court experience, especially if you're focused on transactional work. I was in the same situation where I thought I should try different things out. I found out really quickly that I wanted to do transactional work so why waste my time on things that are not complementary to my interests?

Law review is a different animal. It's a necessary evil. It confirms either a) you have good grades (if your school lets you grade on), or b) that you have good writing, editing skills, which is valuable in whatever area of the law you end up in. Even though you don't actually do anything for law review until after you get credit for it (i.e., it goes on your resume for OCI before you've actually done much, if anything, for LR).

[hiima3L]

Thanks for all the responses. For our 1L moot competiton they give the final 8 people auto bids on and then everyone all can try out 2L year. I'm just trying to decide if I should just focus on school and not spend much time on this 1L thing and then I could always try out 2L if I wanted.

Focus on school. If you go into a firm and say "I definitely want to do transactional work," having moot court on there may lead some employers to think you don't really know what you want to do so you're just saying that or lying, etc. It's better to have a consistent, targeted resume that demonstrates you're interested in what that firm does

So, I recommend focusing on getting good grades. All employers will like that. Not every potential employer will like someone with moot court experience, especially if you're focused on transactional work. I was in the same situation where I thought I should try different things out. I found out really quickly that I wanted to do transactional work so why waste my time on things that are not complementary to my interests?

Law review is a different animal. It's a necessary evil. It confirms either a) you have good grades (if your school lets you grade on), or b) that you have good writing, editing skills, which is valuable in whatever area of the law you end up in. Even though you don't actually do anything for law review until after you get credit for it (i.e., it goes on your resume for OCI before you've actually done much, if anything, for LR).

I agree with all of this.

I did moot court and absolutely loved it. I am gung-ho on litigation, though, so it helped me in that regard. But it was definitely the best experience I had in LS, so if you have the energy and flexibility (i.e., job prospects), I would do it.

But as a 1L, your 1 and only focus should be grades. Don't worry about anything else.

[ejlions84]

I agree with all of this. Moot Court can be a ton of fun (if you are competitive) and can help on a resume. I had a few interviews with fellow mooters and it led to some very easy conversation and interview brownie points.

But its not law review for better or worse. Do both if you can, they are both worth while

[patogordo]

i might be gdane-ing here but maybe stop worrying about resume lines and just do whatever you feel like doing. grades are all that really matters at this point.