Moot Court Forum

[Anonymous User]

I am deciding whether to do Moot Court next year. Do judges actually care how well you do? Obviously, winning the whole thing would be cool, but will they care you advanced to the finals or semi-finals?

[nixy]

Probably not. It never came up for me in any clerkship context, whether my experience or an applicant’s experience. I would do it if you think you’d enjoy it, but it’s not likely to make a difference to clerkship applications.

[Anonymous User]

I would recommend it b/c it gives you advocacy skills, the ability to think on your feet, and it makes people more polished.

No, it will not be key in getting the clerkship. But might make you a better interviewer. Also, think beyond the clerkship - could the professors teaching moot court be great mentors down the line?

[nixy]

The professor thing is going to be really school-specific. At my school, professor involvement was pretty limited.

I enjoyed it, but I don’t think it measurably improved my skills in anything. Again, may depend on how your school approaches it.

[Anonymous User]

I get the sense that judges that care are a distinct minority, except maybe at Harvard where moot court seems to still be a big deal for whatever reason, but ymmv

[Anonymous User]

Participating generally won't do much. But if you win Ames or something like that, it probably helps.

Can be good for interviews though. I was asked what our moot court problem was and which side had the better arguments etc. etc. so you should go for it if you think you might enjoy it.

[Anonymous User]

I am deciding whether to do Moot Court next year. Do judges actually care how well you do? Obviously, winning the whole thing would be cool, but will they care you advanced to the finals or semi-finals?

We'd notice it because it's a "gold star" that draws our eye, but it wouldn't make a difference other than getting your application a closer look. Which isn't useless, our chambers is flooded with applications and anything that sticks out is good. But it's not a dealbreaker by any means.

[Anonymous User]

Anecdotally, I've heard it only make a difference when the judge was on the panel for the moot court finals--he was so impressed by one competitor that he offered a clerkship on the spot.

[Anonymous User]

Anecdotally, I've heard it only make a difference when the judge was on the panel for the moot court finals--he was so impressed by one competitor that he offered a clerkship on the spot.

+1, know of this happening to someone at my CCN. We also had a lunch with all the semi finalists and judges, which was good networking with them. It also gave me something to talk about in my clerkship interviews and it was fun. Will it be the make or break factor? No. But do I think it’s worth it? Yes.

[Anonymous User]

Generally I feel like more schools should switch to mock trial vs. moot court. People who did it in college would clean up, of course, but that happens in moot court too to an extent—Patrick Henry College grads seem to win Chicago’s every other year. I’m jealous of schools like Northwestern that have serious trial ad programs.

[nixy]

I think mock trial is of even less interest to employers than moot court. Not saying that should necessarily be the case, but that’s my impression. Moot court at least has a substantial writing component, for the employers who care. Employers who do care a lot about trial skills would probably rather see you do clinics and externships.

[Anonymous User]

I think it is weird that law schools treat "moot court/law journal" as a matched set when it comes to judicial clerkship applications. Weirdly, I think that moot court is MUCH better actual experience, but in my experience reviewing clerks that apply to us, judges do not seem to consider them remotely comparable. So yes, do moot court if you are certain that it won't affect your grades or prevent you from doing anything else. Otherwise, no (if your main goal is to clerk).