How To Moot PDF
How To Moot PDF
How To Moot PDF
HOW TO MOOT:
PREPARATION AND
PERFORMANCE
JAMES BALLANCE
T
his is a personal reflection on how to prepare for a Performance
moot and how to moot. I hope it may be useful to Nerves are normal, and in fact beneficial! Most mooters
anyone mooting for the first time, or others reflecting find nervousness gives energy, and that can be used to
on their mooting strengths and weaknesses. It is in no way make your performance more engaging. Don’t let
meant to be prescriptive. nervousness translate into talking too quickly. Your pace
of speaking should be steady, so the judges can take notes,
Preparation but not too laboured.
It may sound (and, indeed, is) obvious, but preparation You may need to think about how you use your voice.
starts with the moot problem. You must read the problem Good delivery means (at least) three things. First, your tone
carefully and thoroughly, preferably several times. A moot is must be varied. The pitch at which you speak need not
an appeal on a point of law: you therefore need to establish always be the same, or follow the same pattern: varying
the facts in your mind, clarify what law was applied, and these keeps your audience interested. Secondly, you will
determine the question of law being argued. Ask yourself need to use emphasis. Emphasis can you help you point out
the following questions: your structure (“I have threepoints to make”) or to highlight
that you are making a particularly important argument.
which side am I for? Finally, you need to be resonant enough to fill the room, so
what facts were decided by the judge? that you’re audible. All these can only really be learnt by
are any facts vague/uncertain/unstated? practice.
what law was applied by the judge? Mooting, like any advocacy, is a balancing act. You need to
what rule or principle was applied? balance preparation of what you say against fluency and
what authorities were relied on by the judge? persuasiveness of delivery. Reading a script is neither fluent
nor persuasive. But you need to have some key words, and
If authorities are referred to, reading them is as crucial as key phrases, lodged in your mind, in order to be succinct
reading the problem itself. Authorities will have been and to the point when speaking freely from notes. You also
carefully chosen to give you, the mooter, legal ammunition. need to practise—perhaps this will be talking to yourself at
You’ll need to use that ammunition to make your argument. home, or running ideas past a friend. You will want to have
Remember, too, that a moot is legal argument, so avoid already spoken about the case, aloud, before getting on your
making an inevitably speculative factual argument. Legal feet. Balancing fluency and preparation takes practice.
argument is about what legal principle or rule should have The final point to make concerns judicial interventions–ie
been applied by the judge to the facts he found. These may questions from the bench. Judges will interrupt you because
be arguments based on precedent—that the court is bound something bothers them about your argument. That suggests
to follow an earlier case; of construction—that a leading they may be at least partly persuaded by your position. A
passage means X rather than Y; or of analogy—that the case question is a golden opportunity to respond to a challenge
follows or differs from an earlier precedent. It may to your argument, and to persuade the questioner that your
sometimes be appropriate to make an argument of general position is defensible on that point. This means you need to
principle, but successful mooting requires use of your do two things: (1) try to anticipate what questions may be
authorities. asked, and (2) answer the question! Answering the question
Don’t, however, neglect to think about the justice of your directly shows good preparation, an understanding of the
case. You should have read the moot problem knowing subject matter, and the ability to think and speak on your
which side you were arguing for. Why should they win the feet. Getting it right is a crucial step towards successful
case? What is it about the facts that make you think it would mooting, and successful advocacy. 쐽
be just for them to win? Or unjust if they lost? Try to
encapsulate this in a single phrase. James was the winner of the 2009 Gray’s Inn Moot
The final point on preparation concerns notes. I recommend competition.
leaving this until the night before or the day of the moot, so
they are fresh. You will need a running order, which must be
logical.