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22 August 2022
Would you rather be a brilliant advocate but never be in court, or an advocate of varying ability who wins and loses? This is the question Chief Justice McCallum posed to UC law students at a Mooting Masterclass she presented at the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday 16 August 2022. Students were fortunate to hear from Her Honour about what makes someone an excellent advocate, the importance of mooting, and how to prepare for a mooting competition. Below is a collection of the key points made by Her Honour, which we hope will inspire students to consider mooting.
What is mooting? Mooting is a competition that simulates a court proceeding, typically an appeals case so that competitors are arguing an issue of fact rather than law. Essentially, it creates a forum for legal argument within a hypothetical setting.
Mooting is a very important skill, because:
there is no better way to learn the law;
mooting helps you work out whether you want to be an advocate;
it looks good on your CV;
it offers students a safe learning environment to make your first legal errors in a moot, rather than in court;
even if you don’t want to be a barrister, students learn important life skills including how to develop an argument, persuade, and communicate in a coherent way.
In terms of preparing for a mooting competition, there are several steps that will put you in good stead:
Read the problem question carefully and slowly.
Read the cases until you know them so well that you could summarise them in 1 minute.
Remember that cases are won or lost on preparation.
Imagine how you would explain the issue to an intelligent non-legal person – that’s where you get your structure.
Don’t cite lots of cases for the sake of it. The quality of a good legal argument is not a multiple of the number of cases you cite.
When preparing to cite precedent, remember that courts are hierarchical; always go to the highest authority that has ruled on the issue. For appellant authorities, know what every judge said. If the judges reach a different conclusion, or the same conclusion but by different reasoning, you need to know this. To impress your mooting judge, having paragraph references for authorities ready to refer to. Finally, remember that you are asking the court to apply the principle, not the facts.
Finally, when you stand up to present your oral submissions, try to find the right balance between being respectful, but presenting your argument forcefully. Develop and rehearse common expressions such as “May it please the Court”, “my learned friend”, and “I submit” (not “I think/feel”). Be ready to be interrupted – have a mastery of your papers so that you can respond to questions from the judge calmly and with confidence.
If your interest in mooting has been piqued, make sure to keep an eye out on the CLSS’ social media for mooting opportunities.