What is Moot Court? Simply put, moot court is a hypothetical Supreme Court argument about a hypothetical case involving one or more constitutional issues.
Moot Court is a mock appellate advocacy experience that helps law students develop several skills to practice law, including strong writing and oral advocacy, critical thinking, ability to think under pressure, and self-confidence to be successful advocates. The Moot Court program is, undoubtedly, one of the best ways for law students to develop oral advocacy and appellate writing skills.
Professor Spivey inaugurated UMD’s Moot Court program in the fall of 2021. Since that time, UMD’s Moot Court program has become nationally recognized. UMD moot court teams compete in regional moot court competitions sponsored and sanctioned by the American Moot Court Association (AMCA). Last year over 200 schools competed in regional moot court competitions. Generally, 32 teams compete in a regional competition. The top 25% of teams advance to the national competition and 25% of these teams compete in the final round of the National competition.
UMD has sent teams to the National competition each year since the program’s inception in 2021. In 2021 and 2022, one UMD team advanced to the National competition. In 2023, two teams advanced with one of these two teams competing in the final round of the competition. In 2024, three UMD teams went to the National tournament.
In 2023, UMD also hosted a regional competition for the first time. 32 teams competed in the Fearless Challenge and UMD teams placed second and sixth in the competition. This fall UMD again hosted the Fearless Challenge. UMD teams placed second, fourth and eighth in the competition.
Moot courting imparts valuable skills to students. First, moot courting requires students to employ critical learning skills. Students are required to represent both parties to the Supreme Court case. In a typical regional competition, on day one, students argue three times—once for the petitioner in the case (i.e. the party that sought review of the case by the Supreme Court), once for the respondent (the party that prevailed in the lower court), and finally for either petitioner or respondent, randomly chosen by the tournament director. Accordingly, students must both develop arguments for each party to the case and anticipate counter-arguments.
