Slaughter and May Senior Mooting Competition 2012-13

COMPETITORS HANDBOOK

Tom Jones Senior Moots Officer thomas.jones.10@ucl.ac.uk

UCL Faculty of Laws
Bentham House
Endsleigh Gardens
London WC1H 0EG

Slaughter and May UCL Senior Mooting Competition 2012-13

A Warm Welcome,
Firstly, congratulations on choosing to participate in mooting, the (arguably) best extracurricular activity you can do.
To start you on your way, here is a short guide to the Senior Mooting Competition, which
should tell you all you need to know about the competition itself, together with tips on
how to do well. Mooting is great in helping to develop skills such as public speaking, the
ability to think on your feet and logical reasoning, and can be, wait for it, enjoyable (no
seriously it can be). So good luck to everyone taking part this year!

Schedule
FIRST ROUND
Date Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th November - 6pm
SECOND ROUND
Date Wednesday 5th December - 6pm
QUARTER-FINAL
Date Thursday 17th January - 6pm
SEMI-FINAL
Date Thursday 21st February - 6pm
FINAL
Date Wednesday 6th March - 6pm TBC

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Structure and format

Structure and timing
Submissions will be given in the following order: Senior Appellant, Senior Respondent, Junior
Appellant and Junior Respondent. You should expect Senior counsel to address the first grounds
of appeal and Junior counsel to address the second. Each counsel will have 15 minutes in which
to present their submissions. This time limit is inclusive of judicial intervention and questioning.
However, speaking time may be exceeded at the sole discretion of the judge, particularly where
counsel has engaged in complex questions from the bench.
The Senior Appellant and Junior Appellant are both allowed a discretionary 3 minute right of
reply at the end of all counsels submissions. They do not have to use their right of reply, it is
simply an opportunity for the Appellant counsel to respond to their respective opposition
counsels submissions. However it should not be used to bring up new submissions which they
did not find time to present in their main speech.
Layout of the court room
The judges should sit in front of the participants, with the clerk sitting next to the judge. The
Appellants should sit on the judges left (or the right side of the room facing the bench) and
Senior counsel should sit closest to the judge (if counsel are perpendicular to the judge) or
towards the centre of the room (if counsel are arranged parallel to the judge).
Clerks
Clerks should be expected to keep time and should use written signs to notify participants in a
clear manner when 10, 5 and 2 minutes remain during their submissions. You should also expect
the clerk to collect bundles from participants and assist the judge in locating the relevant bundle
for each member of counsel. It is the Senior Appellants responsibility to appoint a clerk for the
moot, and you may take a failure to appoint a clerk into account when scoring the moot (most
appropriately under court room manner).
Judges
All judges are, time permitting, encouraged to provide feedback to participants, whether
individually or generally. The judge is not expected to rule on points of law, but may do so at
their discretion. The judge should not tell the competitors who they have decided to put
through. Rather if the judge could score the competitors using the score sheet and hand it back
to the Senior Moots Officer indicating where necessary any particularly strong or weak mooters.
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Judging criteria
Judging Criteria
Participants will be scored on four criteria: the presentation and clarify of their arguments; their use
of authorities in supporting those arguments; how they deal with judicial intervention and
questioning; and their courtroom manner and respect of appropriate etiquette.
All four criteria have equal weight. The participants who proceed to the next round should be the
best mooters, not necessarily those who have the law on their side. It is possible to lose on the law
but win the moot. When assessing a participants proficiency in each criteria, you should take into
consideration the following:
1. Presentation, clarity and strength of arguments
Expression and clarity of counsels written submissions in their skeleton argument;
whether they adopt an easy to follow, logical and coherent structure, which fully addresses each
and every issue in the moot problem;
their oral expression and ability to communicate their arguments with clarity;
the strength and persuasiveness of their arguments, taking into account whether or not the law is
on their side.
2. Use of authorities
Whether their authorities are appropriate to the moot problem and each particular submission;
use of a wide range of authorities;
awareness of weight, persuasiveness and dissent in each judgment;
whether they make use of the most relevant and up to date case law;
awareness of facts and judicial reasoning.
3. Dealing with judicial intervention
Whether they display an ability to deal with questions in an effective manner;
their ability to present submissions in a different order, in a way that is flexible
whether they answer questions in a straightforward, clear and concise manner.
4. Courtroom manner
Appropriate deference should be paid to the judge;
whether they refer to the judge and other counsel in the correct manner;
use of appropriate court language and phrases; and
whether they are dressed appropriately.
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Mooting Tips
Submissions

Submissions, which form your argument, should stand alone and be entirely
independent, i.e. subsequent submissions should not rely on, or merge with, previous
ones.
Generally, having too many submissions is not a good strategy as your time is limited,
any more than three and you will find it difficult to complete all your submissions
sufficiently.

Skeleton Arguments

During the first and second round of the competition, participants may simply
bring their skeleton arguments with them to the moot. In the Quarter-Finals, SemiFinals and Final rounds, they will be required to submit them to the Senior Moots
Officer in advance so that the judge and the opponent may see the submissions to be
made before the moot. Should a participant fail to do so, they must explain in writing
why they missed the deadline. This may be taken into account during scoring.

Participants should put their name and position at the top of their skeleton arguments.

Skeleton arguments must contain a brief outline of the submissions to be put before
the court, together with authorities (both case law and statute) to be cited in support.
Arguments should be succinct, but contain enough detail to allow the judge to follow
the oral submissions.

Authorities should be cited in full in the skeleton argument.

Deciding on the best format of a skeleton argument is subjective, but the template
included (see next page) provides an example of a format that could be used. A more
detailed
sample
skeleton
is
available
on
the
UCL
Laws
site
(http://www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/lawsociety/content/docs/moots%20nov/Exampleskeleton.doc). The moot problem this
relates
to
can
be
found
here
(http://www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/current/docs/moots/sampleproblem2011.doc).

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Delivery of oral submissions

Do not read a speech. A poor mooter relies on a word-for-word transcript of their

submissions, while a good mooter will use his skeleton argument and a few notes as a
guide, which he will refer to from time to time. Judges will interrupt frequently and so
you must be able to cope with answering questions and referring to different points of
your argument when required.

Allow your voice to be heard; do not mumble. You will be more likely to mumble
if you are looking down at their papers rather than speaking directly to the judge.

Speak at a sensible rate. While mooters face the pressure of time restraints, they must
not speak so quickly that the judge cannot follow their argument.

Be articulate. Do not use colloquialisms.

Watch your posture; stand up straight, face the judge and do not gesticulate
excessively. Do not use hand movements. Counsel may find it useful to place their
hands behind their back.

Do not back down from a strongly argued submission. Mooters who tackle
difficult and contentious points of law will obtain high marks.

Use of Authorities

Mooters need to refer to authorities, e.g. cases and statutes, in order to provide
support for their argument. It is suggested that you should make your submission (i.e.
the point to be made) first, then state the relevant law with use of authorities, and
finally, apply that law to the facts as stated in the problem. You must not change the
facts to fit the law.

While there is no formal limit, mooters should be wary of exceeding 9 authorities. It

is better to refer to fewer authorities, analyzing and applying them fully, rather
than drawing principles from multiple authorities to be applied to the facts all at once.

Authorities should be cited in full both in the skeleton argument and on first mention
during oral submissions.

Be aware of binding and persuasive decisions. Remind the judge if he is bound by

precedent. If a decision is only persuasive, e.g. if it comes from a foreign

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jurisdiction,show an awareness of this. Mooters should know which level of the courts
each case comes from so as to be aware of their authority.

Academic writing does not constitute an authority. It is only persuasive but may be
used as Interpretation.

Whilst there is no requirement to talk in great depth about every authority

listed on your skeleton, you should be prepared to answer questions on all of them.

Authorities which are not cited in the skeleton may not be cited in oral submissions.

Mooters may wish to refer to their opponents authorities in order to

distinguish them to demonstrate why they should not be followed. Respondents
should ensure that they respond to what has been submitted by the Appellants. The
Senior Appellant also has an opportunity to reply at the end of the moot.

Bundles

A copy of every authority and interpretation appearing in the skeleton argument

must be brought to the moot for the judge, together with the skeleton argument, in
what is called a bundle.

Cases (usually found on Westlaw or LexisNexis) and Acts

(http://www.legislation.gov.uk/search) must be printed in full.

Each authority should be tabbed, with the passages to be cited tabbed and
highlighted.
Mooters should use tab numbering to guide the judge to specific parts of the
bundle when
necessary, for example, by saying:
If I may refer my Lord to the case found at tab 1 of your Lordships bundle; the case
of.

Bundles are usually found in ring binders.

An index of authorities may be included in the bundle.

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Making citations

During submissions, you should refer to the authorities found in your bundle by making
citations.

When referring to a case for the first time, mooters should first direct the judges
attention to the headnote, i.e. the first page, of the case report and cite the case
name in full.
To do this for Partridge v Crittenden [1968] 1 WLR 1204, one might say, May I
direct/draw your Lordships/ the courts attention to the case of Partridge and
Crittenden reported in the first volume of the Weekly Law Reports for the year
nineteen sixty- eight at page one thousand, two hundred and four.
N.B. The v listed between the parties names in the case title is
said as and for civil cases and against for criminal cases.

Offer the judge a summary of the facts of the case at hand before turning their
attention to the relevant passage.

Subsequent references to the same case require only the parties names, e.g.
Partridge and Crittenden, not the entire case citation.

Mooters should refer to cases from the Law Reports where possible. Law Reports
hierarchy:
The Law Reports, Weekly Law Reports, All England Law Reports, individual law
report series.

Should a mooter be unable to work out what a legal abbreviation, e.g. A.C., stands
for, they may find it useful to search for legal abbreviations online or use a law
dictionary.

Dealing with judicial intervention

Judges will interrupt counsel to ask questions. Counsel should not talk over the judge
and should wait until the judge has finished speaking before attempting to answer
their question.

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Questions make mooters think on their feet. Mooters must know the law and
the relevant authorities, and must not rely solely on what they have prepared in a
speech.
You must be prepared to present your submissions in a different order.

It can be helpful to pause before answering questions to gather any thoughts and to
take time to think of a coherent answer.

Courtroom manner

Dress smartly. Male mooters should wear a dark suit and tie with smart shoes,
while female mooters should also dress formally, wearing a skirt or trousers according
to personal preference.

Show deference to the judge. When referring to the judge, use My Lord/ My Lady
instead of you or Mr X and your Lordship/ your Ladyship instead of your.

When referring to other competitors, use counsel, my learned friend or

their title, e.g. the Junior Respondent.

The Senior Appellant should introduce himself and the other participants at the start
of his submissions:
May it so please the court that I am Mr X acting as Senior Appellant. My learned
friend, Miss Y shall be acting as Junior Appellant, while my learned friends, Mr A and
Miss B, shall be appearing on behalf of the Respondents.

Other participants need only introduce themselves:

May it please the court that I am Mr X acting as the
Junior Appellant.

Offer the judge a summary of your skeleton argument before discussing each
of the submissions in greater detail.

Do not give your opinion, i.e. use phrases such as I think or I believe.

Mooters should close their submissions formally, for example, by saying:

On these grounds, it is accordingly submitted that My Lord should allow/ dismiss
the appeal. Unless I can further assist the court, my submissions are complete.

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Further Help
Should you want further mooting tips, the following books are recommended:
Mooting and Advocacy Skills, 2nd Edition David Hill and David Pope
Sweet and Maxwell, 2011
This book is a comprehensive guide for those participating in or organising mooting
competitions or curricular moots. Co-written by UCL Laws Part-time Teaching Fellow David
Pope, it is the second edition of what is probably the UKs market-leading mooting
textbook. Written by two lawyers with extensive experience of mooting and advocacy in
professional practice, the book is comprehensive and practical. It covers every aspect of
mooting, from constructing persuasive arguments to moot-court etiquette. The skills of
mooting are explained step-by-step and illustrated by worked examples. The book also
contains 10 original moot problems.
[from http://www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/news/index.shtml?mooting_11]
A practical guide to mooting, Jeffery Hill
Palgrave Macmillan, 10 June 2009
How to Moot: A Student Guide to Mooting, John Snape and Gary Watt
LexisNexis, 20 May 2010
The Art of Argument: A Guide to Mooting, Christopher Lee
Oxford University Press, 1 April 2007

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