The Mood to Moot

It was a week before the registration deadline, that I got into the mood to moot. After having been through three years of law school, I decided to bite the bullet and sign up for Dictum Society's Junior Moot Competition 0f 2021. I was a ball of nervous energy as I put in my details in the sign up form with no idea on what to expect.

Finding your Partner in 'Crime'

The first step of participating in the Junior Moot is to find your partner or as we 'to be' lawyers feel thrilled to say, "my fellow co-counsel. After a panicked perusal of my handful of friends, my cocounsel was found in fellow student and friend, Manraj. I personally wanted to experience my first moot with someone who I am familiar with to share the comfort of being brutally honest with each other while researching case material, preparing arguments, and practicing our oratory skills. That being said, I had the good fortune of also interacting with other contestants who were just as green to the scene and was met with some very likeminded and easy-going individuals.

The Preparation

The whole concept of mooting is to introduce us students to the practical experience of working the courtroom. A fairly straightforward case is given, with fairly straightforward instructions. The key is in going above and beyond what you are provided to stand out against your opponent.

While my partner and I did a really good job of being thorough in our research to identify the complexities of the case, our inexperience showed when we did not do the same to understand the structural necessities of memorandums. Research and ask questions on how the memorandum should be structured, including what should be included to have a solid document. Keep in mind that what you submit in your memo will only be what you can use to argue your case in the Moot Court.

My favourite process was to prepare and practice our verbal arguments for the day of mooting. My partner and I showed true diligence in this area by practicing our arguments, not just with each other, but also with our friends to have full control over all points, the time, and most importantly the nervousness we felt in doing something neither of us are comfortable or familiar with.

It was recommended by a friend that while delivering arguments, make it conversational yet assertive to achieve a natural yet, attention grabbing delivery, a hot tip we embodied to add pack power in the points we made.

As the event was conducted online, a lot of the ways we prepared for this event were structured differently. We conducted all our research and work on shared google docs and had our arguments also laid out before our computers on the day of the competition. We even went so far as to practice making eye contact with the camera to ensure that while present our arguments we are sure to appear confident, prepared, and ready to argue our case from the High Court and back!

The Mood to Moot

A few things we learned:

- Always, always, always know what your submissions must look like - Manage your time well enough to allow time for last-minute panics. Trust me, they are truly unavoidable! - Don't overthink your arguments. Make them short, snappy, and sweet. You will spend the rest of your life going back and forth on them, if you overanalyse the points you make. - When practicing your arguments, leave room for questions that may be asked mid arguments. It is likely that the Judge may stop you in between to ask them and may not pause the time while they do so.

- There is such a thing as leading questions, which the Judge may ask sometimes, to further support your argument. Do not go on defense for all questions asked only to repeat what they insinuated. Instead, pause to fully understand what they are alluding to before providing a response.

Rebuttals are made to make any new arguments you wish to introduce (within the scope of your memo) to either discredit the opposing counsel's statements or to further solidify your arguments with added information. If you do not have anything new to bring to the table, there is nothing wrong with foregoing your rebuttal time.

In fact, if you are arguing for the Plaintiff and believe that the opposing counsel may benefit from having the opportunity to rebut your arguments, you can choose to forego your rebuttal time, eliminating the Defendant's opportunity for rebuttal by default!

An Honest Opinion

Overall, we ensured to give it our all in our preparation. While we did not win or even make it to past the first round, we took this as the opportunity to see what we are capable of when put under pressure. We not only learned so much about courtroom experience, but we also learned about the background work that goes into preparing for a case. It is most definitely not as easy as Harvey Spector made it out to be my friends, but it was more thrilling and fun than what I expected from the whole experience.

I am hoping to participate in any upcoming moots from hereon with even more gusto and with the valuable feedback I received by taking part in this competition.

If you are someone, who is curious and maybe mulling over whether mooting is for you, don't overthink it. Take the leap and sign up for the next opportunity you get! Most of us are in the same boat as you, but everyone is trying to fake it till they make it.

In the wise words of Michael Jordan,

'You miss 100% of the shots you don't take' .