About Us
The New York University Moot Court Board is a student-run, honorary organization that combines legal scholarship with oral advocacy. Staff members are selected from the first-year class primarily on the basis of the brief written in their lawyering class. Interested students apply through the journal write-on competition, but submit their brief in place of the essay requested by the journals. Each year, around 40 students are welcomed onto the Board. As second-years, Moot Court Board Staff Members, join either the Casebook Division or the Competitions Division. In addition, the NYU Moot Court Board administers the annual Orison S. Marden Competition, one of the country’s best-known intra-school moot court competitions, and the Immigration Law Competition, open to law schools around the country.
NYU Moot Court Casebook
The NYU Moot Court Casebook, published annually, is the most widely recognized and utilized set of moot court problems in the nation; over 110 law schools currently subscribe. Each second-year Staff Member in the Casebook division will create a moot court problem featuring an unresolved issue of law. Each problem has two parts: a detailed record, which contains all documents relevant to the hypothetical case, and a bench memo, which surveys all relevant case law and policy analysis and includes sample briefs for both sides.
Casebook Volume 34, published in November 2010, includes problems created by 2009-2010 Staff Members.
Casebook Volume 35 will be published in November 2011. Casebook Staff Members also help prepare the previous year's Casebook for publication, moot the Competitions Staff Members for upcoming competitions, and administer the Immigration Law and Marden competitions.
NYU Moot Court Competitions Division
Competitions Division Staff Members represent New York University at a wide array of national competitions. During their first semester on the Board, Competitions Division Staff Members participate in an extensive oral advocacy and brief writing training program that involves writing a full-length appellate brief and arguing several times during the Fall Marden Competition. Their second semester on the Board is spent preparing appellate briefs and oral arguments for one of several interscholastic competitions. The 2010-2011 Competitions Division impressed judges at the following competitions:
- Asylum and Refugee Law Competitions (U.C. Davis)
- Kaufman Securities Law Competition (Fordham University)
- William B. Spong Constitutional Law Competition (William and Mary School of Law)
- National Sexual Orientation Moot Court Competition (UCLA)
- Prince Invitational Evidence Competition (Brooklyn Law School)
- First Amendment Competition (Vanderbilt University)
Competitions division members also help prepare the previous year's Casebook for publication, moot each other's teams for upcoming competitions, and administer the Immigration Law and Marden Moot Court competitions.
The National, Jessup, and Environmental Teams
The National Team represents NYU Law at the prestigious National Moot Court Competition (sponsored by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the American College of Trial Lawyers), while the Jessup Team represents NYU Law at the renowned Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, and Environmental Team competes in the National Environmental Competition at Pace University. Each team consists of outstanding third-year advocates chosen from the Board and the previous year's Marden Competition.
Orison S. Marden Competition
Named for the famous NYU alumnus, the Orison S. Marden Competition is a school-wide moot court tournament open to all second- and third-year students. The NYU Moot Court Board administers the competition and drafts the problems for both the Fall Elimination and Spring Semifinal Rounds. For the final argument on April 9, 2012, the Moot Court Board will welcome Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor of the United States Supreme Court, Judge Jeffrey Sutton of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and Judge Raymond Lohier, Jr. '91 of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
The final argument will take place from 5:00-7:00 p.m. on April 9, 2012 in Greenberg Lounge in Vanderbilt Hall. Registration is required due to limited seating. To register, click here.
The Immigration Law Competition
The Sixth Annual NYU Immigration Law Moot Court Competition concluded in February 2011 and was open to law schools around the country. As with the Marden Competition, the Moot Court Board composes the problems and runs the tournament. Thirteen teams from around the country participated in a weekend of arguments at NYU. The Seventh Annual ILC will take place February 24-26, 2012.
Conclusion
New York University Moot Court Board membership offers an opportunity to develop and apply the research, writing, and advocacy skills essential to the successful practice of law. Producing appellate briefs and Casebook problems gives Staff Members writing and editing experience similar to that provided by membership on NYU's other journals. The added dimensions of advocacy and creativity, however, preserve the Moot Court Board 's unique place among the honorary journal organizations at NYU.
If you have any questions about Moot Court Board 's activities, please contact:
Chad Harple
Chair
NYU Law Moot Court Board
cwh265@nyu.edu