Undergraduate Moot Court: Student Expectations and Perspectives

Abstract

Moot court is a common practice in law schools and growing in popularity at the undergraduate level. As part of the move to incorporate more active learning elements, instructors in a variety of courses include moot court elements in their syllabi. Courses, however, are not the only place where undergraduate students encounter moot court. Increasingly, students compete in moot court at the intercollegiate level. This paper examines those students who compete in moot court tournaments sponsored by the American Moot Court Association to determine what motivates these students and what benefits these students believe they receive from their participation. Survey results show that students are motivated to participate in moot court for academic reasons, that they believe their critical thinking and public speaking skills improve, and that, despite its heavy work load and difficulty, moot court is also fun.