The Moot Court Board First Year Competition will be taking place over the next few weeks.  Based on the 1L Spring Problem, the First Year Competition is the first opportunity 1L students have to compete for membership on the Moot Court Board.

The competition consists of both a written component - the appellate brief - and oral argument.  The oral argument takes place in three rounds, the first of which will be held in each LRW class.  After the Adjunct Professors and Moot Court Board members score the students, those who score high enough will advance to the second round, where they will deliver their oral argument a second time.  Again, the best scores advance to the third round.  The Moot Court Board then chooses its members from these third round competitors.  The top eight petitioners and top eight respondents will be invited to compete in additional voluntary rounds on Sunday, April 5th.  The Board generally accepts ten to fifteen percent of the competitors.

All first-year students will participate in the first round, as it is required by the LRW program and takes place during scheduled class time.  Intent to compete forms were due Friday, March 13th, and over 400 students have committed to participating in the second and third rounds if invited.  The Moot Court Board is very excited by the number of students who have chosen to participate this year.

First Year Competition Co-Chair Mark Taticchi said the aspect of the competition he is most excited about is "to be able to give this opportunity to first-year students.  One of the things that we as law students are trained to do is to seek to persuade others.  This is one of the first major opportunities for students both to hone and to showcase their advocacy skills. For many of our members, there is very little that is more satisfying than getting up, delivering an argument, and feeling like you actually were able to change a judge's mind.  Providing that thrill, that sense of accomplishment to so many first-year students is what I am most excited for this year."

Mark offered some words of wisdom for the first-year competitors and said his "best advice is to come to the tip sessions."  He explained that at the sessions, "students will hear from some of the best oral advocates GW has to offer.  The competitors should (obviously) take the competition seriously but should try to remember to have fun while they're doing it."  Tip session dates and times are posted on the portal, but videos from the sessions will be posted for those who cannot attend.

Mark was pleased to say that he had not personally spoken to any 1L who chose not to participate, but students' reasons for deciding against competing vary.  Some students hate public speaking or know that oral advocacy is not where their law degree is going to lead them.  Although Mark acknowledged that those reasons make sense, he still encourages first-year students to participate because "they never know for sure whether they will enjoy it until they give it a try.  One of the great things about Moot Court Board, however, is that if students change their minds later, they still have the option to participate in one of the many upper-level competitions hosted here at GW every year."