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• Intro

Moot Court Program

KU Law In-House Moot Court Competition

The KU in-house moot court competition is a one-credit class in which participating students write a brief and make a mock oral argument to the "U.S. Supreme Court." Students choose a partner and compete and advance as a team.

The top eight teams in the competition become members of the Moot Court Council and represent KU in national or international competitions in their third year of law school. The Council also runs the in-house competition under Professor Keller's direction.

The top eight teams will represent KU in the Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition, the National First Amendment Moot Court Competition, the Pace Environmental Moot Court Competition, the National Criminal Procedure Moot Court Competition, the National Criminal Law Moot Court Competition, the ELSA International Trade Moot Court Competition, the Stetson International Environmental Moot Court Competition, or the National Moot Court Competition. Thus, students interested in these national/international competitions must compete in the in-house moot court competition in their second year.

Key points to note/remember:

• The competition takes place in the spring and is open to second-year law students.

• The competition schedule is generally as follows. The problem is released at the end of January or early February. The brief is due in early March. Preliminary oral rounds take place on a weekend just before or just after spring break, and later rounds take place in afternoons or evenings after break. The final round is scheduled in April.

• The final round takes place before real federal and state judges.

• Your team will argue three times in the preliminary rounds. It will take most or all of your Saturday and Sunday on the scheduled weekend to complete these rounds.

• Typically Professor Keller and the Council will hold a few mandatory class sessions over the noon hour during the semester. There is no weekly class component. We may have additional voluntary sessions in the evening. The course is credit/no credit. To obtain credit, you must attend the mandatory class sessions, complete the brief, and argue in the preliminary rounds.

• You write the appellate brief as a team. The problem likely will have two main issues, and students typically divide the issues for purposes of the brief and oral argument. The brief does not satisfy the upper-level writing requirement.

• It is a "closed" problem. We will provide you with a list of sources for the brief and you may not deviate from this list. (Note, however, that the third-year national and international competitions are open research.)

• You pick your partner. You should try to find a partner before the spring semester begins. If you can't find a partner, we'll help you or pair you with someone.

• The substantive issues and legal areas covered vary from year to year.

• If you want to participate, you must enroll in the class. Sign up for LAW 960 Moot Court Competition. (Do not sign up for LAW 961 or LAW 964.)

• Last, but certainly not least, the Foulston Siefkin law firm has generously provided cash awards to top students in the in-house competition (to winning team, best oral advocate, best brief, and second-best brief).