Mediation, Mock Trial, and Moot Court: Undergraduate Competitions


By Charles R. Knerr and Johan van der Walt

Competitive simulations of judicial processes -- mediation, mock trial, and moot court -- have been developed and refined for undergraduate students. The motivations of students entering these competitions vary.  Some students plan to attend law school, and hope these undergraduate competitions will help them gain admission to law programs, and will improve law school performance.  Some undergraduates compete in order to improve speaking skills, such as students hoping to become teachers.  Other students enter competitions to improve their critical thinking skills, their knowledge of law and legal processes, and to enhance self-confidence and poise.  Yet other students compete in order to travel and for trophies and personal enjoyment.   For whatever motive, perhaps more than one, thousands of undergraduate students are involved today with one form or another of inter collegiate judicial process tournaments. Hundreds of American faculty and staff are involved as well.

 

Undergraduate Mediation, also known as “alternative dispute resolution,” involves the attempt to resolve disputes before trial:   “student mediators” are evaluated in attempting to convince two “warring” parties (also student-contestants) to settle a hypothetical dispute.  Trained mediators evaluate and score personal persuasion skills and the performances of the “warring” parties.

 
Inter-collegiate competition materials were developed and refined by Richard “Dick” Calkins, former Dean of the Drake Law School, and a nationally known mediator who has resolved hundreds of cases before trial.  State, regional, and national mediation competitions are regularly organized.  The national event is held in early November at the campus of the John Marshall Law School in Chicago.  Mediation events are now a regular activity for hundreds of undergraduate students each year.

 

Undergraduate Mock Trial simulates a criminal or civil trial.  Students assume the roles of attorneys or witnesses whose performances -- communication skills, knowledge of trial court rules and procedures and/or the facts of the hypothetical dispute -- are carefully evaluated by observers.

 

The first national mock trial tournament in 1985, also developed and nurtured by Dick Calkins, attracted only a handful of teams from four states.  In 2005 undergraduate mock trial involved students from more than four hundred colleges and universities.   Nineteen regional events, and three national tournaments, as well as events between teams of two colleges, are regularly organized.  Thousands of undergraduate students participate annually.

 

Undergraduate moot court -- the simulation of an appellate court hearing -- involves teams of undergraduate student ”attorneys” representing hypothetical clients, who attempt to persuade a panel of judges that a trial court reached a “correct” decision (or, when these students represent petitioner, that the trial court “erred” in some way). Constitutional issues are typically examined.   Panels of multiple judges evaluate speaking skills and knowledge of law through questioning of the individual student “attorney” contestants.  Besides the oral skill development, participants in some moot court competitions are also given the opportunity to develop “briefs” based on the case problem for both parties. This opportunity provides students with a chance to enhance/or develop their analytical and conceptual skills, which can be applied in various fields of study.

 

The origins of intercollegiate undergraduate moot court can be traced back to the 1970s when several intercollegiate tournaments were organized in Maine and Oklahoma. Campus wide competitions were also organized in California and Mississippi during the early 1980s.  By the early 1990s more than a dozen tournaments had been organized in Illinois, Indiana, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas.   The first national invitational moot court competition was organized by University of Texas at Arlington faculty Charles Knerr and Andrew Sommerman in 2001.  By 2005, a number of regional tournaments were being organized in California, Georgia, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Virginia, with the national in Texas each January, all using the same problem as at the national event.   Hundreds of American undergraduates are now competing each year in various moot court events representing more than one hundred colleges.

 

INTERNATIONAL COMPETIONS

 

American undergraduate students are also eligible to compete in various international judicial process competitions.   Professor Howard Tolly of the University of Cincinnati has developed the “Teaching Human Rights on Line” (THRO”) Project, which attracts students from around the world.   Undergraduate teams from Case Western Reserve have competed at the Jean Pictet International Humanitarian Law Moot Court, a tournament at which French is the required language.   American undergraduate students are permitted to compete in the Willem C. Vis International Arbitration Moot Court, conducted in English, involving an international business contract dispute.   VIS competitions are held annually in Hong Kong and in Vienna, attracting several hundred teams from around the world.  Other international competitions are available to American undergraduates; the number of such tournaments grows steadily; the number of American undergraduate students competing in international events will likely grow over the years.


ORGANIZING A TEAM

 

How many students are needed for a team depends upon the tournament:  American moot court teams consist of two students, undergraduate mediation, three, and American mock trial, six to eight students.  Having a faculty or staff advisor is very helpful, but not required. Sometimes attorney alumni are willing to assist students in preparing for upcoming competitions. 

 

Funding for entrance fees and travel can be a problem for students without faculty or staff support, but can be and has been overcome by determined students.   Organizing a student group and petitioning the Student Congress for travel money is a strategy used by many undergraduate teams around the US.  Other campus funds are available -- College Deans, especially Honors College Administrators, and individual Departments often have money for student travel.  Sometimes alumni or local bar associations will provide assistance.  And, of course, students can organize their own fundraisers -- coffee and donut sales, book sales, auctions of community donated items, etc.     

 

Costs of competing include:  missed time from academic classes, family and friends;  the actual stress of competition; for employed students, income lost while away competing.  Students need to be cautious about over-committing to any extracurricular activity.  Academic studies always come first.

 

On the other hand, some colleges have organized classes for mock trial and moot court, and capable instructors to assist students prepare.  And for almost all students the benefits -- improved communication skills, self-confidence, and poise, among other benefits -- decidedly outweigh the costs.

 

The authors are enthusiastic supporters of inter-collegiate academic competitions.  Will academic competitions someday be the equal of undergraduate athletic events?   We certainly hope so.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Charles Knerr is Professor,  Political Science, University of Texas
       and a member of the Honors College Faculty, University of Texas at
      Arlington.

 

Johan van der Walt is the Spring 2005 President of the UT Arlington
       Moot  Court Students, and, as a sophomore and Honors College
       student,  has competed in several  undergraduate moot court 
       tournaments, and recipient of several trophies.    


FURTHER READING

American Undergraduate Mediation:

 

American Mock Trial:

  • Steven Lubet and Jill Trumbull-Harris, Mock Trials: Preparing, Presenting, and Winning Your Case. National Institute for Trial Advocacy (March, 2001).

 

American Undergraduate Moot Court:

 

  • Charles Knerr, Andew Sommerman, Kimi King, Paul Weizer, How to Please the Court: A Moot Court Handbook. Peter Lang   ( 2004).

 

  • Professor Knerr will provide additional bibliographic materials on undergraduate moot court, if requested.

 

CONTACT INFORMATION

 

American Undergraduate Mediation:

 

American Undergraduate Mock Trial:

 

American Undergraduate Moot Court:

 

Jean Pictet International Humanitarian Law Moot Court:

 

 

THRO: Teaching Human Rights On Line:

 

 

Wilheim Vis International Arbitration Moot Court: