Student Competitions: Moot Court Competitions

In the past decade, Loyola University Chicago School of Law has achieved a distinguished record in regional and national moot court competitions.

The moot court process allows law students to develop oral and written advocacy skills, to compete with students from law schools across the nation, and to meet practitioners and jurists in their chosen field of law.

Students are selected to compete on Moot Court teams by the members of the Moot Court Board, who evaluate briefs submitted by applicants, and assess each applicant's oral argument skills. With over 200 applicants each year vying for only 55 positions, admission into the program is highly competitive. Students who demonstrate exceptional oral and written advocacy skills will be invited to represent Loyola at competitions. Members of all Loyola teams are prepared for competition through the Honors Appellate Advocacy Program, an intensive course focusing on advanced legal research, brief writing, oral arguments, and the components of appellate procedure. This course, which is unique to Loyola, refines the skills learned in the first year legal writing course and the advocacy course taken by all students, and is designed to assist in the training and preparation of the law school's moot court competition teams. Several distinguished speakers from the Chicago legal community are invited to address the teams. The class also functions as a workshop to allow students the opportunity to work on oral advocacy skills in preparation for competition.

Currently, Loyola fields approximately 20 Moot Court competition teams. Faculty, alumni and other members of the bar serve as coaches for the teams.

Teams in these competitions are open to all incoming second-, third- and fourth-year students. However, the members of Loyola's team in the National Moot Court Competition are chosen only from among incoming third-year participants in the Intra-School Moot Court Competition.

2011-2012 MOOT COURT BOARD

(left to right) Megan Donohue, Brad Snyder, Matt Barrett, and David Duffey

Chief Justice: Megan Donohue

Financial Director: Matt Barrett

Publicity Director: Brad Snyder

In-House Director: David Duffey

Moot Court Teams