Law 793:  Advanced Legal Writing: Appellate Advocacy (Moot Court)

This course will provide advanced instruction in written and oral advocacy, allowing students to build on the skills they developed in their first-year Introduction to Advocacy course. Class sessions will focus on a variety of topics, including advanced brief writing and editing strategies and oral argument techniques. Each week students will engage in interactive exercises, such as critiquing excerpts of real-world briefs written by renowned attorneys; developing a compelling theme and incorporating it throughout key aspects of a brief; and video recording and self-critiquing oral arguments. Students will receive extensive one-on-one feedback as they research, draft, and rewrite an appellate brief and present practice oral arguments. The semester will culminate with final oral arguments before practicing attorneys and judges. The top students in the course will be invited to represent the College of Law in external moot court competitions during the Spring semester of the same academic year. These students will also be invited to apply to be teaching assistants for this course the following academic year and to serve as student coaches for the following year’s external moot court teams. 

Sequence and Prerequisites: Successful completion of the first year Legal Writing curriculum (Legal Writing & Analysis, Legal Research, and Introduction to Advocacy). This course is available only to students who have not previously enrolled in Law 697: Moot Court.

Evaluation: The course will be graded based upon written work and oral presentations, including the appellate brief and final oral arguments.

Course Classification: Experiential