If you’ve done the preparation mentioned on the previous tab, you will have a good idea already of what your argument will be and where to start researching.
Background Reading
The first step will be to get a good understanding of the background for the legal topic at hand. A good textbook can be useful here, perhaps one of the core books listed on your reading list. This will give you an overview of the area of law in question, as well as highlighting some key cases and legislation.
Remember, you cannot cite textbooks or secondary sources in your moot – you must always refer to primary sources, and the more authoritative the better!
Cases and other authorities
Look up the case citations and legislation you have already identified in Westlaw or LexisLibrary.
Use Halsbury’s Laws of England to establish authoritative definitions and footnotes to further key cases and legislation. Halsbury’s is available in print in the Law Collection at Kedleston Road or online via Lexis (login to LexisLibrary, and then click on either Browse or Search for Halsbury’s in the Bookshelf column on the right).
When citing a case you should always refer to the version in the most reputable law report series you have access to – case citations are listed in order of authority, so always use the first one in the list, i.e. Law Reports (Appeal Cases, Family, Queens Bench etc) before the All-England Law Reports, Weekly Law Reports etc.
If you need to create a court bundle to take copies of cases with you to refer to in the moot, take photocopies of the print sources wherever possible. This is because formatting differences between online sources can affect the page numbering, and you want to make sure everyone is quite literally on the same page!
As you research, make a list of full case citations, legislation, textbook author/titles details, Halsbury’s entries etc. This will make it easier for you to refer back to and will help when drafting up your skeleton argument.
Before the moot you will need to submit to both the judges and the opposing counsel a skeleton argument and a list of authorities.
Skeleton argument
This is a short, structured list of what you are going to argue in the moot. It should be detailed enough for the judge to understand the content and direction of your argument but not too in-depth. It should also highlight which authorities (i.e. cases and legislation) you are going to use to support each point you make.
At the top of your skeleton argument you should include the party names, date of the case, the court and your roles, i.e. senior/junior counsel for respondent or appellant.
Your skeleton argument should be brief, no more than one A4 sheet of paper.
List of authorities
This should be a list of all the legislation and cases you are going to use the support your argument, with full citations.
Legislation should be listed first, followed by cases. You should not abbreviate legislation and must include section and sub-section numbers.
Cases should be in italics or underlined (consult the procedures or rules for your competition) and include the neutral citation (if there is one – neutral citations did not start being used until 2001) and then the report citation.
There is a good example of a skeleton argument and list of authorities at the following link: http://ox.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=17931508
Mooting.net is a useful website with information and support for student mooters.
Search the library catalogue for ‘moot’ or ‘mooting’ – there are several useful textbooks available, including those below.
Mooting by
Mooting offers an excellent opportunity to develop your skills in an enjoyable, interactive and challenging way. Participation in mooting can lead to improved academic performance, enhancing your knowledge and your ability to handle complex legal materials as well as improving the power of your persuasive argument and vital skills, which will enhance your profile for prospective employers. In this book, Eric Baskind provides a seamless and comprehensive examination of the various areas involved in mooting and advocacy, combining both theoretical and practical aspects as well as the organisation of and participation in mooting competitions. Online video footage of an actual moot brings the practical nature of mooting alive and will give you expert advice and analysis of successful mooting technique as well as tips for improvement. Each moot video is highlighted at various points of interest to provide expert commentary and analysis of the mooters' presentation, identifying the mooters' strengths and weaknesses and how successfully they use cases and other materials to support their argument. These sections will then be re-enacted, incorporating the suggestions for improvements to help you to see how the overall performance could have been improved. This definitive guide will equip you with a complete grasp of mooting from the initial preparatory stages through to advocacy in the moot itself.
Preparing to Moot by
Mooting is an increasingly important activity in UK law schools. This is because mooting offers students the opportunity to develop advanced analytical, research, drafting and advocacy based skills, which help to improve their general academic achievement and employability profiles. Tangible evidence of these skills is invaluable in a progressively competitive job market. The ideal guide for the first-time mooter, Preparing to Moot provides an accessible, systematic and pragmatic approach which demystifies the process. It focuses on analysis, research and argument construction as the foundations for successful advocacy and provides students with a working guide to use alongside moot problems in five popular topic areas: criminal law, contract law, tort law, human rights and the law of equity. Through careful use of annotated examples generated by real students, and expert tips and advice from the authors, the book shows students how to individually analyse, research and construct arguments for various advocate positions, providing a practical and easy-to-follow overview of how to tackle a moot from analysing a problem initially, right up to beginning to advocate.
