Princeton Mock Trial is pleased to invite you to our annual High School Spring Moot Court Tournament. Every year, over 120 high school teams come to the Princeton campus to debate Constitutional issues in two-person teams.

WHAT IS MOOT COURT?

Moot court is a simulation of an appeals court or Supreme Court hearing. Teams of two “attorneys” prepare and present arguments on a legal case (like the constitutionality of health care) to a judge or judge panel. You’ll learn real case law, legal precedent, and how to argue like a Constitutional lawyer. 

The Tournament:

There are four preliminary rounds, followed by single-elimination out-rounds with the top 32 teams. The final two teams face off in front of a panel of nine justices, in a simulation of the Supreme Court.

  The Case:

This year’s case can be found at

http://mocktrial.princeton.edu/moot-court

         The Teams:

There are two students on each moot court team of “attorneys.” You’ll both work together to present arguments for your side against another team.

The Rounds:

Two teams compete against each other each round. One represents the petitioner and the other represents the respondent. The petitioner is the person who appeals the lower court decision. The respondent is the person who argues that the lower court decision was correct. Over the course of the tournament, teams will represent both sides.

Each team will have 20 minutes to speak during a round. The petitioner speaks first, and may reserve up to 8 minutes of their time for a rebuttal. The respondent then speaks for the entirety of their 20 minutes. Finally, the petitioner gives a rebuttal. Students should split up the speaking time evenly.

You should prepare at least 10 minutes of your presentation beforehand, but be careful not to fill up the entire 20 minutes with prepared material. You will have to respond to the points that the opponent made, and answer questions from the judge(s). During both team’s presentations, the judge will interrupt with questions. You should be well versed in the case law provided and able to think on your feet. The number of questions asked will vary from judge to judge. The judge will not ask questions in the first or last minute of a team’s overall time.

A good presentation will address each constitutional question and explain why your side offers the correct interpretation. To do this, rely heavily on both the Constitution and the case law provided. Be very clear about how you are interpreting the laws and precedent.

         The Judging:

Preliminary rounds will have one judge. Elimination rounds will have panels of three or five judges. The final round has nine judges. Judge panels in late elimination rounds will be top members of the Princeton Mock Trial team.

When the round is over, the judge will score each individual attorney on argument and presentation and score the team on teamwork. An attorney’s argument score is based on the content of their presentation. To receive a high score in this area, you should be thorough, convincing, and well prepared to answer questions. It should be clear that a lot of thought has gone into your presentation.

Presentation is scored separately from argument. When scoring on presentation, the judge will take into account factors like how engaging you were, how smoothly you spoke, and how much you relied on note cards.

Finally, the teamwork score will be based on the level of collaboration between you and your partner. To score well, distribute the amount of speaking time equally between both attorneys, both when presenting prepared material and when fielding questions from the judge. Additionally, make frequent transitions between speakers. Having one attorney talk for the first half of the allotted time and handing it over to his or her partner for the second half will not yield a high teamwork score.

These five scores will be added up for both sides and compared to determine the winner. In addition to selecting the winning team, the judge will pick a top attorney from the round. The top attorney does not necessarily have to be from the team that won. The top attorney designations will be used to calculate individual attorney awards. Individual attorney awards are given at the end of the tournament along with team awards.

 

    REGISTRATION INFORMATION

To register for the Spring Moot Court Tournament, please click the REGISTER tab on this page.

On TabRoom.com, you will be able to enter your contact information, your school information, and list students and judges.

Instructions for using TabRoom.com can be found on Page 6 of this packet.

If you have further trouble with tabroom.com, please call (626) 215-4470.

Every year, our tournament fills up to capacity very quickly, and we always have a waitlist. Be sure to register your teams ASAP.

Note: Your registration is invalid until payment is received.

Once you register on TabRoom.com, you will receive an electronic invoice via email within one week. The invoice will contain a link to a Princeton University secure online credit card payment site, where you can complete your registration electronically.

 

This year’s registration fees:

Per-School Fee: $25

Per-Entry Fee: $75 (add $25 late fee if after March 25).

For example, if you are registering 4 teams, your total is $25+ 4x$75 = $325.

Once payment is received, you can request a full refund within 24 hours. After 24 hours, any drops will be refunded 50%. There are no refunds after April 12.

If you prefer to pay via check, please contact rchao@princeton.edu.

 

JUDGING

 

Important: Each school MUST provide one judge for every four teams the school is bringing (i.e. if your school is bringing 8 teams, you must provide 2 judges; if your school is bringing 9 teams, you must provide 3 judges).

Qualified Judges: teachers, advisors, school staff, or parents familiar with the moot court competition. All judges must be fluent in English and over 21 years of age.

You may hire a judge for the entire tournament for $125 per judge. If your judge fails to show up, you will be penalized $50 per round missed. Judges are committed to five rounds.

 

SCHEDULE

Friday, April 19, 2013

12:00 PM        Registration Opens - Whig Hall  

1:15 PM          Opening Ceremonies  - Senate Chamber, Whig Hall

                       Judges Training Session - Basement, Whig Hall

1:45 PM          Round 1 Pairings – Senate Chamber, Whig Hall

2:00 PM          Round 1 Begins

4:00 PM          Round 2 Begins

7:30 PM          Round 3 Begins 

Saturday, April 20, 2013

8:30 AM          Report to Whig Hall

9:00 AM          Round 4 Begins

11:00 AM        Round of 32 Announced 

11:15 PM        Round of 32 Begins

12:15 PM        Lunch Break

1:15 PM          Round of 16 

2:45 PM          Quarter Finals

            4:15 PM          Semi-Finals

5:45 PM          Final Round – Senate Chamber, Whig Hall

6:45 PM          Awards and Closing Ceremonies

  

Instructions on using TabRoom.com

 

1.    Visit http://princetonmootcourt.tabroom.com

2.    Click the “Register” tab on the Princeton Moot Court Tournament page

3.    Create a New Account

a.    Enter the requested information

4.    Click “Create your School” under Coaches section

a.    Enter School information

5.    Click “Students” tab on your school’s home page

a.    On the right tab, add all students competing in the tournament

6.    Visit http://princetonmootcourt.tabroom.com

7.    Click the “Register” tab on the Princeton Moot Court Tournament page

8.    Click the “Entries” tab

9.    On the right hand side tab, you can now register your student teams

a.    There should be two boxes, each with a list of all your students.

b.    To form a team, select the first student in the first box, and the second student in the second box.

c.    With both names highlighted, click “Add Entry”

d.    You should see the student team under “MOOT COURT Entries.” Repeat until you have selected all your student teams.

10.Once you have finished entering your students, click the “Judges” tab.

a.    In the right hand side tab, click “Add Judge to Roster”

b.    Enter the information of as many judges as you need

11.Click the “Tournaments” tab

a.    Click the green “Entry” button

12.Click on the “Judges” tab

a.    In the right hand side tab, select the judges you intend to use

b.    Remember you owe one judge for every four teams.

 

Once you have entered your contact info, school info, student teams, and judges, you are done!