Become a Moore

Students are selected to join the Moores through two competitions: the Summer Competition and the Fall Intraschool Competition. The Summer Competition is open only to rising second-year day and evening students and third year evening students (2LD, 2LE, 3LE). The Fall Competition is open to all students who have completed at least one year of law school.

Students may earn a spot on the Moores through the Fall Competition. Students who compete in the Summer Closing Competition and win "Best Closing" are still required to complete the Fall Competition to be eligible to compete against other schools. Please send any questions to Intraschool Editors Amanda Bradley and Tamara Gilbert at [email protected].

Competitors are judged based on presence and composure in the courtroom. Additional selection criteria include the student’s ability to argue factual inferences, apply facts to legal problems, advocate persuasively, and understand and apply the rules of evidence based on a preliminary reading. Summer and Fall competitors are not expected to have a substantive understanding of evidence rules, nor are they expected to understand the nuances of trial advocacy.

At the start of each school year, the Brendan Moore Trial Advocacy Team will host three presentations to assist competitors in forming a case theory. The dates of these presentations will be posted as soon as they become available.

Competition rounds will take place on Saturday and Sunday. Alternate preliminary rounds will be held for students who have religious obligations during the week before the weekend competition.

In teams of two, competitors will prepare the elements of a trial:

opening statement
two direct examinations
two cross-examinations
closing argument

Teams will be scored both as teams and as individuals. Offers to join the Moores are made to individual competitors, not teams.

Competitors will prepare cases for both the prosecution and the defense. Current Moores and coaches will run several workshops before the Competition on the elements of the trial.

In each trial, the elements must be divided equally. For example, in when the team is the prosecution:

opening statement (Competitor A)
direct examination #1 (Competitor A)
direct examination #2 (Competitor B)
cross examination #1 (Competitor A)
cross examination #2 (Competitor B)
closing argument (Competitor B)

When that same team is competing as the defense, they will switch roles (i.e. the same competitor cannot give the opening statement for both sides).

Competitors will perform as one side in their first trial, and will do a second trial, arguing the opposite. Head-to-head matchups are randomly selected for the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. Teams are scored based on style, persuasiveness, and projected confidence. Judges will give feedback after each round.

The quarterfinal rounds will consist of the top eight teams and the semifinals will consist of the top four teams. The final round is held the following Monday evening in the Moot Court Room. All Moores who have earned a spot on the team are required to attend this final round.

Offers to join the team are not necessarily based on win-loss records but rather on the competitor’s ability to perform well and take direction from the judges; growth throughout the competition is an important factor as well.

How to sign-up for the fall

Students wishing to compete in the Fall Intraschool competition must sign up.

An email to sign up for the competition will be sent out in early August. Students will have about 2 weeks to sign up for the competition before signups are closed. The competition problem will then be released in late August. Students will have 1.5 – 2 weeks to create a case theory.

Students may sign-up by sending an email to [email protected] and [email protected] with subject line “Fall Competition Sign-Up.” Please include the following information into the body of the email and answer the questions.

Your Name?
Your Email?
Your Phone?
Do you have a partner?
Partner Name?
Partner Email?
Partner Phone?
Will you need to compete in the alternate preliminary rounds for religious reasons?

How to sign up for the summer

Traditionally, the Moores hold a try-out competition in June that is open to rising second-year day students as well as second and third year evening students.

The Summer Competition is significantly shorter than the Fall Competition. The Summer Competition consists of delivering a 5 minute closing argument based on a short, closed-universe problem provided by the Moores. Competition packets may consist of depositions, police reports, prior trial testimony, or other litigation documents. Competitors will be expected to piece together the facts, construct a case theory, and deliver their closing based on that theory. Competitors may choose which side they wish to argue (either prosecution or defendant).

Anyone who competes in the summer and does not get a spot on the Moores is encouraged to try again in the Fall Intraschool Competition. Summer competitors invited to join the Moores must compete in the Fall Intraschool Competition to keep their spot on the team.