Local Bar Association to Sponsor Moot Court Regional Tournament

Written by John Finn 330-263-2145 Email Story | Print Story

November 15, 2004

WOOSTER, Ohio - The Wayne County Bar Association will sponsor the 2004 American Collegiate Moot Court Association (ACMA) Midwest Regional Tournament this weekend (Nov. 19-20) at The College of Wooster. More than 20 two-person teams representing five schools, including Wooster and national power Patrick Henry College, will participate. Approximately 30 practicing attorneys and judges, many from the local area, will serve as judges.

Tournament director Greg Long says that the regional competition is important in preparing for the ACMA national tournament in January. "Participation in an intercollegiate tournament is the only way that students can obtain a realistic assessment of how they stack up against competitors from other schools," he said. "This level of competition gives them a clear indication of their strengths and weaknesses in preparation and presentation."

Moot court competition is a type of forensic (speech and debate) exercise commonly used in law schools and many constitutional law courses in undergraduate programs throughout the United States. In contrast to mock trial, moot court is a simulation of an appellate court in which the students play the role of attorneys who are engaged in oral argument before a panel of judges. The judges play an active role in asking students questions about the facts of the case, the constitutional issues raised in the case, and the precedents that support or undercut their side of the argument.

Moot court competition features two-person teams - one person representing the petitioner and the other representing the respondent. The assigned cases, whether actual or hypothetical, have two different constitutional questions, so that each student focuses on one of the questions. However, each team of students must present arguments that are consistent and complementary, and judges frequently ask students questions that go beyond the specific constitutional issue they have been assigned.

ACMA selects issues that are important in terms of constitutional law and public policy and that will attract student interest. This year's hypothetical case, State of Olympus Department of Social Services v. William and Mary DeNolf, raises the important question of whether Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures apply to a child abuse investigation by a social worker.

The top eight teams will advance to the quarter-final competition on Saturday. The Saturday orientation sessions for students and judges are scheduled for 8 a.m. in Wishart Hall (303 E. University St.), and competition will begin at 8:30 a.m. The final round is scheduled for 11 a.m. in Lean Lecture Room of Wishart Hall. Sessions are open to the public, but attendees must arrive 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time.

Wooster's Moot Court Team is sponsored by the Pre-Law Advising Program and is open to all students at Wooster. "Our students are prepped and ready to go this weekend," said Wooster head coach Eric Boehme, the Juliana Wilson Thompson Visiting Instructor in Political Science. "We have been working with local lawyers and judges for the last few weeks, fine tuning our oral argument style and getting some great pointers on the details of the case."

Wooster's co-captains are Mike Broda, a junior history major from Wooster, and Natalie Miller a junior English major from Portage, Mich. Broda emphasized how much the team has benefited from the help and support of the local bar association. "We really appreciate the commitment that the Wayne County Bar Association has made to developing Moot Court here at Wooster as well as in the Midwest region," he said.

"Moot court gives students a better understanding of law and relevant Constitutional issues," said Miller. "It also provides you the opportunity to work with local attorneys, who understand the case and effective arguing techniques. If anything, Moot Court gives students the opportunity to branch out into the legal community, meet people, compete in a competitive tournament, and overall learn more about law."

For more information about the event, please call Patrice Reeder, assistant tournament director, at 330-263-2380 or consult the schedule posted at the Pre-Law web site at http://www.wooster.edu/pre-law/mootcourt/.