Competitions

The Moot Court Board facilitates several competitions at the law school every year. For more information regarding a competition that you are interested in, please contact the in-house competition chair.

Each competition has certain eligibility rules. All participants must be in good academic standing and have at least a 2.0 to compete.

The winning team from in-house competitions usually advances to regional competitions. In some instances, winners of a regional competition will move on to a national competition.

Resources

The Board has compiled a library of streaming video of training sessions and exhibition rounds, which you can access on Media Law. Also, please take advantage of the recordings of our Bond and Tausend Appellate competitions. To log in, type seattleualias, and use the same alias and password that you use for your SU e-mail account.

The Board suggests the following bibliography to get you started or to hone your advocacy skills. Popular briefs are available on Westlaw and Lexis.

Regional and National teams benefit from a modest budget that pays for competition-related expenses, including travel and housing. Administrators will also arrange for faculty and practitioner assistance in accordance with the rules of the competition, including practice rounds and oral critiques.

A Note to First Year Students

As a first year law student, your time will be extremely limited by your studies. Please be aware that competitions require a lot of time and energy, especially for first year students who have yet to take Legal Writing II.

Per the administration, first year participation in moot competition is limited to one competition. The 1L competition occurs in the spring.

Complaint Policy

Competitors are entitled to file a complaint about a competition round within 5 minutes of the close of that round. You may download and print a complaint form.

Sanctions

Volunteer attorneys provide the Seattle University School of Law a great service by giving up their limited free time to judge, coach, and work with student competitors. Please keep this in mind should you consider dropping out of a competition. Unless otherwise specified, the drop deadline for all trial competitions (Mock Trial and Administrative Law) and Legal Writing II competitions (James Bond and Tausend) is one (1) week prior to the date of the competition, and the drop deadline for all other competitions is one (1) week prior to the due date of the briefs. See below for additional information and penalties.

Sanctions Policy

Filing of Complaint
All complaints shall be filed within forty-five (45) days of the offense, in writing, with the competition administrator and shall clearly and succinctly state the nature of the claim.
Confidential Nature of Proceedings
All phases of the sanction process shall be confidential.
Application
This policy applies to all Moot Court sponsored activities, including, but not limited to, in-house, regional, and national events.
Late Briefs
A. A brief for any competition received after 10 pm on the day the administrative committee established as the brief due date, will not be accepted nor graded for the competition.

B. This rule shall not operate as a bar to participation in the oral round of the competition in which the late brief was filed.
Withdrawal from a Competition
1. A competitor withdrawing from a competition following the established withdrawal date shall notify the administering committee in writing of the competitor's intent to withdraw and shall set forth the reason why withdrawal from the competition is necessary.
  1. The reasons for withdrawal set forth in the competitor's statement may be used by the administrating committee or the Executive Committee in determining whether sanctions are appropriate.
  2. In the case of a regional competitor, notice of withdrawal shall be given to the competition's regional administrator.
Powers of the Administering Committee
1. The committee administering the competition at issue may sanction a competitor for withdrawing from a competition after the allowable withdrawal date.
2. The committee administering a competition may make a formal recommendation to the Executive Committee that an individual be sanctioned for any other conduct related to the competition it is administering, including conduct described in Article III, Section 1 of the Bylaws.
Powers of the Executive Committee
1. The Committee may sanction a competitor who withdraws from an in-house competition after the allowable withdrawal date.
2. In an effort to achieve uniformity of sanctions for more serious offenses and to give the Moot Court Board a united voice in dealing with the Seattle University Conduct Review Board, the Committee shall directly receive any complaints regarding violations of the Student Code of Conduct.
3. The Committee may investigate any alleged rule infraction. An investigation will begin as soon as possible, however:
  1. An investigation by the Executive Committee must commence within 45 days of the date that the alleged sanctionable offense occurred.
  2. If the complaint being investigated by the Executive Committee is against a member of the Moot Court Board, and the Executive Committee finds the complaint to be warranted, the Executive Committee shall report its findings to the full Board who will determine the appropriate sanction, if any.
4. The Committee may sanction an individual for any other conduct related to Board-sponsored activities, including conduct described in Article III, Section 1 of the Bylaws.
5. The power to sanction is totally discretionary and under no circumstances shall the Executive Committee be required to sanction an individual.
Sanctions
1. Sanctions may include any of the following or a combination thereof:
  1. Bar from future competitions
    1. for the current semester; or
    2. for the remainder of the current academic year.
  2. Referral to the Conduct Review Board pursuant to section 6 (b).
  3. Removal from Board membership.
  4. Consideration of the issue in reviewing an application for Moot Court Board membership.
  5. Require participation in future events as a bailiff, witness, or time keeper.
  6. Deduction of penalty points from competition scores.
  7. Any other sanction deemed appropriate by the sanctioning board.
Right to Appeal
1. In all cases of Moot Court Board administered sanctions, the offending student shall have the right to a hearing before the Executive Committee before sanctions are applied.
2. The Executive Committee shall hold an appeal hearing at the request of the sanctioned party on any sanction made pursuant to section 6 (A) within 7 days following receipt of a complaint or appeal from a Competition Committee decision.