Right after joining a law school, there is often a time when students would Google: ‘how to win the first moot court I participate in’, or ‘basics of a moot court’, or ‘tricks and tips to ace one’s first mooting experience’. I was no exception. Thus, I am writing this article to guide you through your first moot court, and to tell you what pitfalls to avoid. Before I get your expectation up, I must tell you that I only managed to scramble through the preliminary rounds in my first try-out. In the process, I made loads of mistakes and learnt from them. Hope this helps others avoid those mistakes.
Tip 1: The first-ever competition that I had taken part in was an intra-college one. For anyone’s first experience, I seriously recommend that you start small, but start early. Approach your seniors. Ask questions. You can learn from their experiences (psst, everyone likes to show off, so a little buttering is okay). Understand how your mooting works and study in details the particulars of the one you chose. I had procrastinated on my mooting journey and have always regretted it heavily.
Tip 2: Find people who are like-minded and as enthusiastic about mooting as you are. Besides the enthusiasm, a considerable amount of work ethic and patience is required to go through your first moot without too many hiccups. Friends or no friends, build your team carefully. This is also the point of time where you choose who are going to be your speakers and the researcher. My first time included a haphazard mixture of last-minute participants- a diligent but slow researcher and two absentee speakers. Don’t make the mistake. Choose early.
Tip 3: I would request that you undertake the problem your college assigns without being overly picky. However, make sure that you have a basic curiosity about the concerned problem, otherwise, the research becomes more of a chore. Keep reading through the problem, identify the issues and then divide them amongst the team. Start early, don’t waste time understanding how mooting works, because that was step one and that time has gone away.
Source: Lawctopus
