Environmental Moot Court – 7035

Fall 2015
* Multi-semester course

The Environmental Law Moot Court program introduces students to the art of appellate advocacy by focusing on current issues in environmental law. Students research two areas of environmental law. They write a summary judgment motion in the fall, followed by the appellate brief, which is rewritten over the course of several months and due in January. Students do one argument in the fall based on the summary judgment topic. In the spring, after practice rounds and orals coaching on substantive and stylistic aspects of their presentation, students present a final oral argument, judged by practicing environmental attorneys.

The court usually consists of 15 second-year students and three third-year student directors. The student directors and the attorney director, who practices in environmental law, review 2Ls' written and oral work. The competition team competes with over sixty law schools in the national Environmental Law Moot Court Competition at Pace University Law School in White Plains, New York. The competition team consists of one 2L and two 3L students. The 2L is selected in the fall based on the summary judgment motion and oral argument on the motion. The 2L student is the managing director the following year. The 3L competitors and directors are chosen in the spring of their second year based on their performance that year. Course Credits: Second-year students earn two course credits. The 3L directors receive four credits, two for work as directors and two as competition team members. The managing director receives a third director's credit for administrative work.