02/17/2013

Joining the Moot Court Board

Moot Court Board Plank

Click here for our criteria for the Lawyering Brief and sample briefs!

The Moot Court Board looks for talented advocates skilled in both the spoken and written word. In particular, MCB looks for students whose personal experiences and skills will enrich their ability to produce top-quality problems and compete successfully in moot court competitions.

Prospective members can find out more about the journal from our info sheet and frequently asked questions (FAQs). Our staff members are selected on the basis of their performance in the NYU Journal Writing Competition, but submit their capstone Lawyering (or, if a Transfer, 1L Legal Writing) brief in place of the comment required by other journals.

The Board selects precisely 46 students, usually 42 1Ls and 4 transfer students, to join the organization each year. Since MCB members are selected on the same basis as the other NYU academic journals, neither 1Ls nor LLMs can be members of the Moot Court Board.

In the best tradition of our nation’s highest court, selection for the MCB is done on the basis of a multi-factor balancing test incorporating:

1. Lawyering Brief: Students apply to MCB through the journal write-on competition but submit their Lawyering Brief from Spring in place of the Comment requested by the other journals. The Lawyering brief is the most important single element in selection. It is assessed for technical accuracy (Bluebooking, grammar, etc.), use of authorities, logical organization, creativity, and style. You can find exemplar briefs and our scoring criterion here. Note: some examples have N#s on them–do not include this in your brief, this was an old requirement.

2. The Bluebooking Test is required of MCB applicants and is considered separately from students’ Lawyering Brief.

3. A student’s GPA is not considered.

4. Each applicant must submit a resume in the approved NYU format, including any relevant experience in written or oral advocacy (debating, mock trial, brief-writing, etc.).

5. Like all journals and most employers, the Moot Court Board looks for personal statements (which should be attached to the resume). The prompts for our personal statement are included in the Journal Matching Program packet. Please closely read the prompts and thoughtfully answer all questions.

If you have any questions about joining the Moot Court Board, please feel free to contact us!