Course Section | Columbia Law School

Section Description Provided by Instructor

Permission of instructor required. 2 credits.

Graded CR/F.

Major writing credit available.

This course is closed to LL.M. students.

Required for students who have been selected and are registered as Moot Court Student Editors for the first-year moot court program under L6681. Open to other students with special permission of the instructor.

Student editors for the Foundation Moot Court program, working in teams of two, are responsible for designing an appellate advocacy problem to be used by first-year students in the spring semester and for drafting a bench memorandum and record. Student editors for the approved intermural Moot Court programs are responsible for drafting a bench memorandum. In the spring the editors each supervise approximately 8-10 students in the research and writing of appellate briefs.

In the workshop, students build upon the writing and research skills and the knowledge of appellate advocacy that they gained in the first year. They receive intensive instruction in developing effective Moot Court problems, mentoring first-year students, and editing written work. Students further develop the skills of clear and effective advocacy through writing assignments related to their moot court problems. Students edit each other's written work under the guidance of the instructor.

Editors research and write bench memoranda and records (or bench memoranda only for the intermural programs) for their problems and submit these at the end of the fall term. They must revise these in the spring term in response to feedback provided by the instructor.