Course | Columbia Law School

Student editors, working in teams of two, are responsible for designing an appellate advocacy problem to be used by first-year students in the spring semester. In the spring the editors each supervise approximately eight students in the research and writing of appellate briefs.

Student editors must also enroll in Workshop in Briefcraft (L6674) in the fall term and Moot Court Student Editorial Board (L6781) in the spring term. Editors for the intermural programs that satisfy the Foundation Moot Court requirement also enroll as Student Editors. During the fall semester editors research and write a bench memorandum and record for their problem. They must revise the bench memorandum and record in the spring term in response to feedback provided by the Faculty Director.

In the spring term, student editors counsel and edit several dockets of first-year students assigned to them in the preparation of a brief on the problems devised by the editors the previous term. Each editee should receive at least two personal edits and write at least three drafts of the brief under close supervision of the editor. Editors also prepare students for oral arguments and are present when the students argue the cases composed by the editors. During the spring term, editors meet regularly with the Faculty Director to discuss issues that arise in their work with the first-year students.

An additional point of Moot Court credit is awarded for participation in these meetings (see Rules for the J.D. Degree, Rule 1.11).

Editors also serve as teaching fellows for one point of credit for the spring semester Legal Practice Workshop.

Academic points for L6781 (spring term) are subject to a four-credit limit (see Rules for the J.D. Degree, Rule 1.13); no academic credit for L6681 (fall term). Open to second-year students selected by the Student Executive Board in consultation with the Faculty Director.