Course | Columbia Law School

The American Constitution Society (ACS) sponsors the Constance Baker Motley National Moot Court Competition in Constitutional Law. In the spirit of its namesake, the annual competition deals with an issue of constitutional law that concerns equality, liberty, and justice. Enrollment in the ACS Moot Court may serve as a substitute for L6679 Foundation Year Moot Court for first-year students, with prior approval of the faculty Moot Court Director.

Teams of two write a brief either on the appellant or appellee's side during the fall semester. A qualifying competition following the national rules will be held at the start of the spring semester to determine which Columbia Law School teams will attend the Regional Competition. Students will argue a minimum of three preliminary rounds on the first day and eight teams will advance to elimination rounds on the final day of the competition. Note that while teams will write either an appellant or an appellee brief, each team will argue both sides at the competition. The two finalists from the Regionals will compete at the ACS National Convention at the beginning of the summer. In the spring semester, first-year students are required to rewrite their briefs under the close supervision of their assigned Moot Court student editors.