Good Morning/Evening Mr.

/Madame Chief Justice, Your Honors, and may it please the Court,
my name is , and I, along with my Esteemed Colleague, , are
appearing in this matter on behalf of the Petitioner/Respondent, .

I will address the issue of , while my colleague will address the issue

Would your Honors like a summary of the facts? [This is only for the 1st Petitioner to say. It
should be no more than q seconds]

SUMMARY OF THE FACTS:

This Case Is About . [Keep it short and pithy. What is the main point of the
case?

The judgments against the Petitioner/ Respondent should therefore be reversed/affirmed for the
Following reasons [or just state your one reason]:

FIRST:

SECOND:

TO MY FIRST POINT:
 Relevant cases, applying standards/rules if any

TO MY SECOND POINT:
 Same as above

CONCLUSION [No more than 30 seconds]

Your Honors, sum up your arguments and state what you want the court to do.

THANK YOU.

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MOOT COURT PHRASES
 Your Honor, I respectfully disagree. [You can disagree. Don’t fall into the trap of
agreeing with everything the judges say!]
 To answer your questions in turn ... [If judges ask you more than one question at a time.]
 To answer your questions concurrently ... [If judges ask you more than one question but
the questions are similar enough that you think you can give a satisfactory answer in one
statement.]
 Can you please rephrase/restate your question? [If you are confused or if you have
forgotten the question.]
 Is that answer satisfactory/does that answer your question? [If you are unsure if you
answered the question.]
 Your Honors, I do not have this case [information, etc] at the moment. Can brief you on
this matter at a later time?
 Your Honors, I see that my time has elapsed. May I briefly conclude/answer your
question? [You say this if the TIME card comes up as you are speaking. This does not
mean launch into your conclusion. Simply finish the point that you were making when
you were interrupted and move bow out].

KEYS TO MOOT COURT

 Know you brief.
 Know the facts of the cases you mention in your oral argument. I would recommend
bringing a sheet containing 1 or two sentence summaries of these cases. Please include
the year the case was decided and the court in which it was decided.
 Be formal in your language and respectful towards the judges.
 If the judges ask you a question, stop speaking immediately.
 Always refer to judges as “Your Honor.”
 Don’t be afraid to take a pause and think about your answer for a second or two. This will
make you seem collected and you’ll produce a more intelligent response if you actually
think about what you are going to say.
 Try to keep a neutral face. You will get annoyed at some questions but try not to show it.
 Don’t be afraid to concede less important issues. This will make you seem fair.
 Don’t stretch the record too much to fit the narrative you want to tell.
 Try to keep moving through your roadmap. If you see an opportunity to move on to
another point, take it (pivot). Sometimes, judges will try to keep you on a single issue. If
the judges are really pressing you on one point, don’t try to move on. In real life, a judge
may have already made a decision on an issue and would prefer to spend time on other
elements of your brief.

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