Mooting

Mooting gives students the opportunity to combine their academic studies with the experience of being a practicing lawyer.

Studying law will probably be different from how you imagined it. We tend to think of lawyers as public speakers in packed courtrooms, cleverly questioning witnesses, giving heart rending pleas of mitigation. However, the average law student will spend most of their time reading in the library, writing essays, and attending lectures and tutorials.

What is Mooting?

In a moot, two pairs of ‘advocates’ argue a fictitious legal appeal case in front of a ‘judge’ or panel of ‘judges’. The winning mooting team does not necessarily have to win the legal case on the merits or substance of the law. Instead, they are the team which makes the best presentation of their legal arguments.

Why Moot?

Mooting is useful for developing the legal skills of analysis and interpretation, but also personal skills of argument and public speaking. These are vital skills for any student who want to have a career in Law which employers will be looking for.

Mooting at UCL Laws

Internal moots are organised by the undergraduate UCL Law Society Mooting Officers. Each year, the undergraduate Law Society runs a schedule of training for freshers, as well as moot competitions for all year groups. Students can compete in internal competitions, as well as moots against students from other universities. A judge or prominent lawyer always judges internal UCL Moot Competition Finals.

UCL Laws students have also participated in prestigious international mooting competitions, such as the Jessup, Vis and Oxford International IP Moot. UCL regularly advances to the international rounds in these moots – providing participants with a further opportunity to meet fellow mooters from around the world.   

To get the most out of mooting, a lot of work is required to prepare winning written submissions and argue cases successfully. But as most experienced mooters will tell you, it is well worth the time and effort!