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Oral Advocacy

Sharpen advocacy through competition.

Through moot court, trial competitions, and alternative dispute resolution, you will build persuasive skills that define exceptional legal careers.

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Moot Court

Trial Teams

Negotiation

Representation in Mediation

Client Counseling

WashU Law student at event

Moot Court

WashU Law’s moot court teams compete in prestigious national and international competitions, developing exceptional oral advocacy and brief-writing skills while representing the school against top law programs nationwide.

The Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition is sponsored by the International Trademark Association (INTA) and centers around issues arising in U.S. trademark and unfair competition law. Students write a brief and argue the case before a panel of volunteer attorneys and jurists from the Court of Appeals of the Federal Circuit and the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board of the USPTO, as well as judges from various districts and other courts.

Students interested in intellectual property law have the opportunity to participate in the Giles Sutherland Rich Moot Court Competition, sponsored by the American Intellectual Property Law Association, which primarily focuses on issues in patent law.

The Jessup International Moot Court Competition is the largest moot court competition in the world. Nearly 600 law schools representing over 100 countries participate each year. Written and oral arguments are presented to a simulated International Court of Justice, the UN body which hears disputes between sovereign states.

The team is coached by Gilbert Sison, JD 2000, and advised by Professor Leila Sadat, former Chairwoman of the International Law Students Association that administers the competition and the co-author of three Jessup problems.

The National Moot Court Team competes annually in the American Bar Association (ABA) National Appellate Advocacy Competition. In addition, it competes in various other national competitions. 

For more information about the National Moot Court Team, please contact Professor Richard Finneran at refinneran@wustl.edu.

Types of competitions in which the National Moot Court Team has participated: 

  • William E. McGee National Civil Rights Moot Court
  • Evans A. Evans Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition
  • William B. Spong Invitational Moot Court Tournament
  • Billings, Exum & Frye National Moot Court Competition
  • Evan A. Evans Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition

The oldest and largest moot court at the law school, the Wiley Rutledge Moot Court Competition began at the law school in 1867. It is named in honor of Justice Wiley B. Rutledge of the U.S. Supreme Court, a former Dean of the law school. 

This competition, open to all second and third year law students during the Fall semester, focuses on federal law. Prior to the competition, students learn effective brief writing and oral advocacy skills through seminars led by faculty. For the competition, students work in teams, with each team ultimately writing a brief and delivering appellate arguments before panels of lawyers and judges. Judges for the final round are usually federal judges from various circuits in the country.

Vis
Michael Koby

Professor of Practice, Associate Dean for International and Graduate Programs

Chautauqua Conference
Leila Sadat

James Carr Professor of International Criminal Law; Special Adviser on Crimes Against Humanity to the ICC Prosecutor

Giles Rich
Kevin Emerson Collins

Vice Dean for Academic Affairs; Edward T. Foote II, Professor of Law

Trademark moot court team
Bryan Wheelock

Adjunct Professor

Hennessy Employee Benefits Moot Court Competition
Peter Wiedenbeck

Joseph H. Zumbalen Professor of the Law of Property

Jessup
Gilbert Sison

Adjunct Professor

Trial Teams

WashU Law’s Trial Team develops courtroom advocacy skills through participation in four to six prestigious national competitions each year. Students gain hands-on experience conducting full trials, including opening statements, witness examinations, and closing arguments, while earning two academic credits for participation. 

Twelve to sixteen students are selected annually through competitive tryouts involving closing arguments and witness examinations.

The Tournament of Champions, sponsored by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA), is an invitational competition. The competitors are part of the nation’s sixteen (16) top-ranked trial schools. The competition is a grueling one and ultimately the winner of the competition has the honor of calling itself the best trial school in the nation.

Hundreds of trial teams compete nationally to earn the privilege of being invited to this competition. Teams are selected on the basis of their demonstrated record of achievement during the past three (3) years in regional and national competitions, such as those sponsored by the American Association of Justice (AAJ), the Tournament of Champions (TOC), and the National Trial Competition (NTC), which is co-sponsored by the Texas Young Lawyers Association (TYLA) and the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Experienced trial lawyers and judges preside over the preliminary rounds. A panel of distinguished federal and state trial and appellate judges serve as judges in the semi-final and final rounds.

The National Civil Trial Competition (NCTC) is open to all ABA-accredited law schools that have demonstrated excellence in mock trial competitions and/or demonstrated excellence in the training of law students in litigation skills. The purpose of the tournament is to provide student litigants an opportunity to develop and display the skills of a successful civil litigator.

A total of sixteen (16) law schools are invited to compete in the competition. Each school may bring one team of four advocates/witnesses, and each team is guaranteed to participate in at least three full trials. Trials are judged by distinguished members of the Southern California bar, including partners and associates from numerous Los Angeles civil litigation firms. Schools are invited based on the applications submitted.

The Texas Young Lawyers Association’s (TYLA) National Trial Competition was established in 1975 to encourage and strengthen students’ advocacy skills through quality competition and valuable interaction with members of the bench and bar. The competition is designed to expose law students to the nature of trial practice and to serve as a supplement to their education. The top 28 teams out of over 300 in the Regional Competitions advance to the National Finals.

American Association for Justice (AAJ) seeks to inspire excellence in trial advocacy through training and education for both law students and practicing attorneys. The association accomplishes this goal in part by sponsoring the National Student Trial Advocacy Competition, an annual nationwide mock trial competition. The competition is an exceptional opportunity for law students to develop and practice their trial advocacy skills before distinguished members of the bar and bench.

Sixteen (16) teams are assigned to each of fourteen (14) regions in the Regional Competition. Only the top team from each region will advance to the National Finals. AAJ’s mock trial cases are always civil cases and tend to deal with products liability, personal injury, or medical malpractice/negligence issues. Teams are judged on their skills in case preparation, opening statements, use of facts, the examination of lay and expert witnesses, and closing arguments. There are no written exercises.

The American Bar Association’s (ABA) Section of Labor and Employment Law (LEL) established the LEL Trial Advocacy Competition to introduce law students to the challenges and rewards of employment and labor litigation.

Law students who participate in the competition have the opportunity to develop their trial advocacy technique in a mock courtroom experience. The competition offers participating students a forum in which they may develop the skills they will be using as practitioners, and a chance to meet and network with fellow law students as well as labor and employment law practitioners.

The Attorney General’s Cup is a mock trial competition among Missouri’s four law schools — University of Missouri-Columbia, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Washington University, and St. Louis University. Teams from all four schools will compete for custody of the traveling trophy.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for law students from across Missouri to hone their courtroom skills and learn how to better prepare themselves for courtroom practice following admission to the Bar,” Koster said.

Trial Team
Judge David Mason

Adjunct Professor

ABA (NAAC, Admiralty, Spong)
Richard Finneran

Adjunct Professor

Cort VanOstran

Adjunct Professor

Mediation
James Reeves

Senior Lecturer in Law

Negotiation

The ABA Regional Negotiation Competition simulates legal negotiations in which law students, acting as lawyers, negotiate a series of legal and factual problems against another team of students. The simulations consist of a common set of facts known by all participants and confidential information known only to the participants representing a particular side. All of the simulations deal with the same general area of the law, but the negotiation situation varies with each round and level of the competition.

Representation in Mediation

In the ABA Representation in Mediation Competition, students play the roles of attorney and client in a mediation setting. Students are evaluated on their preparation for and representation of a client in mediation. The competition provides students a valuable opportunity to experience client representation in the mediation process and to learn to work with mediators.

Client Counseling

WashU Law’s 1L/LLM Client Interviewing & Counseling Intramural Competition simulates a law office consultation in which students, acting as attorneys, conduct an initial interview with a person playing the role of the client. Students are called upon to embrace the role of lawyer by explaining various aspects of the attorney-client relationship, building rapport, ascertaining the new client’s concerns and goals, and preliminarily considering applicable areas of law and options available to the client. After the meeting, students are expected to reflect upon and evaluate the interview as they consider next steps in the representation.

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