Mooting: The Definitive Guide

285 Pages·2017·5.23 MB·English

by  Eric Baskind

Mooting
Mooting offers an excellent opportunity to develop your skills in an enjoyable,
interactive and challenging way. Participation in mooting can lead to improved
academic performance, enhancing your knowledge and your ability to handle
complex legal materials as well as improving the power of your persuasive argument
and vital skills, which will enhance your profile for prospective employers. In this
book, Eric Baskind provides a seamless and comprehensive examination of the
various areas involved in mooting and advocacy, combining both theoretical
and practical aspects as well as the organisation of and participation in mooting
competitions.
Online video footage of an actual moot brings the practical nature of mooting
alive and will give you expert advice and analysis of successful mooting technique
as well as tips for improvement. Each moot video is highlighted at various points
of interest to provide expert commentary and analysis of the mooters’ presentations,
identifying the mooters’ strengths and weaknesses and how successfully they use
cases and other materials to support their arguments. These sections will then be
re-enacted, incorporating the suggestions for improvements to help you to see
how the overall performance could have been improved.
This definitive guide will equip you with a complete grasp of mooting from the
initial preparatory stages through to advocacy in the moot itself.
Eric Baskind is Senior Lecturer in Law at Liverpool John Moores University.
He served as National Adjudicator to the English-Speaking Union–Essex Court
Chambers National Mooting Competition in 2008–2009 and again for 2013–
2015, and is now Chair of the Advisory Board to the Competition.

Mooting
The Definitive Guide
Eric Baskind
First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2018 Eric Baskind
The right of Eric Baskind to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Baskind, Eric, author.
Title: Mooting : the definitive guide / Eric Baskind.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2017. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017006098 (print) | LCCN 2017006204 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781138851160 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781138851177
(pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781315724317 (Master) |
ISBN 9781317530589 (Adobe Reader) | ISBN 9781317530572 (ePub) |
ISBN 9781317530565 (Mobipocket)
Subjects: LCSH: Moot courts—England.
Classification: LCC KD440.A2 B37 2017 (print) |
LCC KD440.A2 (ebook) | DDC 340.071/142—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017006098
ISBN: 978-1-138-85116-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-85117-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-72431-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Galliard
by Keystroke, Neville Lodge, Tettenhall, Wolverhampton
Visit the companion website: www.routledge.com/cw/baskind
Contents
Foreword vii
1 Introduction to mooting 1
2 Key aspects of the English legal system 14
3 Legal research and case preparation 57
4 The skeleton argument and good legal writing 109
5 The bundle 136
6 L awyers’ skills: preparation, presentation and personal
skills 141
7 Oral submissions 170
8 Participating in the moot 199
9 Organising a moot or mooting competition 210
10 Sample moot problems 235
11 Interactive videos: analysis of a live moot 257
12 Useful resources 260
Index 267

Foreword
For centuries, advocates have played a fundamental role in the administration
of justice in courts and tribunals as well as through arbitration and other forms of
dispute resolution. Mooting is one of the best means by which aspiring advocates
can learn to develop the preparatory and presentational skills that will enable them
to advance their case in its best way, and deal effectively with judicial questioning.
Mooting provides students with the opportunity to gain both experience and
confidence as advocates in a courtroom setting, thus helping to develop real court
presence. In taking part in a moot, students show not only their knowledge and
skill in researching and handling legal materials, but also their ability to practise
the art of forensic and persuasive argument in a concise and effective manner.
Mooting is the ideal environment in which to learn and hone the skills that as
advocates one needs in practice. It enables students to appreciate the importance
of thorough preparation and effective time management, as well as being able to
present their material clearly, in both oral and written forms.
Our professional education is designed to give us the skills to know or be able
to find, and understand, the legal principles that should govern the issues
pertaining to any legal problem. Equally important is learning the skills of being
able to present the facts and the law in a way that is persuasive. Mooting is an
important element in that educative process.
Mooting is fun and those who engage in it enjoy the experience and find it
enormously rewarding. Mooting also provides students with a positive step on the
road to securing pupillage or a training contract. Essex Court Chambers has for
many years been proud to be associated with the National Mooting Competition
and to contribute to assisting the advocates of the future to develop their skills.
Mooting: The Definitive Guide sets out in a clear and logical manner all the
information needed to make a success of mooting as well as providing compre-
hensive guidance on organising and running a mooting event. We commend this
book to anyone involved in mooting.
Richard Jacobs QC
Graham Dunning QC
Co-Heads of Essex Court Chambers
March 2017
viii Foreword
About the English-Speaking Union
The English-Speaking Union is an international educational charity and member-
ship organisation that believes in the power of spoken communication. Through
its educational programmes, competitions, cultural exchanges and advocacy, it
provides people with the skills to realise their full potential, helping them become
confident communicators, critical thinkers and empowered citizens. The ESU
believes that good communication is essential to individual, community and cross-
cultural development and understanding, and endeavours to ensure it is recognised
as such.
About Essex Court Chambers
Essex Court Chambers is a leading set of barristers’ chambers, specialising in com-
mercial and financial litigation, arbitration, public law and public international law.
Members of Chambers are recognised specialists in all areas of commercial law
and handle disputes across the full spectrum of the business and financial world,
including banking and finance, civil fraud, corporate/chancery and offshore,
insurance and reinsurance, energy, trade, shipping, revenue and employment.
The members have a reputation for exceptional talent, top-class advocacy and a
client-oriented approach.
Members act in the full spectrum of UK-based litigation, from County Court
hearings to substantial High Court trials and appeals before the Court of Appeal,
Supreme Court and Privy Council, as well as before specialist tribunals and public
inquiries. They also regularly appear before the European Courts, and advise
on and act in arbitrations and disputes around the world, including in Africa, the
Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
1 Introduction to mooting
Introduction
This book is aimed at everyone who is involved in mooting whether as a mooter,
organiser, coach or judge. It provides a complete guide to every aspect of mooting
from considering the mooting problem through to researching the issues, practising
your advocacy and participating in the moot itself. Additionally, there is a chapter
dealing with organising a moot or mooting competition which includes advice on
setting moot problems and judging a moot.
Chapters 1 and 2 deal with a range of preliminary issues and cover an intro-
duction to mooting and key aspects of the English legal system, with specific
emphasis on how it relates to mooting. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 examine the pre-
paration stage of a moot and cover legal research, case preparation, preparing your
skeleton argument, putting together your list of authorities and preparing your
bundle for the moot. Chapter 6 is the part of the book that deals with practising
your moot and covers lawyers’ skills, advocacy, presentation and personal skills.
Chapter 7 deals with oral submissions. This is arguably the most important part
of the moot, and it is often said that a good performance on the day will go a long
way to winning the moot. Chapter 8 puts into practice all we have covered in the
previous chapters to enable you to participate successfully in a moot and covers
all aspects of the moot itself. Chapter 9 will be of interest to those organising a
moot or mooting competition and includes guides for organising and judging
a moot as well as drafting moot problems. Chapter 10 sets out a number of moot
problems covering a range of different law subjects. Chapter 11 accompanies the
online resource which analyses a complete moot with interactive advice discussing
and helping you to understand good and poor mooting practice. Finally, Chapter
12 provides a host of useful resources that will prove invaluable to any serious
mooter or mooting organiser.
What is mooting?
A moot is an argument on points of law that aims to simulate an appeal court
hearing before a judge or panel of judges. The participants, known as ‘mooters’,
argue the legal merits of appealing a fictitious case that has been decided in a
lower court.