By Adam Calinger '06
Contributer

The first round of the 77th annual William Minor Lile Moot Court culminated on Sunday, November 13 with the announcement of the sixty-four competitors who will advance to the second round. The process began in mid-September, when 135 second-years picked up the problem packet just as summer job callbacks were beginning.

The first round of the Lile Moot Court simulates an appeal before a federal Circuit Court of Appeals. Participants begin the competition by writing a brief for the court as the appellant or the appellee. Students are then paired to argue against each other before third-year student judges. The participants are graded individually on their written briefs and oral arguments and those with the best scores advance. The first round problem packet contained more than 200 pages of court cases, statutes, legislative history, and legal scholarship from which the students prepared their briefs. In their first oral argument, competitors represent the side of the case for which they wrote their brief. The second argument tests participants’ skills by asking them to argue for the other side.

Second-year Shawn Foust, who is among the students advancing to the second round, said the Lile Moot Court “gives you some practical experience.” He joked that the oral arguments gave him “the rare opportunity to make someone listen to me for fifteen minutes straight.” Now all that he needs to do is to find a partner who is willing to listen to him. From the second round on, participants brief and argue their cases in teams of two.

Students also impressed the judges with the quality of their briefs and oral advocacy skills. According to Moot Court Board Chief Justice Tim Johnson, “The best participants just know the problem very well. Sometimes this is manifested by them arguing without notes. Sometimes this comes through in a brief where difficult issues seem to be dealt with effortlessly.”

On Tuesday, students eligible to advance to the second round gathered in Caplin Pavilion to get advice and encouragement from Professor Earl Dudley and three of the third year students advancing to the semi-finals in the spring.

Dudley, who participated in the Moot Court when he was a U.Va. Law student, said he “ran into a buzzsaw” when he and his partner went up against stiff competition in the first round. The Moot Court then was a single elimination tournament where students competed with partners from the beginning. Dudley urged participants to hone their oral advocacy skills early and practice often. He told them that “the earlier you learn it, the more frequently and intensely you practice it, the better you will be at it.”

Semifinalist Chris Kavanaugh disclosed one secret of his moot court success, saying that the first thing he did when preparing for oral arguments was to write out his entire fifteen minute argument and just keep practicing it until it was trimmed to an outline and then completely memorized.

The second round of the Lile Moot Court will begin on January 27th when second round teams and semifinal teams will pick up their problem packets. Second round oral arguments will take place in late February and early March, while semifinal arguments will be February 24 and 25.