Williams College Mock Trial & Moot Court

The Williams College Mock Trial/Moot Court Team is a program of the Williams College Law Society, and is associated with the American Collegiate Moot Court Association, and the American Mock Trial Association.

"'What is Mock Trial?"'

Mock Trial is a competitive trial simulation. We compete with other colleges all across the nation on a realistic case involving civil or criminal charges. Each college prepares their case as if it were a real trial case in a U.S. Court by, choosing their witnesses, creating direct and cross examinations, opening statements, closing arguments, and objections.

Each Team of 7-10 members consists of 3 attorneys, 3 witnesses, 1-2 timekeepers, and alternate witnesses/attorneys. The attorneys for each team must abide by the rules of evidence created by AMTA (They are very similar to the Federal Rules of Evidence). Witnesses get to interpret their affidavits in conjunction with the case and create a persona that makes each witness unique.

"'What is Moot Court?"'

Moot Court is a simulation of an appellate court proceeding, also known as mock Supreme Court. Moot Court involves teams of two student-contestants competing in front of a panel of judges, with briefs and oratory detailing the dimensions of the legal problem before the appellate court. Students argue a hypothetical legal case known as the competition case. To do so, students must research the cases and laws cited in the competition case. Moot court judges ask students questions and grade the students on the basis of their knowledge of the case, their response to questioning, their forensic skills, and their demeanor. Oral argument lasts 40 minutes (each side gets 20 minutes) and each student is expected to speak for a minimum of 7 minutes.

Moot court is used as an educational tool around the world, and tournaments are currently organized in the United States, in Great Britain, in Canada, in Australia, in New Zealand, and in a number of other countries. Moot court has been featured in legal training for hundreds of years, with origins in medieval England.

2011-2012 Captains

Teams Manager: Yazmine Nichols

Co-Captain: Emanuel McMiller

Co-Captain: Katy Newcomer

Who can join the Team and how? Any active Williams College student can join. Majors, Concentrations, etc. are not constraints. We seek out charismatic, well spoken people who can think on their feet. Simply contact us WilliamsCollegeMockMoot@gmail.com.

For more info, visit our website: http://williamscollegelawsociety.com/competitions/

Or check us out on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WilliamsCollegeMockMoot