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Online Resource Centre Demonstration

Video

Examples taken from Finch & Fafinski: Legal Skills. The clips show students participating in a demonstration of a moot.
To play the clips below you will need Windows Media Player. Click on the icon to download the latest version. Get Windows Media Player

Mooting Clip 1
12.30 MB

This clip shows the opening of the moot. Note how the mooters rise when the judge enters. All then sit, apart from senior counsel for the appellant who remains standing and waits for an indication that the judge is ready for him to begin his submissions. Senior counsel for the appellant then introduces all the mooters, even though they will later introduce themselves, and identifies the party for whom he is appearing. Notice that he refers to the appellant by name; this can add clarity. He also offers a summary of the facts of the appeal to the judge, before advising the judge of the grounds of appeal arising from these facts. He then identifies the point of appeal that he will be addressing and the submissions that he will be presenting to the court in furtherance of this. Note that senior counsel outlines his submissions to the judge; this can be useful even if you are using a skeleton argument. It is good practice to seek permission from the judge to commence the body of your submissions. Overall this is a well-paced and clear opening that will have created a good impression of the mooter in the mind of the judge

Mooting Clip 2
4.76 MB

This clip shows the senior counsel for the appellant closing his submissions and handing over to the junior counsel. Notice that he repeats his ground of appeal and states junior counsel's ground of appeal to add continuity to their submissions. In this moot, the grounds of appeal follow on from each other for the appellants: (1) there is a contract and (2) it was not revoked. This means that the respondents will have to put alternative grounds, i.e. ones that do not follow on from each other: (1) there is no contract and (2) even if there was a contract, it was revoked. Junior counsel then opens with her introduction and submissions. Note that, unlike senior counsel, she does not list her submissions but refers the judge to her skeleton arguments. Either approach is perfectly permissible.