Regional & In-House Competitions

Regional Tournaments

The Law School officially participates in a number of regional and national moot court tournaments every year. The Moot Court Honor Board coordinates participation in the Falknor Regional Competition, the National Appellate Advocacy Competitio , the Jessup Regional Competition, the ATLA Mock Trial Regional Competition, the Texas Young Lawyers Association Mock Trial Competition, and the ABA Negotiations Regional Competition every year.

Selection to these teams is based on in-house performance -- this criteria is further detailed in the organization's bylaws Questions regarding regional competition participation should be directed to the VP of Regional Competitions, Amanda Ose at aose@u.washington.edu.

In addition to the above-mentioned competitions, the Moot Court Honor Board receives a large number of invitations from competitions across the nation. These invitations are indexed and available on this website below, and in the Moot Court Honor Board office in Gates Hall. Individuals wishing to attend a non-MCHB sponsored competition must obtain funding through the Law School Administration.

Guidelines for such funding are available from the University of Washington Student Bar Association or the Moot Court Honor Board office. Please allow ample time for preparation and consideration of your request.

In-House Competitions

FIRST YEAR PARTICIPATION IN MOOT COURT COMPETITIONS

First year law students may participate in the MCHB's Client Counseling Competition, Mediation Competition, Contracting Drafting Competition, and the First Year Appellate Advocacy Competition. Membership offers are extended to ten members of the class in the summer following the first year based on performance in the Appellate Advocacy Competition.

PARTICIPATION AFTER YOUR FIRST YEAR

With the exception of the First Year Competition, moot court tournaments are open to all students at the Law School. Throughout the course of these competitions, second-year law students are extended invitations to join the Moot Court Honor Board based on their performance. In addition, at the end of the year, students may be invited on the Board through the cumulative selection process, which rewards consistent participation in moot court tournaments. For additional information regarding these selection processes, please refer to the organization's bylaws.

In-house competitions range from 20 - 150 competitors and provide law students at the University of Washington School of Law an opportunity to refine their oral advocacy skills. Questions regarding in-house competitions should be directed to the VP of In-House Competitions, Kirt Marsh at kirtmarsh@u.washington.edu.

Any student who participates in the qualifying rounds of a competition with a brief-writing component may receive academic credit for participation. Please contact the VP of Resources, Shelly Lambert at lamberts@u.washington.edu for questions regarding academic credit.

---

UNSPONSORED REGIONAL AND NATIONAL COMPETITIONS

The Moot Court Honor Board does not officially participate in these competitions by sponsoring teams. University of Washington law students are encouraged to enter and compete in these competitions and may be eligible for funding from the Law School administration. For more information on regional and national competitions, please contact the VP of Regional Competitions, Amanda Ose, aose@u.washington.edu.

GUIDELINES FOR EXPENDITURE OF WASHINGTON LAW FOUNDATION FUNDS NATIONAL/ REGIONAL MOOT COURTS AND NATIONAL MEETINGS

The Law School Administration will seek to fund student involvement in national and regional moot court competitions whenever possible. While funding of national meetings will be more restrictive, the Administration will seek to fund such trips where possible. Funding of moot court as well as trips for national meeting will be subject to the following guidelines and subject to the discretion of the Assistant Dean who is in charge of student organizations and the Executive Director of the Washington Law School Foundation (WLSF) as outlined below.

Funding of Moot Court Competitions (last updated May, 1999):
Full funding for every student who wished to attend a national and/or regional moot court competition is not feasible. Thus, to insure that as many students as possible may benefit from a national and/or regional court competition experience, the following limits have been set for funding of these trips. These guidelines are the result of a collaborative effort between the Administration and the Student Bar Association (SBA).

Student seeking funding must fall within one of the following categories to receive funding:

The national or regional moot court competition must be sponsored by a nationally recognized law association (e.g., ABA, Sports and Entertainment Law Association, Native American Law Student Association, etc.) and the requesting students must be members of the corresponding UW Law School association. The student organization must be officially registered with the University of Washington. The Assistant Dean will verify such registration through the SBA.

Students may also receive funding for a national or regional moot court competition if they are sponsored by a UW Law School faculty member.

All decisions to fund such competitions through the Washington Law School Foundation are subject to the Assistant Dean's discretion. A denial of funding may be appealed to the Washington Law School Foundation's Executive Director.

Competitions for Moot Court Honor Board members within their capacity as Moot Court Honor Board members will not be eligible for such funding.

The following expenses will be payable with WLSF funds:

• Contest Registration Fees
• Airfare
• Hotel

Where available, hotel and airfare rate will be based on the state contract rate as applied to University of Washington faculty and staff.

If a conference rate is made available to participants, this amount will be used to determine funding levels. If neither a state contract rate nor conference rate is available, the quoted prices for hotel and airfare will be used in determining the allocation per team member.

Each member of a team will be funded up to $500 each. Allocations over $500 per team member can be awarded at the discretion of the Assistant Dean upon application by the requesting student.

If a team exceeds three (3) students (excluding faculty advisors accompanying the team), the Assistant Dean will determine whether additional members will be funded through WLSF funds and at what level the funding will occur. The Assistant Dean's denial of additional funding is appealable to the WLSF Executive Director.

Reimbursement versus Per Diem Advances

Students may receive funding either after travel is completed (reimbursement) or they may apply for the funding prior to travel by filing a Per Diem Advance Request form with the Assistant Dean. These forms are available from the Assistant Dean's office and should be filed at least two weeks prior to the commencement of travel.

Maximum funding Limits for Multiple Requests

Each student will be limited to $500.00 in funding per academic year. Students wishing to attend more than one moot court competition and/or national meeting in a year may apply to the Assistant Dean to request funding in excess of $500.00. In order to provide funds for more students, however, funding of multiple trips will occur on an extremely limited basis and will be left to the discretion of the Assistant Dean in consultation with the Executive Director of the WLSF.