League Policies
There are two teams of two in Moot Court: the petitioner, who is arguing that the court should overturn (or “reverse”) the decision of the lower court; and the respondent, who is arguing that the court should uphold (or “affirm”) the decision of the lower court. The petitioner, like the affirmative team in debate, speaks first and last in the round.
NCFCA Moot Court rounds feature forty minutes of total speaking time divided between the two teams. Time is divided slightly differently depending on whether the team is the petitioner or respondent, but each team gets a total of 20 minutes of speaking time. Competitors do not cross-examine each other in Moot Court rounds.
The substance of the Moot Court topic is divided into two distinct legal issues (see the Round Substance section), and each speaker will only speak on one of the two issues per round. The students will decide among themselves which team member will speak on each issue. The exception to this is that the student giving the rebuttal will be responsible for responding to both issues.
Unlike all other NCFCA events, Moot Court has a script for how rounds begin and end, and how individuals begin their presentations. This mirrors the script used in the Supreme Court (and in nearly all Moot Court competitions at any level) to open a session of the Court and to begin an oral argument.