Moot court exposes students to members of the bar and state and federal judges. In 2008, CSULB Moot Court students argued in federal courthouses in DC and California and state court houses in Torrance and Los Angeles.
Moot Court
Professor Lewis Ringel participated in Moot Court, serving as a judge, while an undergraduate at Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey) and later earned his doctorate from the University of Maryland at College Park. He has run Moot Court simulations at the United States Naval Academy, Louisiana State University, and now at CSULB. Professor Ringel served as co-director of the CSULB Moot Court program from 2002-2005 and has held the director position since 2006. He has also authored and co-authored several articles on Moot Court and is contributing author to" How to Please the Court: A Moot Court Handbook".
Moot Court is under the Department of Political Science within the College of Liberal Arts at California State University, Long Beach. It is designed to prepare students for careers in the legal field through the simulation of an appellate argument. The competition consists of two-person legal teams who argue their positions in front of a panel of judges. The students argue a hypothetical legal case known as “the competition case,”which requires the students to research the cases and laws cited within “the competition case” in order to argue a convincing position to the judges. Moot Court judges grade the students on the basis of knowledge of the case, response to questioning, forensic skills as well as demeanor. Oral argument lasts 40 minutes with each side receiving 20 minutes to present their position.
Moot Court offers students the opportunity to gain the necessary skills for successful legal careers. The competition teaches the students how to think, speak and write in a clearer and more precise manner as well as learn invaluable research skills through the preparation process for presenting a case. Involvement in Moot Court also improves the students’ logical and critical thinking skills and introduces them to a variety of important people in the legal, academic and political community.
CSULB is one of only seven schools to be a former American Collegiate Moot Court Association (ACMA) national champion. It is also one of the few schools to consistently earn bids to the national finals. In 2008, it earned its first automatic bid to the national finals and it placed a team in the Sweet Sixteen. That team finished tied for ninth in the nation. Currently Moot Court is seeking funding for regional, State and national competitions as well as for student scholarships and awards.
For further information regarding Moot Court funding opportunities, please contact Howie Fitzgerald, Director of Development at (562) 985-1619 or hfitzger@csulb.edu.
