Take It From The Students
Back in March 2010, five of our star mooters agreed to come along and be filmed having a round-table discussion about mooting and their experiences. You'll be able to see footage of this in the clips below. Enjoy!
To view the videos you will need to have Adobe Flash Player on your computer.
Your first moot?
Hear Andrew, Thomas, Anita, Tessa and Thomas talking about what concerned them before their first experience of mooting. Learn about:
- The 'detail'
- Etiquette
- Skeletons
- Memorising speeches
- The importance of practise, practise, practise!
Researching for a moot
The mooters talk through the use of primary and secondary sources and outline processes that worked for them.
Covered in this clip are:
- Should you use google?
- Keeping your head
- Knowing when to stop
- Read the problem!
Roles within mooting
Big issues covered include:
- Importance of teamwork;
- Consistency wins points;
- Cross-referencing arguments with aplomb
Role of the judge
Our brave mooters cover the following:
- What demeanour to adopt
- Different types of judge (don't forget to see our accompanying guide Know Your Judge for more on this)
- The perils of trying to 'read' judges
- How effective your response to a judge's question can be
I'm on the losing side - help!
The mooters cover:
- Importance of flexibility
- 2 sides to every argument
- Question even 'winning' authorities - have they been interpreted correctly?
- Helpfulness of dissenting judgments
- Detail - is the decision of the court binding or merely persuasive?
Writing a skeleton
Including:
- Not giving away whole argument
- Importance of organisation/structure
- Achieving a fine balance
Bundles (of fun)
The 'right hand man' to any mooter, the bundle is a reflection on any mooter's ability; a disorganised bundle often equals a slapdash mooter. This won't impress any judge in the land. Our highly organised bunch share some tips and musings on the perfect bundle.
Aspects covered:
- Timing - don't leave until the last minute
- The mystery of the bundle tab shop
- Highlighting
- Contents page
- Really? Copy the whole case?
- Professionalism
Using authorities
Covers:
- How to cite
- Secondary sources - to use or not to use?
What to do on the day
Our sage souls share strategies. Includes:
- Don't panic!
- Plan time
- Resisting temptation to search legal databases for that special case
- Talk to yourself (be careful with this one!)
How do I get the style and tone right?
Discussion points include:
- Eye contact not eye balling?
- Minimising flappage
- Flexibility
- Fine line between confidence and aggression/arrogance
- R-E-S-P-E-C-T! (Who didn't sing that in their head then?!)
Common mistakes (we made them so you don't have to!)
Topics convered include:
- Modes of address
- Listening to the judge
- Resisting the casual
- Phrases to avoid
- Dealings with the judge
Avoid complications
This clip really highlights the benefits of the no-frills approach:
- Keep it simple
- Use plain language
- Be clear and concise if you want to be persuasive
What to wear?

What to do when the panic sets in....
Unsurprisingly our mooters had a lot of tips to share on this one:
- Ask for clarification
- Develop rapport with judge
- Pause
- Resist any anttempt to lie or fudge; judges don't take this kindly
- Move on if floundering
- Remember judge's questions might be trying to guide you, not humiliate you
Why moot?
*Well, yes! Our intrepid five elaborate on this:
- Putting your academic law into practice
- Confidence builder
- Brain training
- Practise being persuasive
- Helps for coursework and revision
- Networking with barristers and judges
- Prepares you for advocacy on the BPTC, as well as the LPC
Sharing good (and bad!) experiences
- Balancing your emotions
- Remembering to conclude - don't just fade out (See our live example of this in Top Tips)
- Not over-thinking

Some reassuring words...
Reassurances include:
- It gets easier!
- It's not personal
- It doesn't matter if you don't win (really?)
A HUGE thank you to our wonderful students from GDL 2009-2010:
- Andrew Barns-Graham,
- Thomas Bradfield
- Tessa Buchanan
- Anita Davies
- Thomas Hope