Know Your Judge!
From Learnmore
This page gives you guidance about that all important feature of a moot - the judge. Thanks to Vicky Ailes and Ben Wood for this lively piece.
Intro
The judge is the most important unknown quantity in any moot. Find out as much about him as you can before the day. Is he a lecturer, a postgraduate student, a practising barrister or solicitor, or a real judge?
When the moot starts, see how the judge interacts with the mooters. Is he asking questions? Does he know the area of law well? Is he giving any clues about which of your opponents' arguments he thinks have most merit?
Ideally, you should be able to adapt your speech to suit the judge. Spend extra time explaining the basic legal principles if the judge doesn't seem familiar with them or if you know that the mooting problem is not in his area of expertise. On the other hand, only cover them briefly if it has become clear from judicial interventions in earlier speeches that he knows this part of the law well. You should also try to spend more time dealing with arguments which he thinks are particularly strong, whether for or against you.
Judges vary enormously and it is much harder to do a good moot before a bad judge. Below are some strategies you can adopt with difficult judges.