Mini Moot Court (Appellate Court Arguments)

Oral Argument Structure

o 1) Greeting Statements (both sides come up)
o 2) Issues/Questions Presented (both sides come up)
o 3) Statement of Facts (both sides come up)
o 4) Initial Arguments (appellant first, respondent second)
o 5) Rebuttals (appellant first, respondent second)
o 6) Closing Statements (both sides come up)
DETAILS ON EACH ELEMENT
1) Greeting Statements
Always begin with (Mister OR Madame Chief) Justice, your honors, may it please the court,
our names are _______, we are counsel for (Appellant OR Respondent), ____ (your client)
2) Issues /Questions Presented
The Issues/Questions Presented is one sentence regarding the main legal question. It is
almost always formed as a neutral question that can be answered as: yes OR no.
Example:
The issue before the Court today is whether the United States must have a warrant before
examining peoples domestic cellular phone calls?
3) Statement of Facts
Counsel are required to ask the Chief Justice if the Court would like a brief summary of the
facts. The facts tell the background story of the case. It should explain what happened that
led up to the dispute. A good fact statement is a non-biased retelling of the past events.
4) Argument

You should have 3 main points to support your argument. During the
arguments, you will begin to present the details of the argument in a systematic manner
starting with your first point.
The Justices will ask questions throughout the argument and the counsel should be able to
transition between answering questions and continuing their arguments. Most persuasive
is citing case precedent, less persuasive is legal theory, and least is public/social policy.
It is helpful to leave clues to guide the Justices through your argument. For example,
following an answer to a Justice's question, you may say:
That brings me to my second point, Your Honor: The United States does not have authority
to suspend the 4th Amendment in times of war. [Always call a Justice: Your Honor]
Appellate advocacy is a formal conversation between you and the Justices. Your job as
advocate is to help the Justices make the "right" decision, so you should use a
conversational tone and answer directly. Be assertive and confident, but not forceful.
When possible, begin your answers with "yes" or "no," and then back it up with case+theory.

5) Rebuttal
Following the close of the Respondent's opening argument, rebuttals should address issues
made by the opponent with a focus on incorrect or alternative interpretations of the law.
6) Closing Statements:
For Appellant (last name on the case, those who won in the lower court):
Appellant respectfully requests that this Court reverse the decision of the court.
For Respondent (last name on the case, those who won in the lower court):
Respondent respectfully requests that this Court affirm the decision of the court below.

ALL THE CONTENTS IN THE BOX SHOULD BE WRITTEN IN GOOGLE DOCS:

Minimum Pre-Typed Prep:

a) Full Greeting (following the pre-formatting)
b) Full Issues/Questions (1 sentence)
c) Full Statement of Facts (list of key facts)
d) Outline of the Argument (should have at
least 3 main points, strongest > weakest)
e) Full Closing (following the pre-formatting)
LEGAL RESOURCES
http://www.findlaw.com
http://www.casebriefs.com
https://www.oyez.org
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/home.html
http://www.scotuswiki.com

(Look Up Cases)
(Look Up Case Briefs)
(Hear Oral Arguments)
(Read Up Constitutional Issues)
(Supreme Court Blog)

LEGAL TERMS
Court Levels (Low to High): Fed District Court > Circuit Court of Appeals > Supreme Court
Plaintiff (P, ): Ppl harmed
Defendant (D, ): Ppl accused
Counselor: Lawyer
Appellant (A)/Petitioner: Appealing, lost earlier lower court decision (1st name in the case)
Respondent (R): Responding, earlier lower court decision (2nd name in the case)
Brief: Written argument (has cover page + list of cited cases/laws in place of greeting stmt)
Amicus curiae: Written brief from non-parties to the case that want to persuade the court.
Stare decisis/Precedent: Duty of a judge to rule similarly to how they or higher courts have
in the past. The court can overturn precedent, but does so very reluctantly.
Affirm: Asking the judge to rule the same as the lower court, reject the appeal.
Reverse: To rule in favor of the appellant and reverse the decision of the lower court
Majority Opinion: Binding opinion on own court and lower courts for the future (5/9 votes)
Concurring Opinion: Nonbinding [future judges do not need to follow] opinion of a judge
who voted with the majority, but for different reasons.
Dissenting Opinion: Nonbinding opinion of a judge lost the vote.