2001 Harry L. Carrico Moot Court Competition

GENERAL GUIDELINES AND DEADLINES

1. The competition shall be an appellate style brief and oral argument consisting of two issues.

2. Each team will consist of two (2) students. In the event that a student does not have a partner, another single student may be assigned. In the event that there are no single students, that competitor shall be allowed to write a brief on only one (1) issue.

3. Registration for the Carrico competition will commence Friday, September 7, 2001 at 11:00 A.M. and will end Thursday, September 20, 2001 at Noon.

4. YOU MUST SUBMIT EIGHT (8) COPIES OF YOUR BRIEF!

5. ALL EIGHT (8) COPIES OF YOUR BRIEF MUST BE TURNED IN TO THE MOOT COURT OFFICE NO LATER THAN 5:00 P.M., FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 NO EXCEPTIONS, NO EXCUSES! Make sure to allow yourself adequate time to prepare 8 copies of your final brief.

6. Each competitor shall be assigned a competition number and shall use this number to identify themselves on the brief and only the intra-scholastic chair and board president will have access to these numbers. This competition number will only be issued at the time the competitor registers for competition in the Moot Court office (room 302).

7. Any student dropping out of the competition after briefs are turned in shall be ineligible to compete in any future Moot Court competitions, either internal or interscholastic. This decision is subject to appeal to the Strike Appeals Board only in extenuating circumstances. It is within the Intrascholastic Chairperson's discretion to invite the competitor with the next highest brief score to compete. Students who decline to compete after being extended this invitation are still eligible to compete in future competitions.

8. The Moot Court Executive Board reserves the right to make any necessary changes to the rules or requirements of the 2001 Carrico Moot Court Competition.

THE BRIEF

9. The briefs shall conform to the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia, except for page limitations, which have been altered for the 2001 Carrico competition. For purpose of this competition, the page limit is 28 pages, double-spaced. See note below, in Format section regarding pagination.

10. Competitors must conform to the Seventeenth Edition of the Bluebook. Note that this edition, recently published, supercedes the Sixteenth Edition, thus use of the Sixteenth Edition is incorrect and competitors will lose points for incorrect citation based on use of the older edition. Competitors should seek out a new edition, if they do not already own one.

11. Competitors assigned to write for Appellants must place a light blue cover on their briefs. Competitors assigned to write for Appellees must place a red cover on their briefs.

12. Each competitor shall write on one issue (which will be randomly assigned after competitor registers) and annotate on the cover which issue was written by which competitor.

13. The following portions of the brief may be co-authored: Table of Contents, Table of Authorities, Questions Presented, Statement of the Case, Statement of Facts, Summary of Arguments, Conclusion, and Certificate of Service.


14. Each competitors' argument for the assigned issue must be completed independently (you may not consult with your brief-writing partner at any time regarding your assigned issue).

15. Brief scores will be published at the end of the competition in the most convenient location. Brief scores will not be disclosed to any competitor, regardless of their status in the competition.

 

FORMAT FOR COMPETITION BRIEFS:

PAGE LIMIT = 28 pages, double spaced

The following sections of the brief are numbered using roman numerals, and these four (4) sections DO NOT count toward your total page limit (of 28 pages):

i) Cover Page

ii) Table of Contents

iii) Table of Authorities

iv) Questions Presented

The following sections of the brief are numbered using ordinary numerals.  These seven (7) sections DO count toward the overall 28 page limit:

I. Statement of Case

II. Statement of Facts

III. Summary of Arguments

IV. Argument 1

V. Argument 2

VI. Conclusion

VII Certificate of Service

*Sample copies of past Carrico briefs will be available by noon Friday, September 7, 2001 on reserve in the library.

**All written, legal resources (not limited to case law) may be used in researching and writing the brief.

***Once all briefs have been turned in at 5:00 Thursday, September 20, 2001, competitors may exchange briefs in preparation for oral argument.

ORAL ARGUMENT

1. Oral Arguments
1. Once the briefs are submitted, each competitor is graded and shall proceed through the competition, individually and not
                        necessarily with the original brief writing partner.
2. The top 64 brief scores shall advance to the oral argument portion of the competition.
3. In the event that less than 64 students submit briefs, all of them shall advance to oral argument.
4. The oral argument phase of the Carrico Moot Court Competition shall be double elimination.
1. The two (2) competitors in each bracket receiving the highest total score shall advance to the next round in the
                                same bracket (the "A" bracket)
2. The remaining two (2) competitors from that bracket shall be placed in the "B" bracket. In the event that a
                                competitor in the "B" bracket does not advance in the following round, that competitor will be eliminated from the
                                competition.
5. Competitors shall be randomly assigned an issue and position upon which to argue (ex. Appellant- Issue 1, Appellee -
                        Issue 2, etc). No effort shall be made to allow any competitor to argue the issue upon which that competitor wrote.
                        Once assigned an issue, competitors may not take it upon themselves to switch with another competitor. Such action
                        will result in immediate disqualification from the competition.
6. Each competitor entitled to receive a total of one (1) hour of coaching from a current Moot Court Board member. This
                        time may be broken up into two (2) thirty minute sessions. Information regarding coaching will be posted to the Moot
                        Court notice board at a later date.
7. Each round shall be graded by at least two (2) judges. In the event that there is a shortage of judges, a smaller panel
                        shall grade the round.

2. Scoring
1. The briefs shall be graded by the Moot Court Board members. This score shall be based upon, but is not limited to:
                        format, citation, persuasiveness, quantity and quality of research, and clarity.
2. The oral argument shall be scored by the judges of each round.
3. The total score is computed by taking the average of the competitors' oral argument score (scored by the judges) and
                        adding it to 30% of the competitors' brief score. The brief score shall be used as a tiebreaker, if needed.
4. Once the competition reaches the point where there are only twenty (36) competitors remaining, the brief scores will not                         longer be a factor in the total score. Competitors shall then advance solely on their oral argument score.
5. The number of invitations to join the Moot Court Board depends on the total number of competitors entered.


3. Final round
1. The Final Round shall be held in the Moot Court Room.
2. Students, faculty, staff and guests are invited to attend the competition and subsequent reception.

If you have any questions regarding the competition, please contact:
Richard Johnson, Intrascholastic Chairperson
rjohnso3@richmond.edu

Andrew Blanchard, Vice President
ablancha@richmond.edu
or

Harris Dague, President
cdague@richmond.edu

*** Please note that substantive questions regarding the problem will not be answered.