Competition Teams
Practical Experiences That Can Lead to Exceptional Success
The competition teams at the Creighton University School of Law provide a way for you to put theory into practice. When you join one of these competitive teams, you’ll not only sharpen your skills, but also demonstrate to future employers that you have the abilities and experience to be an effective attorney—right out of law school.
Sarah Gloden Carlson
Associate Dean, Academic Affair
sarahglodencarlson@creighton.edu
Competition Opportunities
Additional Trial Competitions
In addition to the competitions listed above, the School of Law is invited to attend and compete in a number of trial competitions each year. This includes the Buffalo-Niagara Mock Trial Competition and the National Criminal Justice Trial Advocacy Competition.
Moot Court and Related Competitions
Moot Court participation with the School of Law’s writing professors is mandatory during the first semester of your second year in law school. It involves appellate cases as opposed to those at the trial level. Participating in Moot Court requires researching, writing appellate briefs, and presenting oral arguments to judges. You must have a profound understanding of the facts of the case, your arguments and your opponents’ arguments to be able to answer questions judges will ask you throughout your presentation. In fact, Moot Court will help you become more comfortable formulating and expressing arguments before judges. These are essential skills for any attorney—demonstrating to future employers you can put in the hours to perfect legal analytics, research and writing skills.
- Jessup International Moot Court Competition: This is the world’s largest moot court competition, with participants from roughly 700 law schools in 100 countries and jurisdictions. The competition simulates a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice, the judicial arm of the United Nations. Teams prepare oral and written pleadings arguing both the applicant and respondent positions of the case. This team is coached by Professor Patrick Borchers, and 2L and 3L students may try out for the team.
- National Moot Court Tournament: This competition is sponsored by the New York City Bar Association and is coached by Professors Daniel Real and Kristine Cote. It is open to third year (3L) students who meet the following prerequisites: LRWIII and a “B” grade in brief and quarterfinal level in LRWIII Moot Court (or permission from a coach).
- Pace Environmental Moot Court Competition: This competition is held at Pace University School of Law, Westchester, NY and is designed to test skills in appellate brief writing and oral advocacy on issues drawn from real environmental cases. Each argument features three opposing sides (the government, a public interest group and a regulated industry) to reflect the complexities of environmental litigation. The competition is open to 2L and 3L students.
- Saul Lefkowitz Trademark Moot Court Competition: This is sponsored by the International Trademark Association and coached by Professor Craig Dallon. Second- and third-years (2L and 3L) students may try out for this competition team during the fall semester.
Moot Court at Creighton
