Introduction

Being on a law review, moot court, or trial team gives students valuable advocacy practice and looks great on a resume, however competition can be fierce. Thankfully, Temple has numerous opportunities to participate in these prestigious offerings. With five moot court teams, two law reviews, a trial team, and a patent drafting competition, there are many options for students to choose from. Academic credit is provided for participation. Note that all of these are subject to change, and Temple may not participate in all competitions every year. Where to begin? Read all about them below!

Law Reviews

Temple has two law reviews: The Temple Law Review and Temple’s International and Comparative Law Journal.

The Temple Law Review was founded in 1927. It is a student-edited, quarterly journal dedicated to providing a forum for the expression of new legal thought and scholarly commentary on important developments, trends, and issues in the law. Students must compete in the write-on competition to be considered for membership. This competition usually takes place about a week after spring finals. It consists of citation checks using the Bluebook format and writing your own paper or “note” using only provided research materials. See the Temple Law Review website for more information.

Temple’s International and Comparative Law Journal (TICLJ) is a student-edited journal devoted to cutting-edge issues within the fields of international and comparative law. Students must compete in the write-on competition to be considered for membership, which takes place around the same time as the Temple Law Review write-on. Previous write on competitions have had students write a fully cited four-page paper on an international and comparative legal issue of their choice. See the TICLJ website for more information.

Moot Court Teams

Moot Courts focus on appellate advocacy. Students get experience writing appellate briefs and then engaging in oral arguments based off their written work. There are five moot court teams at Temple.

Temple Moot Court Competition Team. When Temple students talk about “moot court” they are generally referring to team that participates in the Herman Stern Moot Court Competition. Unlike programs at other law schools where appellate advocacy teams are student-run, Temple’s team has faculty with appellate advocacy expertise leading the teams and highly experienced appellate advocates as coaches. Moot Court members are invited to apply after the first year of law school through a competition where students are provided a set of facts and must write a short persuasive argument based on those facts. Selected students participate in a second-year appellate advocacy course during the fall semester which ends with the competition. Prior to the competition students will write persuasive briefs off which they base their oral arguments. The final round of the competition is judged by a panel of federal and state judges. Success in the appellate advocacy course and in the Stern competition determines active membership on the competition team as an oral advocate, a writing advocate, or both. During the spring semester, new members attend special lectures on appellate advocacy and participate in an inter scholastic appellate competition with area law students developed by Temple.

During the second year of membership on the Moot Court Competition Team, students participate in at least one of the many moot court competitions offered throughout the country. They also assist in the administration of the Stern Competition, and attend lectures on appellate advocacy given by professors and guest speakers. Third-year students who complete all Moot Court obligations earn two ungraded credits.

For more information, visit our website.

AIPLA Giles Sutherland Rich Moot Court Competition. If you are interested in intellectual property law, this is the Moot team for you! The competition is sponsored by the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) and presents students with appellate cases focusing on contemporary and topically relevant intellectual property questions. Competing teams participate in oral arguments based on submitted briefs representing both the applicant and respondent sides of the dispute. Students organize their own research, writing, and oral arguments with guidance from Temple’s IP faculty who serve as team advisors. Past questions have tackled issues such as AI Inventorship, whether a patent is invalid as indefinite, patent exhaustion, patent enablement, and much more. Students are invited to apply after their first year and are selected after an application and interview process. For more information, visit our website.

International Criminal Court Moot Court Competition. A must for those interested in international criminal law, this competition is meant to imitate the proceedings of the International Criminal Court. It takes place annually in The Hague, the Netherlands. Universities all over the world compete in this extensive six-day program. The final round is anticipated to take place in an actual ICC courtroom with ICC Judges adjudicating. In 2019 the Temple Team represented the United States at the international round of the competition at The Hague. The team is coached by Professors Grenstein and deGuzman.

Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Honor Society. This is the world’s largest moot court competition, with participants from over 500 schools in more than 80 countries. The competition centers on issues of public international law and a hypothetical dispute among fictional countries before the United Nations International Court of Justice. Competing teams must each produce written briefs and participate in oral arguments representing both the applicant and respondent sides of the dispute. The international round is held every year in Washington, D.C., pits the dozen or so winners of the U.S. regional competitions against teams from foreign countries who have won their own national competitions. Temple Law has a team in the Jessup Moot Court Competition each year. Temple teams have had notable success in recent years, garnering team and individual recognition in the regional rounds and twice advancing to the international round. Selection to Temple’s Jessup Moot Court team is made by student members of the team. Team members organize their own research, writing, and oral preparations with guidance from members of Temple’s international law faculty, who serve as advisors. For more information, visit our website.

Manred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition. This competition is out of this world! Created by the Institute of Space Law (IISL) in 1992, over 60 international teams participate. Temple Law has competed the past two years sending a team of three students, two of which argue at the competition. The past regional competition was going to be held in DC prior to COVID19. The World Finals competition takes place in conjunction with IISL’s annual Colloquium, held on a different continent each year. Regional winners receive financial support to attend the world Finals, which prior to COVID19 were going to be held in Dubai. The world final is presided over by Judges of the International Court of Justice. For more information, visit our website.

Trial Teams

Temple has one Trial team, appropriately called Temple’s National Trial Team. It generally consists of 16 to 18 students, 2L or above. Team members are chosen through a competitive selection process, part of which includes presenting an opening or closing statement. Team members enroll in two Advanced Trial Advocacy Courses: Pre-Trial Motions Practice and Evidence Strategies. In their first year of membership, students earn four credits. In their second year on the team, students earn three credits. Team members compete in at least two regional or national competitions per year – one fall and one spring. For more information visit our website.

Patent Drafting Competition

If you are interested in IP consider participating in the National Patent Application Drafting Competition. Presented by The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) the competition aims to introduce students to issues arising in patent law. Students develop their patent application drafting, amending, and prosecuting skills. Student teams will be given a hypothetical invention statement for which they will then search the prior art, prepare a specification, draft claims, and present reasoning for patentability before a panel of high-profile judges. For more information visit this website.

Conclusion

With two law reviews, five moot court teams, a trial team, and a patent drafting competition there are multiple opportunities to represent Temple law at competitions worldwide. But it does not end here. If there is a competition Temple does not currently compete in that interests you, reach out to a faculty member to see if it can become a possibility.