Sharpening Students’ Communication Skills With Moot Court 

If you’re looking for an engaging classroom activity that delves deep into critical analysis, argumentation, and reading comprehension, moot court is a great option. The moot court, the classroom version of an appeals court case, can be done in one to three class periods and is an excellent vehicle to explore a current event or issue. This activity is ideal for middle and high school classrooms but can be adapted to upper elementary as well. While mock trial and moot court have long been the domain of government and other social science courses, this activity is excellent for exploring a current event topic in any course, like Environmental Protection Agency regulations in a science course.

Many teachers are familiar with the process of a mock trial, either as a competitive activity like the school team or as a more informal version to use in the classroom. However, trials are only conducted at the trial or district court level of the judiciary. At the appeals court level (including the Supreme Court), the parties have an appellate case, where attorneys representing their side make their arguments to a panel of judges. A classroom moot court involves more critical analysis and argumentation than a classroom mock trial and is thus ideal for examining a current event.

In this article, we’ll explore how you can bring this rigorous yet accessible activity into your classroom to spark critical thinking, elevate student voice, and turn the classroom courtroom into an exploration of current events.

Choose a Case

I recommend choosing a case for the moot court that allows you to unpack a larger policy issue or theme with the class. Recently, I conducted a moot court of the case City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson et al. with my class. This 2024 Supreme Court case decided on the question of whether a city’s enforcement of a ban on public camping against involuntarily homeless people violates the Eighth Amendment’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment. The Court found that such enforcement did not violate the Eighth Amendment’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment. This ruling opened the door for cities across the United States to enforce camping bans in public or, as opponents would contend, to essentially criminalize homelessness.

I chose this case because it examines an important public policy question that we’re grappling with in California (as are many other states): how to approach the issue of housing for the many individuals living on the streets. In reading the Supreme Court briefing and case materials, students saw strong arguments advanced by both parties in how to deal with this issue. This allowed our class to have a discussion on the issue after the moot court and to propose measures that our own local government could consider on the issue.

Further, this case is fairly nonpartisan with respect to its policy analysis, as opposed to some other cases decided by the Court in recent years. Depending on your class composition and school climate, it might be most reasonable to choose a case similar to City of Grants Pass to explore in the classroom.

Prepare for the Moot Court

First, have students read through the case materials. Street Law has a great collection of free materials on several cases as well as the City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson et al. case, Students can explore the case summary, case briefs, core issue, oral argument, and decision. As students proceed through the case, I recommend that they fill out a graphic organizer so that regardless of what role the student has in the moot court, they should understand both sides of the case.

To set up the actual moot court, split the students into three groups: justice (judge), petitioner, and respondent. I spend one to two class periods for the justices to review the case and prepare questions for each side (three questions), and for the petitioners and respondents to prepare their arguments (about 300 words). Before we officially conduct the moot court, we take one class period to do a trial run of the activity.

Conduct the Moot Court

When conducting the moot court, the student justices run the moot. They should first ask for the attorneys’ initial presentation, giving both the petitioner and then the respondent three minutes each to make their argument. Then, each side gets two minutes for their rebuttal.

Explain that the class will observe the “civility rule,” which means that for the first 30 seconds, justices may not interrupt the attorneys. However, after 30 seconds have elapsed, they should interject their questions when appropriate.

After all arguments have been presented, instruct the justices to consider the arguments and reach a decision. I give my students 10 minutes to do this. The justices should write their decision in a few sentences with a brief explanation of the reason they reached that decision, including specific arguments and precedents, then read that decision to the whole class. If you’d like to extend the activity, you could ask for a longer response from the judges (maybe as homework that night).

For a more in-depth description of moot court procedure, see the “Street Law Classroom Guide to Moot Courts.”

Debrief with the CLass

Allow the students to reflect and then share out regarding how they thought the moot court went. What went well and what could have gone better? What arguments were strongest during the case, and which ones did not fare well?

Students’ emotions could get intense during the process and spark some conflict. I always make sure to bring their attention back to legal analysis. I remind them that as lawyers, they often have to take positions that they might not agree with: “Appreciate when your opponent is making a well-reasoned argument, and don’t take the simulation personally.”

After discussing the case with your class, unpack the larger policy argument addressed in the case during the next class period if time allows. Using City of Grants Pass as an example, I asked my students the following questions: How should the local, state, and federal government address homelessness? If this city policy does not violate the Eighth Amendment, then which policies might? Will this case stand the test of time, or will a future Supreme Court term reexamine the issue?

Moot court provides an opportunity to objectively analyze difficult decisions and issues in a productive manner, teach students focused critical thinking and public-speaking skills, and demystify what some might consider the most opaque branch of government. I encourage you to explore free resources from Street Law and the Supreme Court Historical Society in preparing for this activity. Both organizations have partnered to offer a teacher professional development program called the Supreme Court Summer Institute. I attended it last summer and highly recommend that you apply if interested.