Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition

National Moot Court Director
Cara Sherman
The Pennsylvania State University-Dickinson School of Law
mootcourt@nblsa.org

Greetings fellow NBLSA members,

It is with great honor and pleasure I write to you as your 2011-2012 National Director of the Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition.

One of the cornerstones of NBLSA programming is the FDMCC. Since its inception in 1975, the FDMCC has consistently provided NBLSA members with excellent training in appellate advocacy through oral argument and brief writing. The FDMCC seeks to provide NBLSA members the opportunity to hone their appellate advocacy skills in an atmosphere of zealous competition and spirited camaraderie. Each year, between 100 and 125 teams compete across the nation within the six Regional Competitions, culminating in the top three teams from each region competing at the national level during NBLSA's Annual Convention. Each year, the FDMCC provides competitors with the opportunity to argue issues that are at the forefront of debate in the legal profession and this year will prove to be no different. This year marks the 37th anniversary of this competition and the theme for this year will be "1975-2012: Building Pipelines That Will Foster and Cultivate Our Emerging Leaders in Academia and their Careers."

This year promises to be a transformative one, as there are many exciting improvements and changes to the competition underway.

Competition Improvements

In keeping with NBLSA's commitment of service to its members, the Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition (FDMCC) Planning Board has implemented exciting new changes to the Competition. In an effort to create a more effective forum for the cultivation of superior written and oral advocacy skills, the following changes have been made to improve logistics for this year's competition.

First, uniform training and preparation will be provided for all participating judges at the Regional and National levels.

Second, briefs and oral arguments will be graded on a 100-point scale throughout the Regional and National Competitions.

Third, in an effort to encourage interaction among participants outside of the competition, you can reveal your first and last name, but must maintain school anonymity.

Lastly, the top three teams at the Regional level will be eligible to compete in the National Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition, which will be held in Washington, DC.