Cornell Law School Style Moot Court (Appellate Court Arguments v2)

Oral Argument Structure

1a) Greeting Statement
5r) Greeting Statement
2a) Issue Statement
6r) Issue Statement
3a) Statement of Facts
7r) Statement of Facts
4a) Initial Arguments
8r) Initial Arguments
9a) Rebuttal
10r) Rebuttal
DETAILS ON EACH ELEMENT
1) Greeting Statements
Always begin with "Mister/Madame Chief Justice, your honors, may it please the court,
our names are ____, we are counsel for (Appellant or Respondent), ____ (clients name)
End with: With the courts permission, I would like to reserve X minute for rebuttal.
2) Issue Statement/Essential Questions Presented
The issues/questions presented is one sentence regarding the main question. It is almost
always formed as a neutral question that can be answered as: yes OR no by the judges.
Example:
The issue before the Court today is whether the United States must have a warrant before
examining peoples domestic cellular phone calls?
3) Statement of Facts
Counsel are required to ask the Chief Justice if the Court would like a brief summary of the
facts. The facts tell the background story of the case. It should explain what happened that
led up to the dispute. A good fact statement should be 3 - 5 sentences and free of opinion.
4) Argument

You should have 3 main points to support your argument. During the
arguments, you will begin to present the details of the argument in a logical roadmap
starting with your first point. Start with your strongest argument in case you run out of time.
The Justices will ask questions throughout the argument and the counsel should be able to
transition between answering questions and continuing their arguments. Most persuasive is
citing case precedent, less persuasive but useful is legal theory and public/social policies.
It is helpful to leave clues to guide the Justices through your argument. For example,
following an answer to a Justice's question, you may say:
That brings me to my second point, Your Honor: The United States does not have authority
to suspend the 4th Amendment in times of war. [Always call a Justice: Your Honor]
Appellate advocacy is a formal conversation between you and the Justices. Your job as
advocate is to help the Justices make the "right" decision, so you should use a
conversational tone and answer directly. Be assertive and confident, but not forceful.
When possible, begin your answers with "yes" or "no," and then back it up with case+theory.

5) Rebuttal
Following the close of Respondent's opening argument, rebuttals should address issues
made by the opponent with a focus on incorrect or alternative interpretations of the law.
6) Closing Statements:
For Appellant:
Appellant respectfully requests that this Court reverse the decision of the court.
For Respondent:
Respondent respectfully requests that this Court affirm the decision of the court below.

ALL THE CONTENTS IN THE BOX BELOW

SHOULD BE WRITTEN PRE-COURT CASE:
Written Brief
a) Full Greeting (following the pre-formatting)
b) Full Issues/Questions (1 sentence)
c) Full Statement of Facts (3-5 sentences)
d) Outline of the Argument
(should have at least 3 main point road map)
e) Full Closing (following the pre-formatting)
LEGAL RESOURCES
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/home.html
(Constitutional Issues)
http://www.landmarkcases.org
(Famous Case Summaries)
http:// https://www.oyez.org
(Supreme Court Research)
http://www.findlaw.com
(Look Up Cases)
LEGAL TERMS
Plaintiff: Person harmed
Counsel/Counselor: Lawyer
Clerks: Justices aids
Appellant/Petitioner-Appealing, lost earlier lower court decision (1st name in the case)
Respondent-Responding, earlier lower court decision (2nd name in the case)
Brief: Written argument (has cover page + list of cited cases/laws in place of greeting stmt)
Amicus curiae-Written brief from non-parties to the case that want to persuade the court.
Stare decisis/Precedent-Duty of a judge to rule similarly to how they or higher courts have
in the past. SCOTUS can overturn precedent, but does so very reluctantly to stay consistent
Affirm: Asking the judge to rule the same as the lower court, reject the appeal.
Reverse: To rule in favor of the appellant and reverse the decision of the lower court
Majority Opinion: Binding opinion on its own court and lower courts for future case-5 votes
Concurring Opinion: Nonbinding [future judges do not need to follow] opinion of a judge
who voted with the majority, but for different reasons.
Dissenting Opinion: Nonbinding opinion of a judge lost the vote.