Noah Coco '26
Managing Editor
Most 2Ls roll into their second year of law school, many with summer associate positions in hand, content to ride out their remaining years of school with light schedules and ample softball. For a minority of students, however, the fall semester of their 2L year offers an opportunity to engage their competitive spirit with more case research and appellate advocacy in the first round of a venerable Law School tradition: the William Lile Minor Moot Court (“Lile Moot Court”) Competition.
The Lile Moot Court Competition, named after the first dean of the Law School, is entering its ninety-seventh year of competition. This past Wednesday, September 11, the Lile Moot Court board, composed entirely of students, introduced the competition to a group of eager and curious 2Ls in advance of the first round in October.
The Lile Moot Court Competition is open to all 2Ls. Participants in the competition will compete in teams of two in a four-round tournament (hopefully) spanning their second and third years. In each round, teams are presented with a problem created by the Lile Moot Court board and tasked with preparing appellate briefs and oral arguments. The first two rounds are conducted during consecutive semesters during 2L year, and the competition culminates in two additional rounds conducted during the fall of 3L year. Teams are cut from the pool of competitors in each subsequent round of competition.
The competition begins with the preliminary round running from October 1–25. Every team that signs up by the deadline of September 27 is eligible to compete and will receive materials containing a single-issue problem at the commencement of the round on October 1. Teams have until October 21 to brief the issue and are capped at a 3,500-word argument section. Teams will then present at oral arguments conducted between October 22–25. Although teammates may collectively prepare the brief, they will have to argue their issue individually during this round of competition before a panel of judges composed of the Lile Moot Court board and previous competitors. The written brief constitutes 50 percent of teams’ final scores, with the remaining 50 percent allocated to performance during oral arguments.
Only eight of the original teams will advance to the quarterfinal round scheduled for February–March 2025. Advancing teams will be prompted with a new two-issue problem to brief, this time capped at a 7,900-word argument section. Teams will then, seeded by their preliminary round scores, compete against opposing teams at oral arguments judged by Law School professors.
The pool of teams will then be narrowed to four who will compete in the semifinal round hosted in September–October 2025. For the final time, the remaining two teams will be presented with a new two-issue problem to brief. Each team will again face off at oral argument against an opposing team, this time appearing before acting judges, usually representing state supreme courts, state courts of appeal, or federal district courts.
The final two teams will compete one last time in November 2025 in what will certainly by then be an adept display of appellate advocacy. The same issues briefed and argued in the semifinal round will again be argued in the finals, although both teams will be given an opportunity to revise their briefs before competing in oral arguments.[1] The final round is generally presided over by acting federal circuit court of appeals judges.[2]
The winning team will be announced at the conclusion of the final round. In addition to receiving a cash prize (of a currently undisclosed amount), the winners of the ninety-seventh Lile Moot Court Competition will be honored with a plaque to be adorned on the walls outside the moot court rooms in Slaughter Hall adjacent to the ninety-six winning teams preceding them, including the yet-to-be-determined winners of the ninety-sixth competition chosen this November.[3]
Any 2Ls interested in competing in the ninety-seventh Lile Moot Court Competition may sign up with a partner, or sign up individually and be assigned a partner, by the September 27 deadline. Questions may be directed to Amy Vanderveer (fvu2tr@virginia.edu) or Natalie Little (ngl17vc@virginia.edu).
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cmz4bx@virginia.edu
[1] One team may be required to switch sides between the semifinal and final round.
[2] Historically, the finals round has occasionally been presided over by sitting Supreme Court justices, including Justices Marshall, O’Connor, and Brennan.
[3] Astute observers may notice at least one notable name on a plaque memorializing the 1959 Lile Moot Court winners: Edward “Ted” Kennedy ’59.