Oxford Mooting

The Faculty of Law at Oxford boasts an outstanding mooting programme, offering undergraduate and postgraduate students the opportunity to participate in an extensive range of competitions, both internal and external. These pages contain information on the following competitions:

Internal moots

Shearman & Sterling University of Oxford Moot Competition

Intercollegiate (Cuppers) Mooting Competition (including the Maitland Chambers Grand Final)

LRMSP Moots

College Mooting

Commercial Law Moot

Gray's Inn Moot

Oxford Law Society Mooting Competitions

External moots

ESU-Essex Court Chambers National Mooting Competition

OUP and BPP National Mooting Competition

Philip C Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition

International Roman Law Moot Court Competition

Oxford v Cambridge Clifford Chance Roman Law Moot Court Competition

Monroe E Price International Media Law Moot Court Competition

Oxford International Intellectual Property Moot

Oxford French Law Moot

The Mooting Co-ordinator is Dr James Goudkamp. For any queries or suggestions about mooting, please email mooting@law.ox.ac.uk .

What is mooting?

A moot court competition simulates an appeal hearing, in which participants analyse a problem, research the relevant law, prepare brief written submissions, and present oral argument. Mooting problems are typically designed to promote argument in areas of the law that are unsettled or subject to recent developments. Mooting competitions require competitors to engage with legal issues, and to enhance their skills of legal research and analysis, as well as their skills of persuasive argument, in the formal context of an appellate court. Mooting afford participants the opportunity to develop an understanding of substantive legal principles, to construct and defend legal argument, to collaborate closely with teammates, and to interact with academic staff, practitioners and judges in an environment that is both rewarding and enjoyable.

The short video below includes footage taken at the 2009 Shearman and Sterling LLP University of Oxford Moot Competition and features brief interviews with participants, who explain what mooting is and talk about their experiences mooting in Oxford. (A longer video filmed during the actual competition can be seen on the Shearman & Sterling University of Oxford Moot Competition page.)