Moot Court
Learn to read, write, think, and argue like a lawyer. Moot court is simulated appellate legal argument of the type given in the U.S. Supreme Court and other state and federal appeals courts. Students learn to give argument based on a fictional problem that is set by the American Moot Court Association and that raises two problems in federal constitutional law. Moot court is a three-credit creative inquiry (PHIL 4920) in which you learn to write an appellate legal brief and to give oral argument. In the fall semester, some students are selected to represent Clemson by giving oral argument in a regional tournament of the American Moot Court Association. Others may be selected to represent Clemson in the AMCA's national brief writing tournament.
Contact Cary Berkeley Kaye
Clemson successes:
Jason Teets and Maggie Deas represented Clemson in the AMCA national tournament in Winter 2022.
Kate Tesh was the top individual orator out of 64 competitors at the Bluegrass Regional Tournament in November 2022, and her teammate Libby Morgan placed seventh.
Teresa Ribeiro and Caroline Morgan placed sixth among briefs for the respondent in the AMCA national brief-writing tournament in December 2023, out of over 200 briefs submitted to the tournament overall.
Law schools represented among moot court alumni include NYU, Vanderbilt, University of Georgia, University of South Carolina, and University of Delaware.
“Moot court and mock trial are each a fabulous way to explore different aspects of law”
Cary Berkeley KayeLecturer in PhilosophyDepartment of Philosophy and Religion
American Moot Court Association
The Midwest Regional Tournament of the American Moot Court Association
