The Ames Moot Court Competition

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    2019 Ames Moot Court Final Round

    2019 Ames Moot Court Final Round

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    For more than 100 years, Harvard Law School’s Ames Moot Court Competition has been one of the most prestigious competitions for appellate brief writing and advocacy in the nation.

    In one of the most anticipated events of the year, contestants stand in the Ames Courtroom before an illustrious panel of distinguished jurists to demonstrate their skills in oral argument. As it has since 1911, the competition draws standing room–only crowds as two 3L teams argue before the judges. A justice of the U.S. Supreme Court is usually a member of the three-judge panel. Making the final round is one of the school’s greatest honors. Winners have been memorialized on bronze plaques in Langdell Library.

    Learn more about the history of the Ames Moot Court Competition


    quote

    “I learned that you have to prepare the brief as a kind of science of the case and do the oral argument as a kind of art.”

    — Kathleen M. Sullivan '81 Best Oralist, Ames Moot Court Competition, 1980

    Recent Arguments

    Recent Arguments

    For more than 100 years, Harvard Law School’s Ames Moot Court Competition has been one of the most prestigious competitions for appellate brief writing and advocacy in the nation.

    View all Ames Moot Court videos
    Title Date Length Format

    Watch the video: 2019 Ames Moot Court Competition

    Final Round

    United States Department of Interior v. Caldwell
    11/12/2019
    		01:24 Video Play

    Watch the video: 2018 Ames Moot Court Competition

    Final Round

    Groves v. Gallant
    11/13/2018
    		01:26 Video Play

    Watch the video: 2017 Ames Moot Court Competition

    Final Round

    Dylan Bloom v. United States of America
    11/14/2017
    		01:23 Video Play

    Watch the video: 2016 Ames Moot Court Competition

    Final Round

    United States v. Papaya Cellular
    11/01/2016
    		01:36 Video Play

    Watch the video: 2015 Ames Moot Court Competition

    Final Round

    Abrams v. Vita, Inc.
    11/16/2015
    		01:29 Video Play

    Explore the Ames Moot Court Competition

    Explore the Ames Moot Court Competition

    Watch videos of Ames Moot Court Competitions

    Watch videos of previous Ames Moot Court Competitions.

    View all Ames Moot Court videos

    Judges on the Panels

    See which judges sat on the panels at the Ames Moot Court Competitions from 1974-present.

    View all judges

    Ames Moot Court Competitions Archive

    Browse the archives to see photos, videos, and details of teams, participants, and judges of the historical Ames Moot Court Competitions.

    Visit the full archive

    How the Ames Process Works

    How the Ames Process Works

    • First Year Ames Competition

      The First Year Ames Moot Court serves as the academic focus of first-year students’ second semester of Legal Research and Writing (LRW). All first-year J.D. students participate. The work of briefing and arguing a case is an essential part of a Harvard legal education and helps students develop critical skills in argument and logic.

      Students work in pairs to compose briefs on the merits of a hypothetical appellate case. Cases are assigned by students’ Legal Research and Writing instructors, the Climenko Fellows. The Fellows, together with members of the Board of Student Advisers who serve as teaching assistants, teach students how to research and write their briefs and help them prepare for oral arguments.

    • Ames Qualifying Round

      The Qualifying Round is the first round in the upper-level Ames Competition. All second-year students or joint-degree students currently enrolled in their first year of post-1L law school courses are eligible to participate.

      Official Rules of the Qualifying Round

    • Ames Semi-Final Round

      The students participating in the Semi-Final Round start the competition in the 2L year and rise to the final four spots through their strong research abilities and excellent written and oral advocacy.

    • Ames Final Round

      The students participating in the Final Round start the competition in fall of their 2L year. Two teams progress to the Final Round in their 3L year through their strong research abilities and excellent written and oral advocacy. Past Ames Competition participants include Professor Cass Sunstein, Dean Kathleen Sullivan, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, and Justice Harry Blackmun.

    Board of Student Advisers

    Board of Student Advisers

    Helping Students through the Ames Process

    The Board of Student Advisers (BSA) is an organization of upper-level students who serve as administrators of the Ames Moot Court Competition. The BSA’s mission is to build a community among first-year students and among the diverse student body of Harvard Law School.

    Learn more about the BSA