Mooting whilst studying a law degree: is it worth it?

David Meiklejohn, second year LLB student at the University of Glasgow, talks about how mooting alongside studying the law allows you to enhance your skills.

Navigating a law degree is hard work. There are few shortcuts through arduous study from early on in the degree. For many students, the idea of doing extra and optional law-related work on top of that seems counter-intuitive and unhelpful. As a result, the concept of mooting is often inherently unpopular amongst law students. In short, mooting involves the preparation and then delivery of submissions to a judge in representation of one party, in opposition to representation on behalf of another party, based on a fictitious set of facts.

The most common charges against mooting are that it is time-consuming, adds to the stress of a law degree and does not benefit participants in the way of improved grades, particularly if the relevant area of law is different to course material.

However, the reality is very different. Mooting is not only an enjoyable extra-curricular activity, but actively benefits your studies and future legal career in three key ways.

Grow your transferable skills

Firstly, taking part in a moot develops a range of different skills. For example, having to prepare and present a legal argument requires you to hone your research and advocacy skills. Additionally, working within a small team improves your ability to work with others under pressure to achieve a shared goal; and you develop communication and time management skills which are crucial in any future career. Despite the proclamations to the contrary, it is possible to manage your time to balance mooting with your courses, work and other commitments, and the challenge that this does pose will stand you in good stead for the future.

Enhance your CV

Secondly, mooting provides exciting and enjoyable opportunities which will nicely augment your CV. Employers will be impressed if you have taken the initiative to participate in mooting, and it shows you have some of the skills mentioned above. There is a wide variety of opportunities available, and last semester I travelled to Northern Ireland as one of Glasgow University’s team of two in the Oxford University Press mooting competition against Queens University Belfast. These opportunities inevitably include the chance to network, either within your law school or with the judge (in this case a retired High Court judge).

Prime your legal mind

Thirdly, mooting will sharpen your legal mind and ultimately benefit your grades. The relevant area of law in a moot will not usually overlap with what you are studying (although it may do so), and indeed the moot I had against Queens University was based on an English criminal law problem. However, the advantage you gain over non-mooters stems from the development of your ability to apply the substantive law which you learn to a specific set of facts which you are given. This is the form taken by many law exams, and indeed is an essential part of practising the law. In many ways, mooting changes the law from an abstract theory to a concrete science with tangible results. On that basis, it does not matter that the subject matter of moots is often unconnected to any of your courses, as it is the ability to apply the law to the facts in order to build a case which will benefit you and your grades.

The question of whether mooting is worth it can therefore be answered succinctly: yes.