Why do students choose to moot, and why does it matter?

Associate Professor James Duffy, QUT School of Law

Many students who choose to study law in high school, or at university, have probably been told at some point that they are a born lawyer.  They have the gift of the gab, the ability to speak persuasively and to marshal arguments in support of a position that they adopt.  Or maybe they are just plain argumentative.

At university, law students are usually given the opportunity through the formal legal curriculum to engage in mooting.  Mooting is an unusual sounding word, but involves the use of a hypothetical problem scenario to promote the research, writing and advocacy skills of law students.  In a team environment, students are expected to conduct legal research with respect to a legal problem scenario and produce a written memorandum for both parties involved in the dispute.

After weeks or months of preparation, students then present oral arguments before a judge (or panel of judges) in a simulated courtroom.  These oral hearings are contested (similar to a debate), with different student teams representing each of the parties to the dispute.

The idea of public speaking makes many people feel uncomfortable.  When you place that public speaking in an adversarial context where another person is arguing against you, and your words are being judged by an independent judicial officer,  the process can be terrifying.  So why would anyone voluntarily engage in an activity that involves hard work, stress and the real spectre of public embarrassment?

There are multiple answers to this question, but one of the best is that there is something compelling and moving about oral advocacy done well.  Law students and legal practitioners know this, and the skill is widely valued by employers in the legal industry.  Mooting is an opportunity to improve oral advocacy skills.

A student with a law degree may choose to work as a solicitor providing legal advice to clients, or a barrister who advocates for a client in a courtroom setting.  The imperative for a barrister to speak clearly and persuasively on behalf of a client is apparent.  Solicitors are also required to advocate well in meetings and negotiations with other solicitors, and with their own clients.  In short, good advocacy is instrumental to good lawyering, and great advocacy can be decisive in achieving the aims of a client.

Experienced legal practitioners know that powerful advocacy changes outcomes in legal matters.  In the criminal law context, this might represent the difference between being found guilty or not guilty of an offence by a jury.  It might mean a reduced sentence for an offender who has committed an offence, where a skilful advocate can put that offending into context and make the world of the offender known to the sentencing judge.  In the civil law context, powerful advocacy may be the difference between a client securing millions of dollars in damages, or being liable to such an amount if they are a defendant in a matter.

If we accept that good advocacy is powerful, compelling and instrumental, then it behoves high schools and universities to provide opportunities for students to improve their advocacy skills.

The QUT Law School has long cultivated an environment where skills in written and oral advocacy are taught, assessed, and most importantly valued.

QUT law students who wish to engage in mooting often begin by entering mooting competitions run by the Law Student Society.  Competitions like the First Year Moot, Junior Moot and Senior Moot allow law students to test their advocacy skills in front of legal practitioners, including solicitors and barristers and members of the Queensland judiciary.

If students enjoy this experience and perform well, they may apply to participate in a number of domestic and international level competitions as a representative of the QUT Law School.  In previous years, QUT law students have travelled to locations such as Oxford, Vienna and the Hague to compete against the best and brightest law students in the world.  They have won international competitions, defeating law mooting teams from Cambridge and Oxford along the way.  They have done so with the support of staff member coaches and law school funding.

Successful mooting, resulting in increased advocacy skills, involves a number of complimentary investments that must be made.  Investment by a law student into their own skill set and employability by engaging in mooting.  Investment by coaches and mentors into developing the oral advocacy skills of students. Investment by law schools into the educational opportunities and facilities that are attendant upon growing advocacy skills.

It is timely then that as the QUT Law School looks ahead to its 50th birthday celebrations next year, the mooting courts in the law school have been substantially modernised and developed.  These new courts provide the physical infrastructure – the tangible training ground - on which advocacy skills can be developed and sharpened.  They replicate the architecture of a modern courtroom, where students will employ developed advocacy skills in their future careers.

In the classic 1989 Kevin Costner film Field of Dreams, a mysterious voice speaks to a corn farmer from Iowa to build a baseball field in his corn crop.  The voice whispers, “if you build it, he will come”.  The line has frequently been misquoted and misattributed, but the enduring pop culture message is that hard work, investment and infrastructure can produce an environment where good things happen.  In the context of law school mooting, these new courtrooms represent a field of dreams of sorts…and if an uncomfortable advocacy experience is sometimes the stuff of nightmares, it is all part of the journey towards improved advocacy skills.

Associate Professor James Duffy is the QUT School of Law and Academic Lead Mooting and Competitions.

A live mooting demonstration will be held at the 2026 QUT Open Day on July 26 at the Gardens Point campus at 9.30am in C Block, Level 5. Open Day gives prospective students the chance to explore the university’s Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove campuses and facilities, talk one-on-one with current QUT staff and students, and learn more about courses, careers, application processes, clubs and societies, study abroad opportunities, student services and financial support and scholarships.