The Mooters” is a weekly series where Bar & Bench interviews the Moot Court Committees of different law schools in the country. .In this piece, the team from National Law University, Jodhpur talks about the selection process followed, challenges faced while organising a moot and the benefits of mooting for a law student..Bar & Bench: How are members inducted into the Moot Court Committee and what are their main responsibilities? .NLUJ: The induction of members into the Moot Court Committee is based upon an interview to assess whether an applicant can contribute towards the functioning of the Committee. The Committee primarily entails responsibilities revolving around the administration of the mooting aspect in the college. The members are involved in the organisation of two intra-moot court completions in a year which determine the composition of the teams which will be representing the college for various national and international moot court competitions. At times members also help in conducting events like the Extempore Moot Court Competitions and other mooting related events in the college. A separate Intra-University Competition is conducted for the students in the First year by the Committee. In addition, members work to organise the annual Anti-trust Moot Court Competition- the flagship mooting event of National Law University, Jodhpur which sees the participation of over fifty colleges across India. Lastly, members have the supervening responsibility to work towards inculcating a mooting culture in college..B&B: What is the process of organizing an inter-college moot court competition? How do you find sponsors?.NLUJ: Months of preparation and planning precede a moot court competition. A formal proposal which has the tentative schedule of the competition, teams that would take part, details regarding previous editions etc is sent to the sponsors so as to procure assistance from them. Also, even the alumni is contacted and contributions are received from them too. The administration also helps in the process and the university management plays and instrumental role in providing any sort of help the committee needs for organising the event..The process starts by dividing the Committee into sub-committees which look after the specific functions of the organization process such as logistics, food, travel, accommodation amongst others. The Committee solicits the help of students outside the Committee in the form of volunteers who assist the sub-committees under the supervision of senior members of the committee. A schedule of the event is chalked out in advance and work proceeds accordingly. Pre-Invites are sent to various colleges before the release of the proposition. Registration starts once the proposition is released and closes about a month before the event so that the necessary arrangements can be made for the participants. This has to go hand-in-hand with the procurement of funds to undertake the organisation of the moot..B&B: How do you select judges for various rounds?.NLUJ: The Moot Court Committee solicits judges by requesting its pool of alumni, lawyers, research scholars etc. to judge. The Committee tries to contact judges who have an expertise in the area of law which the moot court proposition concentrates on to ensure that the participants are judged by the best in the field. Our alumni plays an important role in this regard by helping us connect to various people outside our immediate circuit who are working with them and have mooted in the past. Invites are sent to judges months in advance so that they can plan their schedule accordingly. The Committee makes full arrangements for their travel and a comfortable stay during the moot. We also make an attempt to reach out to lawyers and judges who have themselves been exceptional mooters and understand the process well..B&B: In your opinion, how does mooting benefit a law student?.NLUJ: The activity of mooting is instrumental to the growth of a law student. It not only hones one’s research skills and speaking abilities, but helps in building the confidence to argue in a court of law, albeit hypothetical. It is the closest brush with a practical court room proceeding a student can experience in a law school, and which prepares him for what is to come. It also equips the students to work in a group is a definitely a lesson or two in camaraderie. In light of aforementioned, the best way to conclude about mooting is that since it involves persuasion, presentation and introspection on the part of the participant, for legal profession it turns out to be a highly benignant exercise which every law school student should readily embrace..The Moot Court Committee of National Law University, Jodhpur comprises Sachin Bhandawat, Vineet Bhansali, Priyadarshini Rao, Pooja Meenon, Pranjal Mehta, Sagnik Das, Arundhati Venkatraman, Ankeeta Parhi, Kriti Wattal, Sagar Gupta, Shivesh Aggarwal, Akshay Sahay, Aarushi Nargas, Divpriya Chawla, Kruthi N Murthy, Saurav Modi, Kushagra Agarwal, Mansi Srivastava, Prakruti Shah, Rishabh Nautiyal, Tanmaya Negi and Anubhuti Mishra..(If you would like your college moot court team to be featured, send us a mail at shreya@barandbench.com)
The Mooters” is a weekly series where Bar & Bench interviews the Moot Court Committees of different law schools in the country. .In this piece, the team from National Law University, Jodhpur talks about the selection process followed, challenges faced while organising a moot and the benefits of mooting for a law student..Bar & Bench: How are members inducted into the Moot Court Committee and what are their main responsibilities? .NLUJ: The induction of members into the Moot Court Committee is based upon an interview to assess whether an applicant can contribute towards the functioning of the Committee. The Committee primarily entails responsibilities revolving around the administration of the mooting aspect in the college. The members are involved in the organisation of two intra-moot court completions in a year which determine the composition of the teams which will be representing the college for various national and international moot court competitions. At times members also help in conducting events like the Extempore Moot Court Competitions and other mooting related events in the college. A separate Intra-University Competition is conducted for the students in the First year by the Committee. In addition, members work to organise the annual Anti-trust Moot Court Competition- the flagship mooting event of National Law University, Jodhpur which sees the participation of over fifty colleges across India. Lastly, members have the supervening responsibility to work towards inculcating a mooting culture in college..B&B: What is the process of organizing an inter-college moot court competition? How do you find sponsors?.NLUJ: Months of preparation and planning precede a moot court competition. A formal proposal which has the tentative schedule of the competition, teams that would take part, details regarding previous editions etc is sent to the sponsors so as to procure assistance from them. Also, even the alumni is contacted and contributions are received from them too. The administration also helps in the process and the university management plays and instrumental role in providing any sort of help the committee needs for organising the event..The process starts by dividing the Committee into sub-committees which look after the specific functions of the organization process such as logistics, food, travel, accommodation amongst others. The Committee solicits the help of students outside the Committee in the form of volunteers who assist the sub-committees under the supervision of senior members of the committee. A schedule of the event is chalked out in advance and work proceeds accordingly. Pre-Invites are sent to various colleges before the release of the proposition. Registration starts once the proposition is released and closes about a month before the event so that the necessary arrangements can be made for the participants. This has to go hand-in-hand with the procurement of funds to undertake the organisation of the moot..B&B: How do you select judges for various rounds?.NLUJ: The Moot Court Committee solicits judges by requesting its pool of alumni, lawyers, research scholars etc. to judge. The Committee tries to contact judges who have an expertise in the area of law which the moot court proposition concentrates on to ensure that the participants are judged by the best in the field. Our alumni plays an important role in this regard by helping us connect to various people outside our immediate circuit who are working with them and have mooted in the past. Invites are sent to judges months in advance so that they can plan their schedule accordingly. The Committee makes full arrangements for their travel and a comfortable stay during the moot. We also make an attempt to reach out to lawyers and judges who have themselves been exceptional mooters and understand the process well..B&B: In your opinion, how does mooting benefit a law student?.NLUJ: The activity of mooting is instrumental to the growth of a law student. It not only hones one’s research skills and speaking abilities, but helps in building the confidence to argue in a court of law, albeit hypothetical. It is the closest brush with a practical court room proceeding a student can experience in a law school, and which prepares him for what is to come. It also equips the students to work in a group is a definitely a lesson or two in camaraderie. In light of aforementioned, the best way to conclude about mooting is that since it involves persuasion, presentation and introspection on the part of the participant, for legal profession it turns out to be a highly benignant exercise which every law school student should readily embrace..The Moot Court Committee of National Law University, Jodhpur comprises Sachin Bhandawat, Vineet Bhansali, Priyadarshini Rao, Pooja Meenon, Pranjal Mehta, Sagnik Das, Arundhati Venkatraman, Ankeeta Parhi, Kriti Wattal, Sagar Gupta, Shivesh Aggarwal, Akshay Sahay, Aarushi Nargas, Divpriya Chawla, Kruthi N Murthy, Saurav Modi, Kushagra Agarwal, Mansi Srivastava, Prakruti Shah, Rishabh Nautiyal, Tanmaya Negi and Anubhuti Mishra..(If you would like your college moot court team to be featured, send us a mail at shreya@barandbench.com)
