The Annual Introductory Moot 2022 was the first proper law school experience that the online batch of 2026 had. The law school life has been glamorized by a multitude of TV shows and movies through the years. Mooting has been characterized as an essential part of that glamorous life. So, for us fresh faced, young, innocent first-year law students, the intro moot was as daunting as a real-life courtroom experience.
Despite the daunting nature of the task, the excitement in the students was palpable. But this initial excitement of participating in our first moot wore off when we realized how much work lay ahead of us. The prospect of making a memorial for the first time itself deterred us from even starting, much less the oral rounds. Endless hours of research, finding case laws and judgements, looking through a massive list of books and formatting the entire memorial. We spent an agonizing number of hours on calls, browsing the web and trying to find information that is even the slightest bit relevant to our case. Sleep was a distant friend and the bags under our eyes were evidence of this.
If I took one thing away from the experience of drafting a memorial for the first time, it would be to never start it a couple of days before the submission deadline. In our own experience, it is so much harder to find case laws, articles, citations when you keep counting the days (or even hours) to the deadline. When we did somehow manage to finish drafting our memorials and sent it over to our seniors, we understood what ‘criticism’ actually meant. Then when we finally thought that we were done with the memorial, we were met with our worst nightmare: formatting. By the time we figured out “the art of formatting a moot memo” we were at our wits end.
The oral rounds were another ordeal altogether. You think you’re ready to face anything that comes your way, but as the first round of questions pour in, all your confidence up goes down the drain. It is only then that you realize, Harvey Specter and Annalise Keating made it look a little too easy. You forget the simplest of things, like how to address the judges, the meanings of words or even the facts of your case. At times you want to give up and plead ignorance, and when that doesn’t help simply plead ☹. But you go on, because at the back of your mind, there’s a little voice that tells you to keep pushing. Also, as tough as the judges were, we felt equally bad that they had to go through our incomprehensible memorials and ask us questions even though they knew we were absolutely clueless.
As first-years, especially digital first years, your view is shaped by all sorts of stories about law school life. We remember hearing stories about people being ragged during intro moot rounds, which made the whole experience sound even more horrifying. Therefore, asking around about your judges and whether they would show a little compassion became a norm before the rounds. It was absolutely necessary to stalk your judges before your rounds by any and all means possible (as Harvey says “don’t play the odds, play the man”). And although the judges seemed to take a little too much pleasure in roasting us, in the end, they were equally honest and helpful with their feedback and we’re very thankful that they were so kind and considerate.
I’m laying so much emphasis on the oral rounds, because it is only then that you fully grasp the concept of time. The rounds seemed to drag on endlessly, and felt like they were never going to end. You understand the concept of time even better when the judges tell you that you’re over your time, and you realise that you have a whole issue left to argue. That one hour felt like 5 minutes and 5 hours at the same time. The only thing better than finishing your speech, was seeing your opponent’s get roasted by the judges during theirs. But when you hear your opponent’s arguments, you think of a thousand brilliant arguments that you could have made. You think of all the points and case laws you could’ve mentioned to make your memorial even the slightest bit more comprehensible. When you look at the oral rounds of the teams that did qualify, you are in awe. You wonder how people with the same case facts and issues are able to come up with such novel arguments, and how they are able to hold their heads up even when they’re being asked billions of tough questions. It is after those oral rounds that you realize, that the nerves were all in your head. You understand why you chose law in the first place and that epiphany makes it a little better.
The intro moot, as a whole, was a crazy experience. Each participant had their own personalized experience; a funny anecdote and a valuable lesson they could take away. It was also an event of many firsts – our first moot court competition, first time wearing formals (would not recommend in a 27°C weather) and the first time getting absolutely thrashed by the judges. The best part was interacting with all the different people you meet, and all the stories you get to hear. Through the intro moot, we got to interact with so many seniors, exchange so many law school memories and get incredibly helpful advice not just on the competition but life as well. It was also absolutely fun gossiping and ranting with my moot partner under the pretense of working on the moot memorial. The intro moot was certainly a roller-coaster of an experience, but a memory we will hold on to and remember for the rest of our lives. Here’s to a successful intro moot 2022!
And with that, we rest our case.