Eight students argue in the semi-finals, and four are chosen for the exhibition rounds. This pattern has presented us with a problem. After many years we reasoned out our choice. It may not be the best solution, but for an undergraduate liberal arts course, it works best. In elite law school there are hundreds of students to participate, and moot court is a separate program.
Students generally choose partners and are assigned a side.
The two students for each side then divide the argument. They research and write one appellate argument. They argue that side and that issue throughout the competition. For our model to fit comfortably within a single course that undergraduate students must fit into an already crowded schedule, we must design a smaller competition. And we do not have two semesters and a board of a dozen or so students to run the program, and the assignment of a written brief to be included as part of the competition.