On the Georgetown Law campus, there’s a room that looks like a scaled-down version of the courtroom at the U.S. Supreme Court. That’s no coincidence.
The oral arguments presented in this room may not be part of official judicial proceedings, but they are important for real-life Supreme Court advocates and lawyers-in-training alike.
For more than 25 years, the Georgetown Supreme Court Institute (SCI) has hosted moot sessions for lawyers preparing for Supreme Court arguments.
In what are essentially dress rehearsals, counsels hold private sessions to practice and defend their arguments in front of Georgetown Law professors and Supreme Court Bar members.
For advocates, an SCI moot provides a priceless chance to fine-tune their talking points before they face the real justices. And for Georgetown Law students who sign up for audience seats, it’s a unique opportunity to see how a Supreme Court argument comes together – one no other law school in the country can offer.
Students can also step up to the lectern themselves – if they do well enough in the Law Center’s annual try-outs for the Barristers’ Council, where aspiring courtroom lawyers can start honing their skills. This student-run organization regularly holds the final rounds of its internal competitions in the SCI Moot Courtroom, and the best performers are invited to join the council and compete against law students from schools around the country.
Watch Maddie Sloat (L’27) explain more about Georgetown Law’s moot courts.
Written by Elizabeth Terry
