Each year, the Florida State College of Law Moot Court Team invites all 1L and 2L students to compete in the annual Judges John S. Rawls and James R. Wolfe Intramural Competition hosted during the spring semester. In order to enter the competition, 1L students will submit the exact* brief they wrote for Legal Research and Writing II. Any 2Ls wishing to enter the competition will submit a brief on a prompt distributed by the team at least six weeks prior to the Spring Intramural Competition.
Following the brief submission period, competitors must be ready to present three rounds of oral argument. For the first two rounds of competition, students will be arguing “on brief.” This means that students will recite an argument for the side for which their brief is written. For example, if a student prepared a Petitioner’s Brief, the student will argue for the side of the Petitioner in the first and second round of competition. For the final round, students will argue “off-brief”, meaning that students will argue the opposite side for which their brief is written. For example, if a student prepared a Petitioner’s Brief, the student will argue for the side of the Respondent in the third round.
Selection to the team is based on a combination of the brief score and the oral argument score from the three rounds of competition. The four highest scoring oralists from the final round of competition will be selected to compete in the annual Final Four Competition, where students argue before the Florida Supreme Court the following fall semester. The best oral advocate is named Best Oralist, and the new member who submitted the best written brief is awarded the Best Brief Award. At the end of the competition, at least fourteen 1L and up to two 2L students are asked to join the Moot Court Team. The Intramural Competition is a student's only opportunity to join the Moot Court Team.
For further information, please contact the Moot Court Intramural co-chairs.
TEAM Awards from the 2023-2024 Academic School Year
After the Spring Intramural Competition finishes and new members are chosen, current and new members are recognized with a Moot Court Banquet where the following awards are presented: Best Brief, Final Four Competitors, the Nat Stern Award, the John Barretto Award, and the William VanDercreek Award.
The Best Brief award is presented to the student with the highest scoring brief in the annual Judges John S. Rawls and James R. Wolf Intramural Moot Court Competition. The 2024 recipient is Jay McArthur.
The Final Four awards are presented to the top four ranked oralists of the Spring Intramural Competition. The 2024 recipients are Jake Barron, Mason Bennett, Nyah German, and Sarah Kilpatrick.
The Nat Stern Award is presented to a 2L who demonstrated outstanding efforts to the team throughout the course of the year. The 2024 recipient is Arnèle Francis.
The William VanDercreek Award is presented to a 3L who demonstrates outstanding efforts to the team throughout the course of the year. The 2024 recipient is Bianca Devaney.
The John Barretto Award is in memory of our friend, classmate, and team member John Barretto. It is given to an FSU Moot Court team member(s) who demonstrates the spirit of service to the team and comradery that John so enthusiastically exemplified. The 2024 recipients are Cristen Chandler and Jenelly Perez.
Final Four Competition and Reception
Looking forward, the annual Final Four Competition and Reception is hosted at the Florida Supreme Court and features the top four oralists from the Judges John S. Rawls and James R. Wolf Intramural Moot Court Competition. The four competitors compete for the Best Oralist Award before the Justices of the Florida Supreme Court at the Florida Supreme Court. After the Competition, the Court will present the Best Oralist Award at a reception in the FSU Law D’Alemberte Rotunda.