Looking Good

Don't show how you're feeling

P-p-p-p-poker face.

Remember if you can’t hold your poker face, this will almost certainly give your opponent the upper hand.

Remain composed and appear confident even though you think your opponent has clinched the argument.

Do not make faces or sigh when your opponent is speaking or when the judge delivers the judgment.

Make a good impression and dress for the occasion

If you want to come across as confident and persuasive, then you better be organised. Use appropriate language and manner and stand up when saying anything. Your hands should not be in your pockets or fiddling with a pen! Make eye contact with the judge and make sure that you are audible and not speaking too fast.

What to wear

Mooting is a formal event and you should treat it as such. Arrive early, set out your papers, make sure your watch works and dress formally. Moots are formal events and you may even be asked to don a robe.

Male students should wear a dark suit with an a discrete tie – novelty ties are a no –no! Female students should wear a dark coloured trouser/skirt suit or a dress but ladies note the hemline of your skirt or dress! The chances are that you are already nervous, so don’t make your nerves worse by arriving late, getting flustered and looking disorganised. You will create the wrong impression and start from the back foot from the get go.

No surprises in this clip, just common sense. However on the basis of the number of questions asked by students on this each year, seemed worthwhile to get our mooters talking about it.

Thanks go to...

All our mooting clips were made with the help of our fantastic students - giving freely of their time to help others.

For the roundtable discussion clips we thank our GDL students of 2009-2010: Andrew Barns-Graham, Thomas Bradfield, Tessa Buchanan, Anita Davies and Thomas Hope. Big thanks go to our top man behind the camera Steve Parkes.

The spoof clips were made with Mike Purdue (judge), Mike Clarke and Rob Tiffen many years ago.

The real action was filmed as part of our Crown Office Moot 2010-2011.

Big thanks to all those who took part: Sara Beech, George Fitzgerald, Gareth Thomas, Edward Waldegrave, Alistair Godwin, Rebecca Taverner, Daphne Stamatopoulos, Jada Badu-Animboah, James Bull, Samuel Phillips and Beatrice Riley.

Huge thanks are also due to those from Crown Office Chambers who not only gave up their time to judge the different stages of the moot but also allowed us to use the footage. We are grateful to:

Elizabeth Boon David Myhill Siobhan Lambertsen

A final thanks to The Hon Mr Justice Edwards-Stuart, who judged the final of the Crown Office Moot and Steven McCombe for his filming expertise and tireless editing.