Harlan Fiske Stone Honors Moot Court
2013-2014 Rules of Competition
Section 1: Citation of the Rules.
These
rules may be cited in the following form and style: Stone Moot Ct. R. X.
Section 2: Eligibility.
(a)
In General. Except as provided in subsection (b),
any second-year, third-year, and any L.L.M. student enrolled at Columbia Law
School shall be eligible to participate in the Stone Moot Court
Competition.
(b)
Exception. A person who has competed in a previous
Stone Moot Court Final Round shall not be eligible to participate.
Section 3: Commitment
to the Competition
(a)
Signup Deadline. Not later than 11:59 p.m. on October 10,
2013, an eligible person who intends to participate in the Stone Moot Court
Competition shall notify the Director of the Stone Moot Court Competition
(“Director”) via email at clsstonemootcourt@gmail.com.
(b)
Transcript. Each person who participates in the
Stone Moot Court Competition shall receive a notation on his or her transcript
reflecting such participation. No
credit is awarded for participation.
(c)
Withdrawal. Any person who withdraws from the
competition may receive a notation to
that effect on his or her transcript.
Section 4: Minor
Writing Credit
Any participant may earn Minor Writing credit by
submitting his or her completed brief to Professor Genty for approval.
Section 5: Outside
Assistance
(a)
In General. Briefs must be independently written and
researched. Each participant’s
arguments must be his or her own.
(b)
Research
Assistance. Participants may
not receive research assistance.
(c)
Partner-Only
Communication. With the exception of communication
with one’s partner, participants may not solicit or receive any strategic,
substantive, or stylistic advice specific to the problem.
(d)
Disqualification.
Failure to abide by this rule, as judged by the director,
will result in disqualification.
Section 6: Initial
Team, Client, and Issue Assignments
(a)
In General. The Director shall randomly assign each
participant to a team, client, and issue.
(b)
Team and Client
Assignments.
(1) In General. Each team shall consist of two participants, and the
members of each team shall represent the same client.
(2) Team Assignments. Except as provided in subparagraph (3),
the Director shall randomly assign each participant to a team and client.
(3) Teammate Selection Exception. On the mutual request of any two
participants, the Director shall assign those two participants to the same
team. Such requests must be
emailed to the Director by 11:59 p.m. on October 10,
2013.
(4) Client Preferences. The Director shall not accommodate any
client preferences.
(5) Odd Numbers. If an odd number of people participate in the Stone Moot
Court Competition, the Director shall randomly select one participant to
compete without a teammate. This participant
shall in no way be penalized for participating without a teammate.
(c)
Issue Assignments.
(1) In General. The Director shall randomly assign an issue to each
participant.
(2) Issue Exchanges. Issue exchanges between team partners
are at the discretion of the Director.
No exchanges of issues will be permitted for the 2013-2014
competition.
(d)
Notification. The Director shall notify each
participant of his or her initial team, client, and issue assignments on
October 12, 2013.
Section 7: Qualifying
Round
(a)
Timing. The Qualifying Round shall be held
during the fall semester of 2013.
(b)
Record. The record shall be released to
participants on October 8, 2013.
(c)
Briefs.
(1) In General. Each team shall submit a brief on or before November 10,
2013.
(2) Contents. The brief shall contain the following sections:
A. Title Page (including participant and client names)
B. Table of Contents
C. Table of Authorities
D.
Questions Presented
E.
Stipulations
F. Key Constitutional and/or
Statutory Provisions
G. Statement of the Case
H.
Statement of Facts
I. Summary of the Arguments
J. Argument
K.
Conclusion
(3) Length. The argument section for any one issue may be no longer than
twenty pages double-spaced.
(4) Collaboration. Teammates shall collaborate to produce all sections
described above except for those described in subparagraphs (I) and (J).
(5) Submission. Each team shall submit:
A.
One electronic copy in PDF format to the Director; and
B.
Eight paper copies to a designated bin in the Moot
Court Office.
(d)
Oral Arguments.
(1) In General. Oral arguments for the Qualifying Round shall be held during
the fall semester. Oral arguments
for the Qualifying Round of the 2013-2014 Stone Moot Court Competition will be
held on November 19, 20, and 21.
Students with conflicts are expected to accommodate the schedule and should
contact the Director immediately.
(2) Rounds. Each team shall participate in two oral arguments during the
Qualifying Round at an hour and location to be determined by the Director.
(3) Length and Structure.
A.
In General. Each participant shall be allotted
twenty minutes in which to present an oral argument.
B.
Rebuttal. Each participant arguing for petitioner
may reserve up to five minutes for rebuttal by requesting it at the beginning
of their argument.
(e)
Scoring
(1) In General. Each participant’s brief and oral argument will be
judged individually. Although
judges should attempt to draw distinctions between the performances of the
participants, they may assign the same score to multiple participants.
(2) Score Rehabilitation. To protect against outlier scores, each
participant’s highest and lowest score will be dropped. The same will be done for each
participant’s brief scores.
(3) Cumulative Scores. A participant’s cumulative score shall
be the sum of:
A.
the average of each score awarded to the participant
for his or her brief by each judge during the Qualifying Round; and
B.
the average of each score awarded to the participant
for her oral argument by each judge during the Qualifying Round.
(4) Penalties. Any participant who submits a brief late, or causes his or
her partner to submit a late brief, will be penalized five points. If the brief is more than twenty-four
hours late, the Director may apply additional penalties. The deadline for brief submission is 7:59
P.M. on November 10, 2013.
(f)
Advancement.
(1) In General.
A.
Issue One. Of the participants assigned to argue
Issue One, the eight participants who have the highest cumulative scores shall
advance to the Elimination Round.
B.
Issue Two. Of the participants assigned to argue Issue
Two, the eight participants who have the highest cumulative scores shall
advance to the Elimination Round.
(2) Ties.
A.
In General. In the event of a tie for the
eighth-highest score on an issue, the cumulative scores for the tied
participants will be recalculated based on their raw, non-rehabilitated scores. The participant with the higher
recalculated score shall advance.
B.
Director
Selection. In the event that subparagraph (A) does not resolve the
tie, the Director shall select a tied participant to advance.
Section 8: Elimination
Round
(a)
Timing. The Elimination Round shall be held during
the spring semester of 2014.
(b)
Reassignment of
Teams.
(1) Teams.
A.
In General. Except as provided in subparagraph (B),
the Director shall randomly assign each participant who advances to a team.
B.
Teammate
Selection Exception. On the
mutual request of the participants, the Director shall assign to the same team
any two participants who have advanced to the Elimination Round and who are
assigned to different issues.
(2) Issues. Each participant who advances to the Elimination Round shall
brief and argue the same issue to which he or she was assigned in the
Qualifying Round.
(3) Clients. For a given issue, if the number of advancing participants
who represented Appellant in the Qualifying Round does not equal the number of
advancing participants who represented Appellee in the Qualifying round, the
participants with the lowest scores will be asked to switch clients. .
(4) Withdrawal. Advancing
participants who do not wish to write a new brief may decline to do so but will
receive no recognition for advancing to the Elimination Round. They will be replaced by the
participant with the next highest score.
(c)
Briefs.
(1) In General. Each team shall submit a brief at the designated time.
(2) Contents. The brief shall contain the following sections:
A. Title Page (including participant and client
names)
B. Table of Contents
C. Table of Authorities
D.
Questions Presented
E.
Stipulations
F. Key Constitutional and/or
Statutory Provisions
G. Statement of the Case
H.
Statement of Facts
I. Summary of the Arguments
J. Argument
K.
Conclusion
(3) Length. The argument section for any one issue may be no longer than
twenty pages double-spaced.
(4) Collaboration. Teammates shall collaborate to produce all sections
described above except for those described in subparagraphs (I) and (J).
(5) Submission. Each team shall submit:
A.
One electronic copy in Word format to the Director; and
B.
Eight paper copies to a designated bin in the Moot
Court Office.
(d)
Oral Arguments.
(1) In General. Oral arguments for the Elimination Round shall be held on
two nights during the spring semester. Students with conflicts are expected to
accommodate the schedule and should contact the Director immediately.
(2) Rounds. Each team shall participate in two oral arguments during the
Elimination Round at an hour and location to be determined by the
Director.
(3) Length and Structure.
A.
In General. Each participant shall be allotted
twenty minutes in which to present an oral argument.
B.
Rebuttal. Each participant arguing for petitioner
may reserve up to five minutes for rebuttal by requesting it at the beginning
of their argument.
(e)
Scoring.
(1) In General. Each participant’s brief and oral argument will be
judged individually. Although
judges should attempt to draw distinctions between the performances of the
participants, they may assign the same score to multiple participants.
(2) Score Rehabilitation. To protect against outlier scores, each
participant’s highest and lowest score will be dropped. The same will be done
for each participant’s brief scores.
(3) Cumulative Scores. A participant’s cumulative score shall
be the sum of:
A.
the average of each score awarded to the participant
for his or her brief
by each judge during the
Elimination Round; and
B.
the average of each score awarded to the participant
for her oral
argument by each judge during
the Elimination Round.
(4) Penalties. Any participant who submits a brief late, or causes his or
her partner to submit a late brief, will be penalized five points. If the brief is more than twenty-four
hours late, the Director may apply additional penalties.
(f)
Advancement.
(1) In General.
A.
Issue One. Of the participants assigned to argue
Issue One, the two participants who have the highest cumulative scores shall
advance to the Final Round.
B.
Issue Two. Of the participants assigned to argue
Issue Two, the two participants who have the highest cumulative scores shall
advance to the Final Round.
(2) Ties.
A.
In General. In the event of a tie for the second-highest
score on an issue, the cumulative scores for the tied participants will be
recalculated based on their raw, non-rehabilitated scores. The participant with the higher
recalculated score shall advance.
B.
Director
Selection. In the event that subparagraph (A) does not resolve the
tie, the Director shall select a tied participant to advance.
Section 9: Final
Round.
(a)
Timing. The Final Round will be held on April 7, 2014.
(b)
Reassignment of
Teams.
(1) Teams. The Director shall reassign teams such that each participant
who argued Issue One is paired with a participant who argued Issue Two.
(2) Issues. Each participant who advances to the Final Round shall brief
and argue the same issue to which he or she was assigned in the preceding rounds.
(3) Clients. For a given issue, if the advancing participants represent
the same client, the participant with the lowest score will be asked to switch
clients.
Note: Although some participants may be
required to write a new brief and argue a new position, no one will have to
brief or argue a new issue.
(4) Withdrawal. Advancing
participants who do not wish to write a new brief may decline to do so but will
receive no recognition for advancing to the Final Round. They will be replaced by the
participant with the next highest score.
(c)
Briefs.
(1) In General. Each team shall submit a brief on March 26, 2014.
(2) Contents. The brief shall contain the following sections:
A.
Title Page (including participant and client
names)
B.
Table of Contents
C.
Table of Authorities
D.
Questions Presented
E.
Stipulations
F.
Key Constitutional and Statutory Provisions
G.
Statement of the Case
H.
Statement of Facts
I.
Summary of the Arguments
J.
Argument
K.
Conclusion
(3) Length. The argument section for any one issue may be no longer than
twenty pages double-spaced.
(4) Collaboration. Teammates shall collaborate to produce all sections
described above except for those described in subparagraphs (I) and (J).
(5) Submission. Each team shall submit:
A.
one electronic copy in Word format to the Director; and
B.
Eight paper copies to a designated bin in the Moot
Court Office.
(d)
Oral Arguments.
(1) In General. Oral arguments for the Final Round shall be held in the
spring semester. Oral arguments
for the Final Round of the 2013-2014 Stone Moot Court Competition will on April 7, 2014.
(2) Length and Structure.
A.
In General. Each participant shall be allotted
twenty minutes in which to present an oral argument.
B.
Rebuttal. Each participant arguing for petitioner
may reserve up to five minutes for rebuttal by requesting it at the beginning
of their argument.
(e)
Recognition.
(1) In General. Only the panel of judges for the Final Round shall determine
the participant with the best oral argument in the Final Round.
(2) Lawrence S. Greenbaum Prize. The
Lawrence S. Greenbaum Prize shall be awarded to the participant with the best
oral argument in the Final Round.
(3) Best Brief. The Moot Court Executive Board, in consultation with the
Final Round judges, shall determine the participant with the best brief in the
Final Round.
(4) Highest Overall Average Score.
At the discretion of the Executive Board, the participant with the
highest overall average score from the Qualifying and Elimination Rounds shall
be recognized at the Final Round.
