More than 100 students from eight western region law schools will fan out across Salem courtrooms in late January as Willamette University College of Law hosts regionals for the 2015 National Moot Court Competition. Law students from Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon will compete here January 30 through February 1, 2015.
The annual competition, co-sponsored by the New York City Bar Association and the American College of Trial Lawyers, includes 179 teams from 124 law schools who compete regionally for the top two spots. The top two teams in each region advance to the national competition in New York City.
With courtroom experience proving harder to come by, Moot Court provides an important opportunity for hands-on learning, says Professor Ed Harri, Willamette’s Moot Court faculty advisor. Sydney Safley, 3L, is chair of Willamette’s Moot Court Board.
The National Moot Court Competition was created in 1947 by Harrison Tweed, then president of the New York City Bar Association, as part of a campaign to recruit younger members to the City Bar in the years following World War II.