2- Oral Argument Observation & Analysis

RE: Oral Argument Observation & Analysis

Assignment: Observe two oral arguments
Product: Prepare a written analysis and post to D2L

Points: The court session synopsis is worth 100 points as follows:
• 70 points for substance (your analysis of the arguments as explained below)
• 30 points for writing

Advocacy focuses on both written and oral persuasion. After writing an appellate brief, the semester culminates with an appellate oral argument.

To learn more about oral advocacy, begin by watching two oral arguments, one from an actual court and one from a moot court competition.

The goal of the assignment is to familiarize yourself with the process of oral argument and to observe the differences between an actual oral argument and an oral argument in a moot court competition.

Your analysis of the arguments should be approximately two to four pages long and should include the following information, organized as follows:

A. Name of the Court & Date of the Oral Argument
B. Name of the Case & Synopsis of the Issue or Issues
C. Names of the Judge(s) and the Lawyers/Advocates
D. Analysis of the Arguments
1. Counsel
 The quality of the arguments advanced by each side (focus both on presentation and substance)
 The demeanor and preparedness of counsel
 The professionalism of counsel
 The type of materials that the lawyers take to the podium
 How did counsel respond to questions from the bench?
2. The Bench
 The demeanor and professionalism of the bench
 The reception of the arguments by the bench
 The questions asked by the bench (were the judges quiet? very active?)
 The ruling from the bench, if any
3. Procedure
 How long did the arguments last?
 Did the advocates receive time warnings?
 Did the appellant make a rebuttal?
E. What differences did you notice between the actual oral argument and the moot court oral argument?
F. Anything else you found interesting or surprising?

Court Information

A. Michigan Supreme Court, Third Circuit, and Ninth Circuit

Observe a videotaped, pre-pandemic, in-person oral argument. (In this pandemic year courts are holding oral arguments remotely via Zoom. Once it is safe to do so, in-person oral arguments will resume.)

Observe at least one complete oral argument, which typically lasts about 30 minutes.

Here is a list of courts that have a video archive of pre-pandemic oral arguments:

Michigan Supreme Court – The link to the Court’s YouTube channel is available here.

Third Circuit Court of Appeals Video Recordings

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Video Recordings

The Third and the Ninth Circuits are the only federal courts of appeal that videotape oral arguments. The remaining circuits and the United States Supreme Court only audiotape oral arguments.

B. Moot Court

You have two options: 1) observe one of the final rounds from the national moot court competitions listed immediately below or 2) observe a livestream of a practice round of an MSU College of Law moot court team. More details to come. (Here at the Law College, we have a fabulous moot court program. In 2019-2020, MSU Law had the top-ranked moot court program in the country.)

National Moot Court Competitions – Final Rounds

ABA Nationals Final Round 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYSZs39qfKY
ABA Nationals Final Round 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7vOFu-5Vb4
Houston National Championship Final Round 2020: https://www.law.uh.edu/blakely/mcnc/2020/videos/UH%20Moot%20Court%202020.mp4
2019 New York Bar National Finals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnyu5lJKois
Berkeley Law Final Round 2011: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuSLztzCAQ8 (The oral argument addresses a First Amendment issue, and this panel includes Sotomayor.)
2019 Sutherland Cup First Amendment Competition Final Round: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPyUg8VFFRo