Courses

College of Law

Competitions

Course Number: 6970
Professor: Lindsay Hoyt
Credit Hours & Type of Credit: 1-2
Semester Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
Required: No
Prerequisites: Students must have completed their first year of law school.
Recommended Courses: None

Course Overview: Credit is given to student competitors in approved inter-school competitions. Students receive one S/U credit hour for participation in a regional competition as part of the University of Wyoming Law School team. This credit is to be applied in the semester after the student participates in a qualified competition. Please see Dean Hoyt before you register for this credit.

Approved inter-school competitions include:

PACE Environmental Moot Court Competition. This is the preeminent environmental law moot court competition in the nation. Students have a chance to improve their oral advocacy and writing skills while mastering such difficult environmental law issues and policies as the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. The University of Wyoming and the law firm of Holland and Hart sponsor the intramural competition where 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year students compete against each other for a chance to be selected for the national moot court competition held at the Pace Law School in White Plains, New York.

Trial Competition. This competition encourages development of litigation skills. Each litigation team, consisting of two attorneys and two witnesses conduct either a civil or a criminal trial in an intramural competition. Each team prepares all phases of the trial from opening statements to direct and cross-examination and closing statements. The winners of the intramural competition go on to compete in the regional competition sponsored by the Association of Trial Lawyers.

Moot Court Competition. This competition is sponsored by the Young Lawyers Section of the Bar Association of the City of New York. Students write appellate briefs and present oral arguments in a simulated appeal to the United States Supreme Court. The student compete in an intramural competition. The winners of the intramural competition participate in a regional competition. Regional winners then progress to a competition sponsored by the American Bar Association.

Client Counseling Competition. This competition emphasizes communication and other interpersonal skills essential to the sound representation of clients. In this intramural competition, students interview and counsel a client, suggesting possible advantages and disadvantages of courses of action in resolving legal problems. Winners of the intramural competition progress to the national client counseling competition which is sponsored by the Law Student Division of the American Bar Association.

Course Materials:
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Basis for Grading Student Performance: Grading is S/U.
Other Comments: One credit per competition. Credit is given to student competitors in approved inter-school competitions. Please see the Dean Hoyt if you have any questions regarding which are approved competitions. Credit is applied in the semester after the student participates in the regional or national competition.