NAAC Moot Court Competition
About NAAC, the ABA’s National Moot Court Competition
The ABA Law Student Division National Appellate Advocacy Competition (NAAC) is a moot court competition that emphasizes the development of oral advocacy skills through a realistic appellate advocacy experience. Moot court competitors participate in a hypothetical appeal to the United States Supreme Court. The competition involves writing a brief as either respondent or petitioner and then arguing the case in front of the mock court.
Please send any questions to competitions@americanbar.org.
2017-2018 NAAC Competition Registration and Fees
2017-2018 NAAC Dates and Locations
NAAC Problems and Final Round Recordings
NAAC Problems and Final Round Recordings Annual Subscription $25
Recent NAAC Competition problems the Championship Round recordings are now available for your use. This annual subscription is $25 for access to the 2016-17 and 2015-16 competition problem and recording. Each problem and video may be downloaded and shared within your school.
The problems and videos are intended for educational purposes, for all other uses, please contact Copyrights & Contracts, American Bar Association, 321 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60654; phone (312) 988-6102; fax (312) 988-6030; email: copyright@americanbar.org.
Competition Rules and Guidelines
Updates for the 2017-18 season will be available in the fall.
Regional Assignments
The ABA Law Student Division will host six regional moot court competitions. Once all the locations are finalized, each registered law school must rank their preference among the six regional locations.
The Law Student Division will use its best efforts to assign each school to its first or second choice. We may have to resort to third choices to distribute the teams evenly. Priority will be given to those schools in immediate geographic proximity of their first or second choice.
Participants should not make travel plans until they have received their official regional assignment from the ABA Law Student Division.
Competition Format & Team Composition
A team consists of two or three JD candidates attending the same ABA-approved law school. The regional competition consists of three qualifying rounds with each team arguing at least once on behalf of the respondent and the petitioner. Teams pairings for the first two rounds based on their brief scores. After three qualifying rounds, 16 teams advance to the semifinal round. Ultimately, four teams from each regional competition advance to the moot court National Finals.
2016-2017 Champions
Congratulations to the St. Mary’s University School of Law team of Billy Calve, Devin deBruyn, and Sophia George, champions of the 2016-2017 National Appellate Advocacy Competition. The final rounds were held from April 6-8 in Chicago. Complete results from the finals and regionals, including best brief and best advocate, can be found on the Before the Bar blog.
NAAC Competition Results
