*Last updated January 6, 2025
The Advocacy Course is a 6-week workshop that provides students with an opportunity to learn the basic principles of written and oral advocacy and to develop their skills as advocates. In doing so, it helps to prepare the many students who represent clients in the volunteer legal clinics. It also exposes students to mooting and to the opportunities in the upper-year mooting program as part of the Law School’s commitment to experiential learning.
Moot Overview
In the Advocacy Course all Allard Law first-year students, working in teams of two, argue a moot problem in the second term before the Supreme Moot Court of the University of British Columbia (the “Moot Court”).
The moot takes the form of an appeal based on a given set of facts, and the reasons for judgment of a lower court or the reasons for an order or award of an administrative board or tribunal. As the moot is an appeal and not a mock trial, there are no witnesses or submission of other evidence. The party appealing the decision is the appellant; the party responding to the appeal is the respondent. Two students represent the appellant, and two represent the respondent.
The moot is comprised of two parts: a written factum, and oral arguments. There are strict rules regarding the form in which a factum must be presented and the procedure for the oral arguments, though there is room for substantive creativity in both the written and oral components. The Advocacy Course moot has adopted a set of rules modeled on real-world rules of court, similar to those of the British Columbia Court of Appeal, called the Rules of Court of the Supreme Moot Court of British Columbia (the “Rules”). Before preparing the factum and the oral arguments, each student should read the Rules carefully, in addition to reviewing any materials on persuasive writing and other skills to which their instructor(s) refers them.
Approximately 150-200 judges sit on the Moot Court bench each year. All judges are practicing or former lawyers in British Columbia, who generously volunteer their time to hear oral arguments and provide useful feedback to students on each.
The moot proceeds in accordance with the Rules and the First Year Assignment Schedule, more generally as follows:
- the students representing the appellant prepare their factum, file it with the designated Moot Court registrars, and serve it on the students representing the respondent;
- the students representing the respondent prepare their factum, file it with the designated Moot Court registrars, and serve it on the students representing the appellant;
- the Moot Court registrars send a copy of each factum, along with the moot problem and any other required supporting materials, to each of the judges hearing the respective appeal;
- the judges review and consider each of the factums before the oral arguments commence; and
- both teams of students argue the case before the judges.
Assessment:
This is a pass/fail assignment. Students will work in pairs and be marked primarily on their assigned issue, but consideration will also be given to the joint areas of the factum. Where a student receives a failing mark for their factum, they must meet with the professor and then redraft the relevant section of the factum. The student’s redrafted section is due ten days after the factum is returned to the class. If the redrafted factum is not of passing quality, the student will continue to work with their professor and resubmit their factum until a passing mark is achieved. To receive a pass in the course, students are required to complete and pass the factum and moot components. Students who are unable to attend their moot due to illness or require an accommodation should contact the Manager, Student Affairs, Zack Uganec.
Course & Assignment Dates:
Students should refer to the Advocacy Course page on Canvas for updated information on important dates for the moot.
Contact Information
Students with further questions regarding the Advocacy Course may contact:
- Moot Court Registrars (firstyearmoots@allard.ubc.ca) with respect to any administrative or procedural questions;
- Lisa Martz, Advocacy Course Professor (martz@allard.ubc.ca) with respect to any substantive legal questions related to the moot problem;
- Zack Uganec, Manager, Student Affairs (uganec@allard.ubc.ca) with respect to academic concessions and accommodations and any other concerns related to the course.