Seton Hall Law Jessup Moot Court Team Places in Top Third in International Competition

The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is an advocacy competition for law students. Jessup is the world's largest moot court competition, with participants from about 700 law schools in 100 countries and jurisdictions. The Competition is a simulation of a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice, the judicial organ of the United Nations. Teams prepare oral and written pleadings arguing both the applicant and respondent positions of the case.

Teams of law students compete against one another through the presentation of oral and written pleadings to address timely issues of public international law in the context of a hypothetical legal dispute between nations. Each team prepares two written memorials (briefs) and two 45-minute oral presentations, one for each party to the dispute (the “Applicant” and the “Respondent”). Teams argue alternately as Applicant and Respondent against competing teams before a panel of judges, simulating a proceeding before the International Court of Justice.

This year, out of 48 teams, Seton Hall Law placed 15th in overall points and had the 4th best memorial. Seton Hall has competed in the Jessup Competition for many years. There are tryouts in June to fill out the five-member team. The team spends the better part of the school year preparing for the competition, writing an Applicant and Respondent memorial, and working on oral argument skills for the competition rounds.

Iva Zovko ‘25 celebrates her participation in Jessup, “Participating in the Jessup International Law Moot Court competition was an incredible learning experience. I honed my legal writing and developed my oral argument skills, which made my Appellate Advocacy course feel like a breeze. Plus, working with a fantastic team and getting the chance to travel for competitions made the whole journey not only educational but also a lot of fun. The skills I gained from this experience have been invaluable in preparing me for my legal career, and it stands out as a highlight of my law school experience.”

The United States has many law schools that participate, and in years past has broken the US rounds down into 6 regions. However, this year they inaugurated two "super regionals" which meant the team got to go to New Orleans and compete against all the participating schools in the eastern half of the US, which wound up being 48 teams.

Kristin Liu ‘25 appreciates the opportunity, “Participating in the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition was such an incredible and rewarding experience. It played a huge role in helping me develop and fine tune my oral advocacy skills. In addition, I could not have done this without the support and assistance of the coaches and other team members! I would absolutely recommend trying out for the team.”

Tryouts for the 2024-25 Jessup team will take place virtually on Tuesday, June 18, from 7-9PM EDT and Wednesday, June 19, from 9-10AM EDT. Students should be on the lookout for an email with further details.