Today I served as Presiding Judge at a Moot Court session of the Emerald City Open at University of Washington School of Law.
It's a grand title but the major qualifications are to be a lawyer and to volunteer for the gig. I was happy to do it, because the student contestants need people to fill the roles. I am quite competent firmly and succinctly directing the counselor-contestants to be seated, begin, state their objection, respond, and to allow a reasonable amoung of debate (because debating objections is a major part of the competition) and then giving a quick ruling. I am very pleased that the Scoring Judges, who had actual trial experience, told me that my rulings sounded reasonable.
This was a thoroughly positive experience. These young students (undergraduates, not in law school) are thorough, quick and smart. We got to chat some afterwords and I was able to share some tips based on my speaking experience. I also learned who valuable it was to mention my WPTL work, since one of the Scoring Judges basically offered to talk about his practical human rights work. It pays to talk proudly about these things!
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