Instituted 140 years ago by William Forbes Stearns, the law school’s first professor, the Moot Court Board is the premier oral advocacy body at The University of Mississippi School of Law. Where the Mississippi Law Journal trains members in written advocacy, the Moot Court Board focuses on courtroom advocacy. The mission of the board is not only honing the oral advocacy skills of its members but also providing opportunities to the law school student body generally.

The Moot Court Board comprises roughly 64 members, with membership split evenly between the 2L and 3L classes. Membership competitions are held in the fall and in the spring—the fall competition following an appellate format and the spring competition following a trial format. Board members receive 1 hour of academic credit per semester for their membership on the board. To earn this credit, members are required to participate in two competitions during their time on the board. These two competitions are in addition to the competition that secured the student’s membership on the board.

The Moot Court Board sponsors and competes in numerous in-house and external competitions during the course of the year. During the fall semester, the board hosts the Steen Dalehite Scholarship Trial Competition (a competition that is open to all Ole Miss law students) and the Ole Miss/MC Trial Competition.

In the spring, the board hosts the McGlinchey Stafford Scholarship Appellate Competition and travels to Jackson to participate in the Mississippi Moot Court Championship, the appellate version of the Ole Miss/MC trial competition. In addition to these local competitions, the Moot Court Board fields teams in 15 different national competitions held across the country. These teams compete in specialized areas such as bankruptcy law, constitutional law, environmental law, tax law, religious freedom, and civil and criminal trial competitions. The teams are funded by law firms from across the state and the School of Law. Competitors receive academic credit for their participation, argue before judges that specialize in that field and compete against other teams from across the country.