2010-2011 Official Rules National Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition “1975-2011: Building a legacy of advocates
to shape the causes of today.”
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” Frederick Douglass
Sponsored by:
Brian Roy, National Director Kimberly Walker, National Specialist Dee Baker, National Specialist Charles Tucker Jr., Esq., National Advisor
Table of Contents Article I: Purpose ....................................................................................................................................................... 3 Article II: General Administration....................................................................................................................... 3 Article III: Participation .......................................................................................................................................... 4 Article IV: Assistance................................................................................................................................................ 5 Article V: Eligibility and Registration ................................................................................................................. 5 Article VI: Briefs......................................................................................................................................................... 8 Article VII: Oral Arguments ............................................................................................................................... 11 Article VIII: Regional Competition ................................................................................................................... 13 Article IX: National Finals ................................................................................................................................... 15 Article X: Bailiffs ..................................................................................................................................................... 16 Article XI: Grievances and Brief Viewing Period ........................................................................................ 16 Article XII: Awards ................................................................................................................................................ 17 Article XIII: Conduct ............................................................................................................................................. 18 Article XIV: Authority ........................................................................................................................................... 18 Article XV: Contact Information ....................................................................................................................... 19
The National Director of the Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition (“FDMCC”) reserves the right to amend these rules and make any decision, which shall be final, regarding any aspect of the FDMCC. These rules replace all previous versions. The FDMCC problem, prepared by the National Director and Advisory Committee of the FDMCC, is copyrighted material. No school may use the FDMCC problem, except in connection with the school’s participation in the 2010-11 competition, without express written consent of the National Director and Advisory Committee. This prohibition does not preclude a school from using the FDMCC record in an intramural competition to select a team for FDMCC.
Article I: Purpose The Frederick Douglass Moot Court program was created to provide NBLSA members with an opportunity to enhance their brief writing and advocacy skills. NBLSA is dedicated to providing minority law students with the skills necessary to succeed in the legal profession. The Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition is a significant aspect of NBLSA programming which seeks to provide minority law students who are NBLSA members with the opportunity to hone their appellate advocacy skills in an atmosphere of zealous competition and spirited camaraderie. A. Expectation 1. All competitors and coaches are expected to conduct themselves with the highest level of professionalism and respect for the competition and the organization, which administers it. 2. All competitors are expected to give the utmost deference to the judges of the competition as if they were arguing in the Supreme Court of the United States. 3. All competitors and coaches should expect to participate in a competition based on the principles of excellence, which form the basis of NBLSA. 4. All competitors and coaches should expect to be afforded an equal level of respect and professionalism from the directors of this competition.
Article II: General Administration
A. The National Director of FDMCC: 1. In accordance with the NBLSA Constitution, the FDMCC is administered at the
direction of the National Director and generally, under the supervision of the National Specialist(s).
2. National leadership works directly with each Regional Director and Regional Specialist to coordinate all aspects of the competition. 3. The National Director of FDMCC has the ultimate decision making authority over the problem subject to the approval of the National Executive Board.
4. The National Director is an arbiter of disputes among teams in the regional competition and the national competition and has sole responsibility for the interpretation of the rules of the competition.
3
B. The Regional Directors of FDMCC:
1. The Regional Director of FDMCC conducts the regional competition under the auspices of the National Director of FDMCC. 2. The Regional Director of FDMCC, in conjunction with the National Director of
FDMCC, is an arbiter of disputes among teams in the regional competition and must be present during all parts of the regional competition.
3. The Regional Director of FDMCC must consult with the National Director of FDMCC with regard to any rule interpretation.
4. The Regional Director will enforce the 2010-2011 Official Rules of the Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition (the “Rules”) and assess all penalties according to the National Director of FDMCC’s decisions and instructions.
Note: In the event that the National Director must recuse himself/herself, or is for some other
serious reason physically unable to interpret or enforce FDMCC rules, the National Specialists will interpret and enforce the FDMCC rules. In the event that the National Specialists must
recuse themselves or is for some other serious reason unable to interpret or enforce FDMCC rules, the NBLSA National Chairperson will interpret and enforce FDMCC rules.
Article III: Participation A. FDMCC requires active NBLSA membership. An “active member” shall be generally determined by the local affiliated Chapter but will require more participation in the affiliated Chapter than just the payment of membership dues as defined by Article VII of the NBLSA Bylaws. 1. Each team participant must be a full-time or part-time student in a Juris Doctor program during the competition year. 2. Additionally, each team participant must have been an active NBLSA member prior to the year they are competing. 3. (E.g.–If, competing during the 2010-2011 academic year, the participant must have had active membership during the 2009-2010 academic year) B. Each team must consist of two (2) law students attending the same law school. Both team members must participate in writing the team’s brief and must argue in each round throughout the regional and national competitions. Likewise, no team member shall argue in a competition round alone. A team’s failure to have both registered team members present for a competition round will result in the team’s disqualification. No team member may be used for the sole purpose of writing the brief. C.
4
Article IV: Assistance A. Each member of a two-person team is prohibited from receiving any substantive briefwriting assistance from any individual who is not a member of that two-person team. Failure to adhere to this rule shall result in immediate disqualification. 1. “Substantive:”–includes but is not limited to issue- spotting, argument structure, organizational structure, research, discussion with any other FDMCC team (regardless of the school). 2. Coaches may give GENERAL training on: 1) how to write a brief; 2) how to research, and; 3) crafting oral-arguments. 3. Coaches MAY NOT write any portion of the brief or write any portion of any script that may be used during a team’s oral argument. B. Article IV, Section 1 shall not be construed to prohibit critiquing oral arguments through mock oral argument sessions. C. Professional and outside brief writers are strictly prohibited. Failure to adhere to this rule will result in automatic disqualification. D. If a competitor requires assistance during oral argument rounds as the result of a disability, the competitor shall inform the National or Regional Director no less than 21 days prior to commencement of the competition.
Article V: Eligibility and Registration A. FDMCC participants must meet all of the following eligibility requirements. Each team member must: 1. Be a dues-paying BLSA member in accordance with National and Regional membership requirements 1 : 2. Register for the conference (Regional and/or National) hosting the FDMCC it participates in (Please note that this cost is in addition to the standard FDMCC Registration fee). 3. Be in good academic standing and provide a written letter of good academic standing from their law school’s dean or registrar on official letterhead. 4. Submit a letter of good standing from their BLSA chapter president or secretary indicating that he/she: a. is a dues-paying member of his/her BLSA chapter,
1
Letters required under Article V, §1(b), (d) (i)-(iii) must be submitted with the team registration form in accordance with Article V, §2.
5
b. has participated or will be participating in at least one chapter
community service activity, and c. has been a NBLSA member in good standing for at least one academic year prior to entering the competition. B. One-Year Requirement Waiver 1. Competitors are required to be a member of their local BLSA chapter for one year prior to representing their school’s Frederick Douglass Moot Court team. However, first-year students (1L), transfer students, as well as other students (2L or 3L) may seek a waiver of the one year participation requirement rule for “good cause shown” as defined by the National Director. The National Director is the only entity that may grant a waiver of this kind, and granting this waiver will happen only on a case-by-case basis. Further, having been granted a waiver in previous years will NOT necessarily carry over to any subsequent year. 2. To apply for a waiver, prospective competitors must 23: a. Send the completed Request for Waiver Form at least two (2) weeks prior to submitting registration materials via email and directly to the National Director at: mootcourt@nblsa.org b. Attach the Request for Waiver Form to both letters of good standing (one from the local BLSA chapter and one from the affiliated school’s administration). If the waiver is granted by the National Director, the member for whom the waiver is granted must still submit a letter of current good standing from their local BLSA Chapter President stating that the potential participant is a current dues paying member and will participate in at least one community service activity. 3. Each team must submit: a. a registration form, b. c. d.
a letter of good academic standing, a letter of good standing from their BLSA Chapter President (with attached waiver form, if necessary), and
the $350 registration fee must be postmarked no later than October 30, 2010.
2
The Request for Waiver Form can be found on the FDMCC Course on the TWEN website.
6
NOTE: IF ANY OF THE PRECEDING RULES ARE NOT FOLLOWED, THE TEAM IN VIOLATION OF A RULE WILL BE SUBJECT TO A PENALTY AS DECIDED BY THE NATIONAL DIRECTOR. C. Discounts: 1. Teams which submit their registration forms postmarked no later than October 1, 2010 will pay a registration fee of $300. 2. Schools which enter more than one team in the competition will pay a registration fee of $300 per team if the registration form is postmarked by October 15, 2010. 3. Schools which enter one or more teams for the first time since FDMCC was established or for the first time in two or more years, will pay $250 ($100 off regular registration fee) and the registration fee should be postmarked by October 30, 2010. IF APPLICABLE, ONLY ONE DISCOUNT WILL BE APPLIED PER TEAM. 4. Entries postmarked after October 1, 2010 will be accepted with the regular registration fee of $350. Registration forms will not be accepted if postmarked
after October 30, 2010.
5. Inquiries regarding registration fee waivers must be presented to the National Director of FDMCC. Any team requesting a registration fee waiver must
complete appropriate paper work, which will be provided by the National Director, show substantial financial need, and show that other alternative means of obtaining funds have been pursued. 6. Registration form (with attached letters) must be mailed to: Brian Roy NBLSA FDMCC DIRECTOR PO Box 10837 Chicago, IL 60610 7. A copy of the registration form AND checks for registration MUST be mailed to:
National Black Law Students Association Attn: Frederick Douglass Competition 519 Somerville Ave. # 265 Somerville, MA 02143
(With payment, state which region you are in, the name of your school, and reference FDMCC)
Note: Please note that the preferred form of payment will be via online registration. A link will be sent to you prior to the commencement of registration.
7
8. Refunds will be granted only due to extenuating circumstances, and are subject to the discretion of the National Director. No refunds will be granted after October 30, 2010. 9. No team member may be substituted after November 3, 2010 (two weeks before the briefs are due). 10. Teams that advance to the National Rounds of the competition must confirm their participation by registering for the National Convention no less than twenty-one (21) calendar days prior to the beginning of the National Convention. Any team that does not register within this timeframe will be deemed to have withdrawn from the competition and will forfeit their slot to another team within their region. NOTE: In the event that a regional competition concludes less than twenty-one (21) days before the national competition, eligible teams from that regional competition have up to five (5) business days to register and confirm their participation in the national competition. 11. Each team will be randomly assigned a letter ID by the National Director of FDMCC prior to the scoring of the briefs. Team members will be allowed to refer to themselves by name or ID letter only. Any team member that identifies or causes to be identified, any school, social, religious or other information that could jeopardize the fairness of the competition, through the use of apparel, jewelry, hand gestures, or material brought into the courtroom, shall subject the team to immediate disqualification and fee forfeiture.
Article VI: Briefs A. Format: The rules of the U.S. Supreme Court for brief submissions are adopted in full, subject to the following: 1. Any time Attorney Identification is required within the Supreme Court rules, the team identification letter(s) shall be substituted for that identification. 2. Cover Page – Petitioner’s brief must be printed on light blue paper. Respondent’s brief must be printed on red paper. 3. A team may choose to write its brief on behalf of either side. If more than one team from the same school enters the competition, fifty percent (50%) of the total number of briefs submitted must be for petitioner and the other fifty percent (50%) must be for respondent. If there are an odd number of teams, the remaining brief may be written on behalf of either side. 4. Briefs must be submitted with an opaque front cover of durable quality. The following must be located at the upper right-hand corner of the cover “Team
8
Letter Identification_______.” Information identifying the team or its law school, other than its designation supplied by the National Director, MAY NOT be included anywhere on the brief. 5. All citations should conform to the most recent edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. Footnotes are prohibited. 6. Typeface must be Courier New, twelve-point font only. The brief must be formatted in Microsoft Word. Pages shall be standard letter size (8 1/2 x 11 inches) with one-inch margins on each side (excluding page numbers), and with double spacing (except for point or sub-point headings, block quotations, etc.) between each line of text. Pages must be single-sided only. The brief must not exceed thirty pages, not including the cover page, table of contents, table of authorities, or appendix. 7. Briefs shall be “spiral” or “book” bound at the left margin. B. Scoring: Each brief will be anonymously graded by three separate brief graders selected by the National and Regional Directors. The final score will be the average of those three scores. Brief graders may not participate in practice rounds or otherwise discuss the problem with participants or their coaches. Briefs will be graded on a 100-point scale. Scores will be based on the following criteria: 1. FORMAT/APPEARANCE a. All sections included and prepared in accordance with Article 6, Section b. Neat and professional, in compliance with form requirements 2. SUBSTANCE a. Issue Recognition 1) Issues properly identified 2) Issues thoroughly addressed b. Argument 1) Questions Presented stated in a persuasive manner 2) Point headings stated in a persuasive manner 3) Point headings develop the legal argument 4) Facts are accurate and persuasively written 5) Properly emphasizes favorable facts 6) Effectively addresses unfavorable facts 7) Avoids conclusive statements c. Legal Authority 1) Properly identifies relevant precedent 2) Properly summarizes precedent 3) Effectively emphasizes favorable precedent 4) Effectively distinguishes unfavorable precedent 5) Proper analysis and synthesis of facts with
9
6) Precedent d.Mechanics 1) Proper grammar 2) Proper paragraph development 3) Proper citation format (Bluebook) 4) Proper use of quotations 5) Spelling C. Deductions and Penalties All deductions and penalties will be determined by the National Director. D. Service of Briefs 1. It is each team members’ responsibility to ensure every copy of the team brief contains the proper ID letters. Team ID letters will be emailed to each team no later than Friday, November 5, 2010. If a team does not receive a team ID, it is the team’s responsibility to inform the National Director immediately. 2. Service on the National Director: a. Three (3) bound copies of each team’s brief, must be postmarked no later than, Friday, November 17, 2010 to the National Director to avoid point deductions/penalties. A clear and legible electronic version of the brief must be uploaded to The West Education Network(TWEN) at www.lawschool.westlaw.com under the “National Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition” course. This upload must be completed by 11:59pm (EST) on Friday, November 17, 2010 to avoid point deductions/penalties. b. The electronic version must be in PDF format. All components of the brief must be sent together as a single document labeled “Team _____ Brief.” Failure to upload the team’s brief in PDF format will result in a
penalty.
c. To facilitate access to all participating teams, each team’s brief will be posted on TWEN under the “National Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition” course. Briefs will be posted by Team Identification letter in the same format it was submitted to the National Director. d. The Certificate of Compliance and Proof of Service MUST be included with each team’s brief submission, but do not include it in the bound copy.
e. No brief will be accepted after the postmark date of Tuesday, November 23, 2010. f. Briefs may be submitted via United States Postal Service, UPS, FedEx, etc. It is recommended, however, that teams obtain a Delivery Confirmation receipt to ensure delivery of briefs.
10
g. A postmarked Certificate of Mailing from the United States Postal Service or a postmark affixed by the carrier service you use is the only accepted verification of the mailing date. Evidence of delivery date by private postage meters will not be acceptable verification of the postmarked date. h. If a team fails to serve its brief in the manner prescribed, the date of service will be the date the brief is received. i. Briefs may not be amended or revised once submitted. MAIL BRIEFS TO: Brian Roy
NBLSA FDMCC DIRECTOR P.O. Box 10837 Chicago, IL 60610
Article VII: Oral Arguments A. General 1. The Regional Director will assign sides for the preliminary rounds of the regional competition. The National Director will assign sides for the preliminary rounds of the national competition.
2. In subsequent rounds, a coin toss will determine which side a team will argue. 3. Competitors must be at the designated assembly room at least thirty (30) minutes before their respective rounds are scheduled to begin. The bailiff will record Petitioner’s rebuttal time and each competitor’s time for oral argument.
4. If a team arrives at an argument late, one point will be deducted from the team’s final oral score for each minute late. After 15 minutes a default will be declared. 5. Each team is allotted 40 minutes total for oral argument. The team may divide speaking time between participants as they choose, so long as each participant
argues at least 10 minutes but not more than 25 minutes. When speaking and time has expired, a participant may request the Court’s permission to continue. Competition Judges have sole discretion to extend a speaker’s time.
a. Failure to speak for at least 10 minutes during oral arguments will result in a 5 point deduction from the overall team score. b. Failure to request an extension of time after allotted time has expired
11
will result in a 5 point deduction from the overall team score. 6. Petitioner may reserve up to 2 minutes for rebuttal by notifying the bailiff and Chief Justice of the Court before commencement of the Petitioner’s argument. Failure to reserve rebuttal time with the Court or bailiff will constitute a waiver of rebuttal time. Respondent does not receive rebuttal time during oral argument. 7. Team participants must identify themselves to the Court by ID letter or name only and state which side they represent (Petitioner or Respondent) at the beginning of each argument. 8. No discussion with the judges is permitted until conclusion of the round. The bailiff will announce when the judge may offer critiques in the presence of both teams.
9. No person affiliated with any team may attend any argument, in which that team is not scheduled to compete, until the final round. However, unaffiliated spectators may attend oral rounds at the discretion of the Regional or National Director. 10. Teams may not use audio or video recording devices during court sessions. Cell phone use is strictly prohibited.
11. Note taking by persons other than team members is strictly prohibited, including coaches and spectators. Notes taken in violation of this rule will be confiscated by the Regional or National Director and points will be deducted from the affiliated team. 12. Any team having an affiliation with the bench, or recognizes an affiliation between its opposing team and the bench, must notify the competition director before the court session begins.
13. Props are not permitted in the courtroom. B. Bye Rounds 1. There are no bye rounds in the FDMCC. 2. In the event that an uneven number of teams exist, the competition director will provide a shadow team to argue in the preliminary rounds. The identity of this team will not be revealed to any competitor or judge in the competition. 3. A shadow team is an opposing team that is randomly selected to argue an additional round to allow all teams to argue a minimum of three times during preliminary rounds. The shadow team will be unaware of which round will be scored and which is not. C. Scoring 1. The National or Regional Director will select members of the bench and/or members of the bar to judge oral argument rounds. Advocates will be evaluated on a 100-point scale. 2. Advocates will be scored based on the following: Â Â
12
a. Legal Issues/Argument Style 1) Use of and familiarity with facts 2) Knowledge and application of the law 3) Legal Argument b. Advocacy Style 1) Responsiveness to questions 2) Persuasiveness 3) Presentation and speaking ability 4) Courtroom etiquette 3. Weighting a. Regional Level 1) During Preliminary Rounds, brief scores will count 30% of the total score and the oral argument score will count as 70% of the total score. 2) During Sweet Sixteen, Quarterfinal, Semifinal and Final Rounds, the total score will be solely based on the oral argument score. A team’s brief score will count only in the event of a tie. b. National Level 1) During all rounds, the oral argument score will count as 100% of the total score. A team’s brief score [comprised of the averaging of their regional and national scores] will only count in the event of a tie.
Article VIII: Regional Competition A. Teams will be assigned a regional site in accordance with the NBLSA Constitution Article III §1(E). The regional competitions will be held during the regional conventions. Each region’s executive board will determine that region’s conference location and dates. B. Preliminary Rounds 1. The preliminary Rounds will be comprised of three competition rounds. Each team will compete in each of the three preliminary rounds. 2. At the end of the three Preliminary Rounds each team will receive an overall Preliminary Rounds score. 3. Seventy percent of a team's overall score will be comprised of an average oral argument score derived from the three preliminary competition rounds. The remaining thirty percent of a team's overall score will be composed of that team's brief score (weighted at 30%). The two totals will be added to calculate a team's overall Preliminary Rounds score.
13
4. The eight (or sixteen) teams receiving the highest overall Preliminary Rounds scores will advance to the Elimination Rounds of the Competition. 5. Pairings a. The Regional Director (at the Regional Competition) and the National Director (at the National Competition) will determine pairings for preliminary rounds. An effort will be made not to pair teams from the same school. b. Each team will argue at least once for the Petitioner and once for the Respondent during preliminary rounds. c. At the end of the Preliminary rounds, teams will be power seeded to determine advancement to the elimination rounds. Teams will be seeded based on a calculation of average oral argument scores combined with the average brief score. (i.e. oral argument weighted at 70% plus brief score weighted at 30% to arrive at a preliminary round average) d. Teams will be power matched (for the elimination rounds) based on highest cumulative point averages (i.e team with highest cumulative point average will argue against team with lowest cumulative point average.) C. Elimination Rounds 1. Regions with less than 12 teams will not have a quarterfinal round and will proceed from preliminary rounds to the semifinals. If a region has exactly 12 teams, it is within the sole discretion of the competition director to determine whether there will be a quarterfinal round. 2. Regions with more than 30 teams may hold a Sweet Sixteen round. Whether a Sweet Sixteen round will be held is within the discretion of the competition director. 3. Eight (or Sixteen) teams will advance to the Elimination Rounds. Teams will be seeded based on highest cumulative point average. 4. After initial pairings, the 30% brief score will no longer be factored into a team's score. Teams will be evaluated solely upon their oral advocacy scores during the Elimination Rounds. 5. A coin toss shall determine which side each team will argue in the elimination rounds. 6. Teams will advance to the next round based on won/loss record only. Cumulative point averages will not be used to determine advancement. A team must win their respective round to advance to the next round. 7. Upon advancement to the next elimination round, teams will be power matched based on oral advocacy scores obtained in the previous round. (i.e. in the semi Â
14
final round, the winning team with the highest oral argument score in the quarterfinal will argue against the winning team with the fourth highest oral argument score in the quarterfinal). 8. h. In the event that two opposing teams’ scores are tied, a winner will be selected based on the teams brief score; the team with the higher brief score will advance. 9. The top four teams from the quarterfinal rounds will advance to the semifinal rounds. The top two teams from the semifinal rounds will advance to the final round. 10. The winner of the final round will be declared winner of the competition.
Article IX: National Finals A. The FDMCC National Finals will be held in Houston, TX during the National Convention. B. Confirmation of Participation 1. Teams that advance to the national finals shall confirm their participation with the National Director. 2. Confirmation of participation is demonstrated by: (1) registering for the NBLSA National Convention no later than 21 calendar days prior to commencement of the national finals (or no later than five (5) business
days after the regional competition, if the regional competition concludes less than twenty-one (21) calendar days prior to commencement of the national finals) and (2) forwarding proof of such registration to the
National Director via email. 3. Failure to provide confirmation of participation will be deemed a withdrawal from the competition. A replacement will be selected in accordance with these rules. C. Preliminary Rounds 1. The top three seeded teams in each region shall be eligible to compete in the national competition. Therefore, eighteen teams will advance to the national preliminary rounds. If a team is unable to compete in the national competition, the next highest seeded team will be able to go in its place. 2. The national preliminary rounds will be conducted in the same manner as the regional preliminary rounds (see Article VIII) with the exception that the oral argument will account for 100% of the score and a team’s brief score will only be used in the event of a tie. D. Elimination Rounds 1. Elimination rounds will include quarterfinal, semifinal and final round court sessions.
15
2. Team’s scores will be based on oral argument presentations only.
3. The winning team from each round shall advance to the next round and the winner of the final round will be declared the winner and champion of the Frederick Douglas Moot Court Competition. 4. In the even that two opposing teams’ scores are tied, a winner will be selected based on the teams’ brief scores: the team with the higher score will advance.
Article X: Bailiffs A. The competition director will provide a bailiff for each round. B. Responsibilities
1. Escorting judges to and from the courtroom; 2. Distributing the ballots to judges before the round; 3. Calling the court to order; 4. Serving as time keeper; 5. Documenting tardy arrivals; 6. Collecting ballots and returning the ballots along with the time sheet to the competition director;
7. Informing the competition director of any violations he/she may have observed; and 8. Start the critiquing session.
Article XI: Grievances and Brief Viewing Period A. Briefs 1. All grievances must be based on a violation of the Official FDMCC Rules as established throughout this document. All grievances, including protests against another team’s brief, must be submitted at least twenty-one (21) days before the commencement of the grieving team’s regional competition. In general, there will be no opportunity to grieve either brief or oral scores during any competitions unless the grievance is based on a blatant rule violation. In any case, all grievances brought after the twenty-one (21) day cut-off period will only be heard at the sole discretion of the National Director. 2. All protests must specify the grievance lodged and the rule the brief allegedly violates. 3. All teams will be notified of the National Director’s ruling on protests within
16
five (5) business days as long as the protest is brought in a timely manner. 4. Brief scores will be distributed during regional competitions in an anonymous format; only indicating the three total scores received from each anonymous brief grader. Protests related to brief scores may be brought to the attention of the competition director before commencement of oral arguments. The only protest allowed for brief scores will be addition errors. B. Oral Arguments 1. Grievances may not be filed once oral arguments have commenced unless there is a blatant and egregious rule violation during arguments. In such a case, a request to grieve may be made to the bailiff after the competition round but before the judges’ critiques. The bailiff will relay the information to the National Director. It is at the sole discretion of the National Director whether to hear a grievance based on conduct during an oral argument.
Article XII: Awards A. Regional Level 1. FDMCC Regional Champion Award- given to the team with the highest scores at the end of the final round. 2. FDMCC Regional First Runner-up Award- given to the team with the second highest score at the end of the final round. 3. FDMCC Regional Second Runner-up Award- given to the team with the third highest score at the end of the semi-final round. 4. FDMCC Best Oral Advocate Regional Award- given to the competitor who has the highest average oral scores for the three Preliminary Rounds Competitors must argue in at least two of the three Preliminary Regional Rounds to be eligible for this award. 5. FDMCC Best Respondent Brief Regional Award- given to the Respondent team with the highest average score. 6. FDMCC Best Petitioner Brief Regional Award- given to the Petitioner team with the highest average score. B. National Level 1. FDMCC National Champion Award- given to the team with the highest score at the end of the final round. 2. FDMCC National First Runner-up Award- given to the team with the second highest score at the end of the final round. 3. FDMCC National Second Runner up Award – given to the team with the third highest score at the end of the semifinal round. 4. FDMCC National Best Oral Advocate Award- given to the competitor who has the highest average oral scores for the three Preliminary Rounds. Competitors
17
must argue in at least two of the three Preliminary National Rounds to be eligible for this award. 5. Helen Dawn Williams Oral Advocacy Award- an honorable mention award is given to the second highest oral advocate in the National preliminary rounds. 6. FDMCC National Best Respondent Brief Award- given to the Respondent team with the highest average score. The score is calculated by averaging regional and the national score. 7. FDMCC National Best Petitioner Brief Award- given to the Petitioner team with the highest average score. The score will be calculated by combining the regional average score and the national average score. Article XIII: Conduct - The Conduct of all FDMCC participants (team members and coaches), will be governed by the standards set out in the ABA Model Code of Professional Responsibility and Rules of Professional Conduct.
Article XIV: Authority A. The National and Regional Directors shall have sole discretion to assess penalties or disqualify teams for violation of these rules. Uniform penalties will be assessed for each type of violation. B. The National Director has sole discretion to interpret these rules. Requests for rule interpretation, prior to the competition, must be emailed by the requesting school to the National Director at mootcourt@nblsa.org in a timely manner. Responses to questions will be posted on the Q & A section of the FDMCC TWEN site as well as emailed to the requesting party. C. The National Director has sole discretion to answer substantive questions concerning the FDMCC problem. All such inquiries must be emailed by the requesting team to the National Director at the aforementioned email address no later than November 5, 2010. D. The National Director’s decisions regarding protests against other teams’ briefs, rule interpretations, and/or substantive inquiries are final. E. The National Director may exercise his/her discretion to create additional rules to address matters not covered in this document.
18
Article XV: Contact Information A. Questions regarding the National Competition shall be directed to: Brian K. Roy
National Director
Email: mootcourt@nblsa.org Phone: (862) 226-9067
Or, in appropriate cases: National Specialist: Dee Baker Email: deejbaker@gmail.com Phone: (505) 363-2123 or National Specialist: Kimberly Walker E-mail: kimberly.walker.law@gmail.com Phone: (706) 825-4251 B. FDMCC correspondence and inquiries relating to the Regional Competitions should be addressed to the appropriate Regional Director: Western Regional Director Keri Premmer
misspremmer@yahoo.com 562-787-9409 Mid-Atlantic Regional Director Sheila Isong (Interim Director) sheila.isong@gmail.com 443-848-1059
19
Mid-West Regional Director Sonje Hawkins
shawi3@luc.edu 917-674-5789 Rocky Mountain Regional Director Kenneth Ford
kford1019@gmail.com 904-563-5762 Northeast Regional Director Kristine Saul
ks2678@columbia.edu 973-477-1538 Southern Regional Director Dorothy Smith mootcourt.srblsa@gmail.com 773-816-7071
 Â
20