About the Competition
Mitchell Hamline School of Law hosts the William E. McGee National Civil Rights Moot Court Competition.
The William E. McGee National Civil Rights Moot Court Competition is an inter-scholastic appellate moot court competition. Its goals are to promote interest in all areas of civil rights law and to help interested students develop the oral advocacy and writing skills essential to be successful appellate practitioners. Each team will write a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on a problem involving a recent case in the field of civil rights. They will argue the case in front of the court at the competition.
We are committed to providing an outstanding experience for our student competitors. Student competitors and volunteer judges will meet in a Zoom courtroom for the arguments. A volunteer “bailiff” will be in the Zoom room ready to help with any tech-related questions. Each student team will participate in two preliminary rounds of oral argument. In each round, students will argue for approximately an hour, and will then be invited to break-out rooms while judges deliberate. Following the deliberations, judges will offer constructive feedback on the students’ performance. The top four teams will advance to the semifinal rounds on Saturday, and the winning teams from the semifinal rounds will compete in the championship round Saturday afternoon.
Invitation
Mitchell Hamline School of Law is pleased to invite your school to participate in the 2025-26 William E. McGee National Civil Rights Moot Court Competition. Registration is limited to 16 teams.
We are finalizing the problem for this year and it will be released in late October.
2025-26 YEAR INFORMATION
McGee Moot Court Problem 2025-2026
2025-26 Key Dates
Registration Open: October 27, 2025
October | Registration closes*, application and fees due (Competition is limited to 16 teams and registration may close earlier if capacity is reached)
October | Problem posted to website and emailed to registered teams
January 2026 | Briefs are due
Competition Dates & Times
All times are Central Standard Time (CST).
Preliminary Round 1
- Wednesday, March 4, 2026
Preliminary Round 2
- Thursday, March 5, 2026
Quarterfinal
- Friday, March 6, 2026
Semifinal
- Friday, March 6, 2026
Championship
- Friday, March 6 , 2025
Registration fee and payment
The registration fee is $475 per team or $900 for two teams.
Team composition
Each participating school may enter one or two teams, each team consisting of two or three students. If a team has three members, all must argue in the preliminary rounds but only two may argue in any given round.
Each team argues in a minimum of three preliminary rounds with the opportunity for additional arguments in the quarterfinals, semifinals, and the third place or final round.
Philosophy of openness
Based on a philosophy of openness with regard to information, participants know where they stand. They are informed regarding their brief and technical scores and the brief and technical scores of the other participating teams prior to their arrival and are able to check their team’s oral scores at various points during the competition.
Process
- E-mailed copies of briefs will be uploaded through Google Docs and shared with all registered teams along with other Competition updates and important data.
- The substantive arguments of each brief are read by five judges with the high and low scores excluded and the remaining three scores averaged.
- Participants have the opportunity to review and challenge the citation and technical error marks concerning their brief prior to the oral argument phase of the competition.
- Participating teams are guaranteed two arguments in the preliminary rounds and advancing teams could have up to three additional arguments in the advanced rounds.
- Eight teams will move forward to the advanced rounds.
- The oral argument panels that preside over the arguments consist of a diverse cross section of attorneys and judges.
Awards
In addition to First, Second and Third place team awards, there is a team award for Best Brief and two awards for Best Oral Advocates: The Best Oral Advocate of the Preliminary Rounds and the Best Oral Advocate Overall.
Questions?
For registration questions, contact MHSL’s Competition Committee via email ([email protected]). We look forward to your participation.