Legal Commentary

I just returned from the Wagner Labor & Employment Moot Court Competition hosted by New York Law School. While our team did not win, I honestly could not be prouder of our student competitors ? Paul Lewandowski, Lacey Dzemyan, and Lynn Taylor ? and of our student coaches, Rebecca Dupuis and Don Williams. They all worked hard and did a terrific, impressive job.

More broadly, I think that working with a moot court team can be a great experience for law profs and students. Both I and my wonderful colleague Nicole Porter got to spend a lot of time working through some very interesting issues in employment discrimination law with a group of smart, talented, and motivated students. In some ways it?s similar to supervising a law review note, independent study project, or other long paper. But beyond the obvious difference of having an oral advocacy component, a moot court team operates collaboratively. Students and faculty work together in a group, pushing, challenging, and teaching each other, all making the others better. The students started out pretty good at this sort of thing, and they still improved markedly. Also, I learned things I didn?t know about the relevant areas of employment discrimination law because of their thorough research, probing questions, and sharp answers. It will change how I teach these subjects in future years.

It?s also an opportunity to get to know students a little better, and to hear things about your school from their perspective (and the students can see some sides of their profs they might not see in the classroom).  Also, at these national competitions, you can see some profs from other schools: even if it destroys anonymity when you discover that the law prof you are chatting with is coaching your next opponent, as happened with me and Camille Hebert of Ohio State.  And students can meet students from other schools.

Teaching is a great job, but much of what we do can feel fairly solitary. Working with a moot court team feels more collaborative than research and writing and most teaching. Even if at the end part of you thinks, "gosh, we were so good, I wonder why we didn?t win," it?s still a very rewarding experience, and I highly recommend it.