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Mount Saint Mary’s University hosted the Southern California Regional Moot Court competition in early December at the Chalon Campus, with four Mount students participating in this highly competitive tournament that brings together students from across the country.

While the Mount had organized other invitational moot courts in the past, this was the first time that the University housed a competition sanctioned by the American Collegiate Moot Court Association.

Moot Court consists of oral arguments and legal brief writing competitions in which undergraduate students take on the role of attorneys in a fictional appellate case and present before a panel of judges who question the students about the facts and law of their case. The experience uniquely equips students with litigation skills and understanding of the law in preparation for law school and careers as lawyers.

Despite what the name of the competition might suggest, the tournament is open to universities from all over the nation. In total, 44 students competed in this moot court’s edition, representing 11 universities, including USC, UC Irvine, University of Texas and Colorado Christian University.

The Mount team included Graciela Escamilla ‘25, Brooke Fadipe ’26, Tajelle Freeman ’26 and Isabela Pineda ‘25. In addition, four Mount alumnae who are currently attorneys joined the panel of judges, including Karla Ballesteros ‘16, Mia Mitchell ‘07, Adriana Garrido ‘11, and Vivian Slu ’21.

To prepare for the competition, students hit the ground running as early as the first week of classes. From honing practical skills − such as public speaking, critical thinking and argumentation – to reading and understanding the law, they learned how to think and act as lawyers in less than three months.   

“It is like taking multiple courses in one,” says Melanie Sava ’17, JD, assistant professor and director of the pre-law program, who oversaw the organization of the tournament and coached the students. “The kind of thinking and analysis that you learn to do in Moot Court is exactly what law students do.”

Melanie herself participated in seven Moot Court competitions during her time at the Mount, making it into the final rounds a few times. The alumna graduated from Yale Law School and practiced law before returning to teach at Mount Saint Mary’s in 2022.  “It is impossible to overstate how much the Moot Court prepared me for law school,” says Melanie.

“The experience of competing in Moot Court stimulated me personally and academically because it gave me a greater sense of my capabilities and helped me improve speaking and research skills that I can carry throughout my education as an undergraduate and into law school,” says Brooke, who is majoring in political science with a pre-law minor.

Brooke explains that before this experience, she was not confident about her public speaking abilities, but seeing how far she came through practice gave her the confidence she needed.

Similarly, Isabela is thankful for this experience that taught her how to craft well-thought legal arguments, analyze cases, and improve her public speaking skills. “Competing in Moot Court made me a stronger person, and allowed me to gain a huge amount of confidence in myself and my future career choices.“

The Mount’s Moot Court and Mock Trial teams have competed in tournaments with students from across the country, winning 35 competition awards since 2005. Participants of these competitions who chose to pursue law have been accepted into the top law schools in the US, including the Ivy Leagues.

In Melanie’s view, the moot court experience sets the Mount and the pre-law program apart because it is not an opportunity that many universities offer. There are only about 40 universities that compete in Moot Court nationally, and many of them only allow senior students to compete. “At the Mount, we have never had that approach. If you are enthusiastic and you are willing to put in the work, you could be competing in your very first semester as a college student. I always found that to be a special aspect of our program. We are encouraging students to participate in this experience from day one,” she says.