Gener

alOut
li
neofaMootCour
tAr
gument
I
NTRO
Mayitpleasethecourt,
mynamei s___
__andIr
epr
esentt
he
Pet
it
ioner/Respondent__(
name)
___.

[
REBUTTALREQUEST&PROCEDURALBLURB( f
orPetit
ionerONLY) ]
Withthecourt
’sper
mi ssi
on,Iwouldl
iketoreserv
e2mi nutesf orrebutt
al.Thank
you.
Thiscaseisonappeal f
rom t
heDistr
ict
/Cir
cuitCourt(
nameofcour t
).The
Dist
ri
ct/Ci
rcui
tCourtdeniedPet
it
ioner’
srequestfor__
___,holding_____.

ROADMAP
Yourhonors,_ _
_ ____i
sav iol
ati
onofinter
nationall
awandweaskthatyou
___
_ _
___for(thef oll
owing)two/t
hreereasons:
1.First
,[subst anti
velegalar
gument–st rongestpoi
nt]
2.Second[ substanti
velegalar
gument ]
3.AndThi r
d, asamat terofpubl
icpoli
cyORaspubl i
cpoli
cydi
ctat
es,[
pol
i
cy
ar
gument ]

ARGUMENT
1.Withr
espectt
othef
ir
stpoi
nty
ourhonor
s...ORFi
rst
,...

CONCLUSI ON
Since[f
irstpoi
nt]
,[secondpoint
],and[thi
rdpoi
nt]
,Peti
tioner
/Respondent
respect
fullyr
equeststhatt
hisCour tf
inds___
_av i
olat
ionofinter
nati
onall
aw.
Thanky ou.

[
REBUTTAL( forPetiti
onerONLY)]
Respondentmadeone/ t
wopoint
(s)t
hatIwoul
dli
ket
oaddr
ess.(
Fir
st)
Respondentstat
edt hat...However
,...OR
Respondentcontendsthat___
__.However,
...

MI
SCELLANEOUSSUGGESTI ONS
- ForRebut tal:
o At tackmi sstat
ement sandgl ossed- ov
erweaknesses.
o Addr essconcernsoft hecour t.
o Onet ot wopoints–mosti mpor tantpointfir
st.
- Ifyouobv i
ousl yand/ormat eri
all
ymi sspeak,say“ r
ather,___
_ ”OR“pardonme
yourhonor s,whatImeant osayi s____”andcor rectyoursel
f .
- Ifyouarer eall
yhard-pressedforat r
ansi t
ion,say,“whichbringsmet omy
second/thirdpoint”andf i
ndawayt of i
twhaty ouwer etalki
ngabouti ntothat
point.
- Ifyouaregoi ngtoquot eacase, dropt hecasel anguagev erbati
mintoy our
outli
neandKNOW t hepincite.

1
- I
fyouaren’tsurewhatt hej udgei saski ng, seekcl arifi
cation.
o Thi scanal sobeusedasast alltact icify ouar eunsur ehowt oanswer
thequest i
on.
o Saysomet hi ngl i
ke, “Yourhonor ,Iwantt omakecer t
ai nIunder stand
yourquest ion, woul dy oumi ndr egar ding-phr asing? ”
- DON’
T:
o Say ,“Idon’ tknow”i nr esponset oaquest ion.
 I fyoudon’ tknowt heanswer ,saysomet hingmor elike,“Your
honor ,Iam unabl et of ull
yanswery ourquest ionatt hi
st i
me.
Howev er ,Iwoul dbemor et hanhappyt osubmi tasuppl ement al
briefont hei ssue/ matter/case. ”
o Smi leorl aughorot her wi selosecomposur edur ingar gument( unless
thejudgesar esmi lingandl aughi ngandy ouf eelitwoul dbe
i
nappr opriat et oNOTsmi leandl augh) .
o Takeapenupt ot hepodi um.
- DO:
o Out li
ney ourar gument !
 Tr yt or educey ourar gumentt o2- 3pages.
 Useheadi ngsandsub- headi ng.Bol d,capitali
ze, etc.foreaseof
refer ence.
 Useamani l
af oldert oor gani zey ourar gument s.
 Takenot hingbutt hatmani laf olderupt ot hepodi um.
o Li st
encar ef ullyt oopposi ngcounsel ’sar gument sandt hejudges’
questions.
 Takev er batim not esofbot h.Quot eand/ ordi rect l
yaddr essif
appr opr i
at e.
o Know, inadv anceoft hear gument ,whi chpoi ntsy ouar ewi l
li
ngt o
concede( ifany ).
o Pr efacey ouranswer swi ththef ollowi ng:
 Yesy ourhonor ,howev er...
 Noy ourhonor .
 Becaut i
oususi ngt hi sone–i tcanappearl ess-t
han
def er ent i
al .
 I( respect f
ul l
y )di sagreewi thy ourhonor ’
s
char act er i
zat ion/ const ructionof...
o Hav ey ouri nt roduct ion, [procedur al blurb],r oadmap, andconcl usion
memor i
zed.