The Qualifying Round is the first round in the upper-level Ames Competition. All second-year students (or joint degree students currently enrolled in their first year of post-1L law school courses) are eligible to join. Teams of four students may register here.  Students who have incomplete teams and would like the BSA to find individuals to complete their team for them should fill out the competitor matching worksheet here.

The official rules and schedule for this year’s competition are below. The grading rubric will be posted when the record is distributed on September 16th, 2020.

The PowerPoint from the information session on September 10th, 2020 (highlighting the schedule and important rules to note) can be found here.

How are the briefs evaluated?

We will send a rubric out with the record. This is the rubric the BSAs see when they grade the first round of Q-Round briefs. Rely on the rubric to decide where you should spend your time while preparing your brief.

Are we allowed to consult with past Ames briefs that are publicly available once the record is released?

Yes. Some example briefs from the 2019 Ames Competition can be found below:

Appellant:

Team 14 Appellant Brief

Team 38 Appellant Brief

Team 32 Appellant Brief

Team 9_Appellant Brief

Appellee:

Team 38B Appellee Brief for Team 36A

Team 38B Appellee Brief for Team 32A

Team 9B Appellee Brief for Team 15A

Team 14B Appellee Brief for Team 7A

Team 14B Appellee Brief for Team 16A

Team 32B Appellee Brief for Team 30A

Team 32B Appellee Brief for Team 38A

Team 9B Appellee Brief for Team 6A

I just wanted to verify that, to receive writing credit, members of my team need only to submit this form to the Dean of Students:  https://hls.harvard.edu/content/uploads/2020/06/Option-2-Written-Work-Requirement-form.pdf. 

If you advance to the second round of Q Round, then yes, DOS will sign this form and the requirement will be met. If you do not advance, you will need to write a second brief, which you can send to ameshls@gmail.com. The Q Round graders will then ensure that a good faith effort was made, and forward approval to DOS.