The WTO Moot Team is a student-run organization at Harvard Law School.

Tryouts for 2020 – 21 will begin the week of September 21st; please indicate your interest here by Wednesday, September 23, 2019. Unfortunately LLMs are not eligible to participate in the competition. Otherwise, prior experience is not necessary—all who are interested are encouraged to apply!

The John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition is a simulated hearing of the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement system and is organized annually by The European Law Students’ Association (ELSA). The competition is open to teams from around the globe, and this year will be Harvard’s 10th year sending a team to the competition.

Harvard Team wins North American Round of the John J. Jackson Moot Court Competition

The competition is comprised of two parts. The first component is the brief, which students will spend the fall semester writing. The team will write 2 briefs of around 20 pages each, which will be submitted in January. After the briefs are submitted, the team will begin preparing for oral arguments. The competition for the All-American Regional Round will be held in March, and two teams advance from the competition to attend the global round in June.  Although this past year’s arguments were conducted virtually, regional arguments generally take place in a North American city; past cities have included Washington, D.C., Bogota, Colombia, and Kingston, Canada. The teams that advance then have the opportunity to compete at the final round held in Geneva, Switzerland, where speakers will have an opportunity to argue in front of Appellate Body Members at the WTO.

The ELSA Organizing Committee has announced that this year’s competition will take place in person, although final details regarding travel are dependent on Harvard University guidance and the global health situation. Mooting (even virtually) is lots of fun, and a good way to build relationships with classmates, practitioners, and others around the world interested in trade and international law.

Harvard’s team has won the regional round nearly every year it has participated, and is usually among the top teams at the global round.

Professor Mark Wu, an expert in international trade and intellectual property law, has served as the WTO moot court team faculty adviser since its inception ten years ago.

Past topics have included issues related to sanctions, antidumping, subsidies, weapons proliferation, trade and the environment, agricultural regulation, and more.

Contact

Jake Laband: jlaband@jd22.law.harvard.edu

Amelia Ricketts: aricketts@jd22.law.harvard.edu