Question 1
A quick question for you (from a coach). May I share last year's
bench memo with this year's teams? I thought it might give them
some insights into analysis.
Answer 1
Yes. The Rule V(a)
prohibition against obtaining or attempting to obtain information
about the Bench Memo and Brief Grader’s Handbook is limited to the
memo and handbook used in this year’s competition. You may
review Bench Memos and Brief Grader’s Handbooks from prior
competitions.
Question 2
We wish to select our team by having a number of pairs of students
write briefs in early January and then compete in oral arguments in
late January to see who gets to be on the team that goes to the
national competition. Of course, only the brief written by
the winning pair of students would be submitted. Is this
course of action feasible? I suppose that, within the Rules,
we could submit the names of the first students to sign up when we
have to send you the initial team rosters, then substitute the
names of the successful pair of students as substitutions when the
brief is submitted in early February or late January.
Answser 2
The process you suggest would violate the Rule V prohibition on
outside assistance. The proposed oral competition prior to
submission of the briefs necessarily means that each team will have
violated the outside assistance rule by hearing the arguments of
the other teams. We also believe that the proposed delay in
naming the final team members does not comply with the rules.
Rule II(c) requires submission of final team member names by
January 11. Although Rule IV does provide you some
flexibility to substitute names until the brief deadline, that rule
is not intended to change the January 11 deadline or authorize a
delay in team selection.
Question 3
If we have already registered a two-person team, is it all possible
to
add a third person to the team? (I am aware we are beyond the
1/11
deadline.)
Answer 3
We read Rule IV to permit you to add a third person prior to
submission
of the brief. After that time you must obtain the Board's
permission to
make any changes. Keep in mind that Rule V on Outside Assistance
would
limit your ability to remove and replace a team member because the
work
of replaced team member could not be submitted as part of your
brief.
Question 4
Do all team members have to attend the competition?
Answer 4
No. Rule III requires that at least two members of each team
must
argue, but a three-person team might have a brief writer who does
not
argue. That person would not be required to attend the
competition.
Question 5
With respect to the brief deadline, do the hard copies of the brief
have
to be postmarked by February 5 or received by the Board by February
5?
Answser 5
Rule X(a) requires that the brief (and other required submissions)
be
received by us on or before February 5, 2008. We strongly
encourage
teams to send their briefs by express mail or by Federal Express
in
order to ensure prompt delivery and to obtain tracking status of
the
delivery.
Question 6
Your answer to Question 2 suggests that it would be a
violation of the Rule V prohibition on outside assistance to permit
two teams to hold practice oral arguments together prior to
submitting the brief. Yet, Rule V(b) specifically permits
teams to hold practice arguments together and does not limit that
permission to practice arguments held after the brief is
submitted. We are surprised by your expansive reading of Rule
V and ask that you not apply that interpretation to this year’s
competition since some teams may already have begun oral practices
together.
Answer 6
We believe that our interpretation of the outside assistance rule
is appropriate and not necessarily in conflict with the grant of
permission to hold arguments together. As a practical matter
we think it is almost certain that a practice round involving two
teams prior to brief submission will result in sharing of arguments
that would violate the outside assistance rule. Once the
briefs are filed, however, the briefs and arguments of every team
are available to every other team and no unfair advantage is likely
to result from practice arguments. We do understand your
concern that this may not have been clear enough in the rules and
invite suggestions for a rule revision for next year. Since
teams may have been confused, we will apply this interpretation
prospectively. Thus, from now until your team submits its
brief, you should not conduct practice rounds at which members of
another team are present.
Question 7
Rule VIII, regarding the length and form of the brief, states that
the format of the brief needs to comply with the Supreme Court of
the United States rules. However, it also states that the
"Statement of Facts" needs to be listed as page 1. Rule 24 of
the Supreme Court lists the Statement of Facts as "Statement of the
Case" and we just wanted to ensure that if we titled that section
after Rule 24 we would not be penalized.
Answer 7
You may title it either Statement of Facts or Statement of the
Case. No penalty will be assessed.
Question 8
Do you have to specify who will be doing the rebuttal or can we
simply state which person will argue 14 minutes, which person will
argue 15 minutes, and then either of them may use the one minute
for rebuttal?
Answer 8
We do not require you to specify who will do the rebuttal.
However, be aware that each team member must argue for at least 10
minutes and you may reserve no more than 3 minutes of rebuttal
time.