BOOK REVIEW
THE ART OF MOOTING
Theories, Principles and Practice
By Mark Thomas and Lucy Cradduck
ISBN: 978 1 78897 038 9 (hardback)
978 1 78897 039 6 (ebook)
Edward Elgar Publishing
www.e-elgar.com
www.elgaronline.com
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LOOKING TO PERFECT YOUR PERFORMANCE IN COURT?
CHECK OUT THIS NEW TITLE ON THE ART OF MOOTING
An appreciation by Elizabeth Robson Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers, Reviews Editor, “The Barrister”, and Mediator
Mooting may be an art, as the title of this new publication from Edward Elgar suggests. But judging from the rigorous analysis which authors, Mark Thomas and Lucy Cradduck, apply to this subject, you could be forgiven for referring to mooting as a science. Considering the skills required, as detailed in this book, mooting can get technical. But there, you might say, is a moot point.
Essentially, a moot is a debate engaged in competitively on a formal basis, mainly in law schools in common law jurisdictions and viewed generally, as a reliable means of assessing students’ advocacy skills. Such skills therefore become the focus of this book and for aspiring advocates especially, the book emerges as an absorbing read.
As a moot is a competition, its presentation, say the authors, ‘involves all of the domains of human mental activity’: cognitive, psychomotive and affective. This tripartite view of human mental activity informs most of the theorizing in this text and very interesting it is.
As Stuart Baran of Three New Square has observed, ‘Good advocacy syntheses thoughtfulness and experience. So does this book.’
The authors are both senior lecturers in the Faculty of Law, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. It is not too surprising then, that they occasionally draw comparisons (or contrasts when appropriate) between approaches to mooting and engineering education. They offer for example, a noteworthy quote from the ‘Journal of Engineering Education’, which compares the mooting approach with the focus of engineering education on foundational knowledge, computational skills and their application. They nevertheless place considerable emphasis on cognitive domain development, implying that ‘attitudinal and behavioral dimensions’ must inevitably be brought into play in a successful moot.
Judging from the book’s extensive bibliography, the authors have amassed a formidable amount of research, which has obviously informed their analysis. Throughout the book, however, it is shown that the theoretical does influence and inform the practical.
Writing in the foreword, Catherine Holmes, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Queensland, remarks that ‘for the advocates, a significant challenge of appearing in Court may lie, not in any lack of ability to understand the law or to identify the submissions that need to be made, but in the need to develop an effective delivery and a capacity to respond readily and appropriately to the Bench’s questions.’
Whether art or science, or a bit of both, mooting demands a multifaceted skillset on which the authors, being experienced moot coaches themselves, are well qualified to elucidate. From students to experienced barristers interested in developing ‘an effective delivery’ in court, this book demands a serious read.
The publication date of this hardback book is cited as at 31st October 2019.
