The first moot court practice after Thanksgiving break was quiet. One student sat at a desk, head down with headphones in his ears. Another student combed carefully through her hair. Harry Bowden, one of the coaches of the team, said that most of the students on the team are still getting back into the swing of things since the break and, hopefully, they’ll be at practice in a couple of days.
When the newly transformed Law and Leadership Academy opened its doors this past August, the small learning community gained more than just new classes and a few new teachers. In September of this school year, almost 30 students began meeting after school to prepare for the National Moot Court Competition held in Washington D.C. next March. During the competition, a single student from the team presents their argument, and the case law to support it, individually to three judges and their opponent. The student then answer questions from the judges but never address their opponent directly.
The Grady team was started by two teachers: Judge Bowden, a new law teacher who previously worked as a judge for the East Point Municipal Court, and Calethea Barbour, at law teacher in her second year of teaching at Grady. Before Grady, Barbour spent her time practicing law in New York in both criminal cases as well as corporate cases.
Durings practice, students work on researching statutes that relate to their given topic and writing legal briefs. Kaliyah Bacon, a sophomore on the team, said the kind of work they do requires a lot of critical thinking.
“We do a lot of hands-on stuff,” Bacon said.
Oftentimes, Bacon said, the team takes a real-life court case and tries to re-create the arguments for practice.
Barbour hopes that this program will help not only students interested in law school, but even professions like journalism, due to the wide range of skills the students can learn.
“[Moot Court] will definitely help your social skills, your writing skills as well as your critical-thinking skills,” Barbour said.
Although students from all academies are welcome to join, the moot court team is still considered a part of Grady’s law program. This law program, in addition to the engineering and business programs at Grady, are all part of APS’ Career Technical and Agricultural Education program. CTAE gives students opportunities to explore a number of different careers, including many in the justice system. Each CTAE pathway has a list of core classes that give students information on possible careers within their chosen field. In Bowden’s opinion, moot court gives law and leadership students an extra push into jobs within the legal system.
“[Moot court] provides a vigorous training for the study of law,” Bowden said.
Barbour agrees that, when used well, the program will also gives students the ability to succeed after law school.
“I hope [students in moot court] will be able to really be competitors in trial court,” Barbour said. “They will be able to represent their clients better and be more successful in the arguments they make.”
To help moot court students even more in their pursuit of law degrees, Bowden is also working with the dean of Georgia State’s School of Law to establish a further connection between Grady’s moot court program and the law school. The plan, which is not yet confirmed, is to allow Grady students who are actively involved in the moot court program to gain entrance into the School of Law without taking the Law School Admission Test if they successfully get a bachelor’s degree.
Like many of the students interviewed for this story, Bacon is excited by this possible incentive.
“[The coaches] are making it seem like if we do this program, we don’t have to take [the LSAT],” Bacon said. “If I do this program and I don’t have to take the test I will most definitely go to Georgia State.”
Even if the agreement does not work out, Bowden still has faith that students who work hard in moot court will do exceptionally well in law school.
“They will be leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else,” Bowden said.
