LSE-Featherstone Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Moot

The LSE Featherstone Moot 2024 will be held in person on 23-24 February 2024 

Further details are also available in this pdf brochure.

Oral rounds

The oral rounds of the competition will be held on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 February 2024, in the New Academic Building and at the Centre Building at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). The first two sessions will run on the afternoon of Friday 23 February 2024 with two further sessions running on the morning of Saturday 24 February 2024. This will be followed by the semi-finals and final of the competition on the Saturday afternoon. A series of LGBT+ law themed workshops, lectures and networking events will be run alongside the competition.

2024 Moot 

Teams 

Teams must consist of a minimum of two and a maximum of four competitors. Team members are usually affiliated with a university, but this is not a requirement of the competition. 

Each team is also permitted, although is not required, to have a coach. A coach may be another student or a faculty member.

Competitors may only be a member of one team, however, a coach may assist more than one team. 

The following information sets out the rules of the competition. We ask that all competitors act in good faith. Enforcement of the rules is at the discretion of the organising committee.

Timeline

The schedule detailed here is that which is currently envisaged. Elements of the schedule may be subject to change.

Registration

Registration will open at 0900 GMT on 2 January 2024 and will close at 1700 GMT on 2 February 2024.

Teams should register all members, including any coach. If a team would like to add or substitute a team member, they should contact the organising committee. Upon registering, all teams will be given a team number. This number should be used in all further communications with the organising committee.

Click here to go to the registration page.

Publication of the 2024 problem

The problem for the 2024 competition is available here.

Clarification requests

All requests for clarification concerning the moot problem should be submitted by 1200 GMT on Sunday 4 February 2024. Please submit clarification requests via email. Responses to requests will be circulated to participants on Monday 5 February 2024. 

Submission of skeleton arguments

Skeleton arguments must be submitted by 1200 GMT on Sunday 11 February 2024. Should a team submit a skeleton after this time, the organising committee will decide whether to penalise the team. The organising committee reserves the right to disqualify any team for late submission of skeletons.

Notification of acceptance to compete in the oral rounds

The organising committee will endeavour to notify all teams whether they have qualified for the oral rounds by 1700 GMT on Monday 12 February 2024.

Oral rounds

The oral rounds of the competition will take place on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 February 2024 at the London School of Economics and Political Science. The first two sessions will run on the afternoon of Friday 23 February 2024 with two further sessions running on the morning of Saturday 24 February 2024. This will be followed by the semi-finals and final of the competition on the Saturday afternoon. A series of workshops, lectures and networking events will run alongside the competition. A full schedule will be released ahead of the competition.

Skeleton arguments

Teams will be required to submit a skeleton argument if they are to qualify for the oral rounds. The deadline for submission of skeleton arguments is as stated above. Teams will be informed after the close of registration whether they should produce a skeleton argument for the appellants or the respondents.

Skeleton arguments must not exceed two A4 pages of size twelve font. Research and drafting of the skeletons must be undertaken exclusively by team members, with the assistance of their coach. No external assistance is permitted. Skeleton arguments must include the team number but should otherwise be anonymous. Further instructions for writing the skeleton argument will be released with the moot problem.

Preparation

Teams are strongly encouraged to organise practice moots ahead of the competition. There is no limitation on the assistance teams can receive after skeleton arguments are submitted.

Rounds

All teams will moot at least twice – once ‘on skeleton’ and once ‘off skeleton’. Teams should be fully prepared to argue both sides of the case. The eight highest scoring teams will compete in the quarter-finals, with knock-out progression to the semi-finals, and the winners of each semi-final will proceed to the final.

Format

In each moot, teams will be allowed twenty-five minutes to make their case. The appellants may reserve up to 5 minutes for rebuttal. There will be no surrebuttals. For each moot, there must be two speakers per team. Each speaker must speak for a minimum of ten minutes and a maximum of 15 minutes (including any rebuttal).

Marking of oral rounds

Teams will be marked on the fluency and persuasiveness of their arguments, their clarity of expression, and how they respond to questioning. A sample scoresheet will be released ahead of the oral rounds.

Competition and Wider Event

The LSE-Featherstone Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Moot competition is dedicated to the consideration of areas of sexual orientation and gender identity law. The oral rounds of the moot competition run alongside an associated networking event during which participants engage with a number of workshops, discussions, and panels focused on the gamut of SOGI/LGBT+ issues and their interface with the law. Together, the moot competition and wider event bring together LGBT and ally students, campaigners, practitioners, and members of the judiciary.

The moot is a sister event hosted by the Williams Institute at UCLA. It was named in honour of Baroness Lynne Featherstone who, as a Minister in the coalition government between 2010-2015, was the architect of the equal marriage legislation in England & Wales and commissioned the first ever UK government transgender action plan. She continues to campaign on SOGI issues and for LGBT+ rights internationally.

The inaugural competition in 2016 focused on a problem that highlighted the potential tension between LGBT+ equality and the freedoms of speech and religion in a scenario derived from the Asher’s Bakery case (which has since been determined by the Supreme Court). It attracted almost 50 teams from across the UK, and was won by a team from the University of Oxford.

The primary purpose of the LSE-Featherstone Moot Competition is to provide an engaging forum for law students to hone their advocacy skills, to learn more about sexual orientation and gender identity issues and their interfaces with the law, and to network with their peers and with legal professionals. The “competitive” aspect to the event is secondary.

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