Law Schedule of Classes

NOTE: Course offerings change. Classes offered this semester may not be offered in future semesters.

Apart from their assigned mod courses, 1L students may only enroll in courses offered as 1L electives. A complete list of these courses can be found on the 1L Elective Listings page. 1L students must use the 1L class number listed on the course description when enrolling.


295.3J sec. 001 - McBaine Honors Competition (Spring 2022)

Instructor: Natalie C Winters  (view instructor's teaching evaluations - degree students only)
View all teaching evaluations for this course - degree students only

Units: 2
Grading Designation: Credit Only
Mode of Instruction: In-Person

Course Start: January 10, 2022
Course End: April 26, 2022
Class Number: 31531

Enrollment info:
Enrolled: 17
Waitlisted: 0
Enroll Limit: 36
As of: 07/19 11:58 AM


The James Patterson McBaine Honors Competition is Berkeley Law’s venerable moot court competition and is open to all second- and third-year J.D. students as well as all LL.M. students. Competitors will prepare an appellate brief and deliver at least two oral arguments. Cases chosen for the competition involve cutting-edge issues of great public importance. The final round judges are typically among the most renowned jurists in the nation.

The Competition does not have a regular classroom component. Typically, one or two non-mandatory lunchtime meeting opportunities are made available to students enrolled in the competition to discuss the case, the relevant law, and to help students prepare for oral argument. Students can also schedule individual meetings throughout the course of the competition with the student directors of the McBaine Competition and/or Natalie Winters, the McBaine Academic Advisor and Director of the Advocacy Competitions Program.

Students will submit their briefs in late February or early March. Judges, Berkeley Law faculty, and practitioners will evaluate the briefs and initial rounds of oral arguments. The preliminary, quarter, and semi-final rounds will take place on evenings in March and April. (Competitors with evening childcare responsibilities or other serious evening conflicts should contact Natalie Winters. We will try in good faith to accommodate these conflicts.)

Students will advance to the quarter-finals, the semi-finals and the final round based on their performance on the brief and in the preliminary rounds of oral argument, with the brief counting for at least half of the available points in the earlier rounds. Prizes are awarded for the best brief and the best oral argument for Petitioner and Respondent, respectively.

Competitors receive 2 units for satisfactory participation in the competition. An introductory meeting will be held late in the Fall semester.

This course is subject to the overall three unit maximum for competition work. Please note that there is an overall 18 unit maximum for non-law/non-classroom work. (at Academic Rules , Rule 3.1(b)(2) and Rule 5).

Requirements Satisfaction:


Units from this class count towards the J.D. Experiential Requirement.


Exam Notes: (T) Course ends in a final practice trial, arguments, or other presentation (e.g. Powerpoint)
Course Category: Simulation Courses

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