Build skills on one of UBalt Law's Competitive Advocacy Teams.
Words matter. Advocacy is about promoting or defending a cause. Learning how to advocate effectively and persuasively is a foundational skill that attorneys must master. At UBalt Law, we give students ample opportunities to develop these skills and to demonstrate mastery by participating in advocacy team competitions after the first year of law school.
The Byron Warnken Board of Advocates is a student honor organization dedicated to assisting UBalt's law students embrace the oral and written advocacy skills needed to successfully represent clients in the courtroom. The Board's members include the student-run Executive Board and student competitors who are selected to compete in any given year on one of the numerous teams sponsored each year by UBalt at competitions across the nation. The Board oversees the intra-school Byron L. Warnken Moot Court Competition and the Trial Team selection process. Moot Court competitions typically require competitors to argue fictional appellate cases in front of a judge or panel of judges; mock trial competitions simulate an entire trial.
Once selected for a moot court team or mock trial team, competitors work closely with attorneys from the bench and bar who coach teams with classroom and workshop instruction. In addition, competitors participate in numerous practice arguments before attorneys, many of whom are UBalt Law alumni who volunteer as judges. In addition to improving their advocacy skills, many students make important and lasting connections with attorneys from the community.
Membership on the Board of Advocates is an academic honor. Participating students may receive academic credit for their participation.