Moot Court

Every attorney in our office who prepares for court, whether it's in DC or around the country, must go through the rigorous process of preparing to go before the circuit court judges. The Department helps them by setting up moot courts, and have them speak in front of a group of their peers their presentation and afterwards follow with a discussion and attack them with intense constitutional questions. The attorneys all have read both sides' briefs and are prepped with background information and must find every loophole or point at issue to ask them so the attorney is ready for the judges. When I went to a moot court there were about 8 attorneys surrounding the conference table in the Solicitor General's office, along with 2 representatives from the government agency they were defending. They usually get a 15 minute period to speak their presentation, and the judges can interrupt at will when they have questions about the topic. As the attorney went on, "judges" (in this case fellow attorneys who the speaker had to call Judges) pointed out relevant questions, until about an hour later they were finished, satisfied that they were prepared.
The next day was the actual case, so I visited the DC Circuit Court and observed. The room was packed, it was a case involving the Securities & Exchange Commission, and business men were everywhere. The three judges sat and interacted differently with the proceedings, one asking most of the questions, one chiming in every few minutes, and the other contemplating but quiet. Our attorney performed wonderfully, presented our case well, and it was hard to decipher based on the questions which way the judges would go. It was an amazing experience because I was able to see an actual case that could go to the Supreme Court. I'll update you if it does!