Edward C. Stone Moot Court Competition
Stone Moot Court Competition 2025
The Edward C. Stone Moot Court Competition is only open to all second-year JD students,* and runs from late September through mid-November. Students work in teams of two on one of three moot court problems. The Stone participants with the highest combined brief and oral argument scores are invited to participate in the second semester Homer Albers Prize Moot Court Competition. (Note that the number of students invited to participate in the Homer Albers Prize competition may vary based on the number of students competing in Stone, but will be between 16 and 32 students.) Jen Taylor McCloskey, the Executive Director of Advocacy and Legal Skills Programs, will hold an informational meeting for all interested participants early in the September (see dates below).
Competition materials will be posted to this page as they become available. If you are competing, please check this site frequently.
Students do not receive academic credit for their participation in moot court, but participation in Stone is a prerequisite for participation on any of BU Law’s school-funded intramural moot court teams, including teams organized by students and student groups.
*Second-year students who transferred from a different school’s JD program are eligible to participate in Stone. Second-year students who transferred to the JD program from the LLM program cannot participate in Stone until they have completed the Esdaile Moot Court Program. Thus, LLM transfer students are permitted to participate in Stone as 3Ls instead. If you have questions about your eligibility, please contact Jen McCloskey, at jataylor@bu.edu.
2025 Stone Directors: Catherine Bartzen, Seth Kahler, Steven Mitchell
Email: stonemc@bu.edu
NOTE: Dates have been updated for 2025. Content will be added as it becomes available.
Registration
Registration will open in late August and the application will be posted here. Please fill out the application form (NOTE: you must log in with your BU Email address to access the form). Applications are due September 23, by 12 p.m. Late applications will not be accepted. Each competitor must individually register.
Competition Rules
Stone Rules 2025 (to be posted)
Moot Court Manual 2025-2026 (to be posted)
Important Competition Dates
Dates are always subject to change, including the problem release date, but any changes will be announced here and via email.
Information Session
Thursday, September 11, 1 – 2 p.m.
Room TBA
Application Due Date
Tuesday, September 23, 12 p.m.
Application Form (to be posted)
NOTE: you must log in with your BU Email address to access the form.
Problem Release Date
Thursday, September 25
Brief Writing Workshops [links will be added following the workshop]
Monday, September 29, 1 – 2 p.m.
All competitors: 1 – 1:40 p.m. in Room TBA
Breakout Rooms (1:40 – 2 p.m.):
- Problem 1: Room TBA
- Problem 2: Room TBA
- Problem 3: Room TBA
Brief Writing Office Hours with Jen McCloskey
Note: If you want to attend office hours and these times do not work, let me know and I can extend them in one direction or another.
- Dates and times to be announced
Brief Due Date
Friday, October 17, by 3 p.m.
Oral Advocacy Workshop
Monday, October 20, 1 – 2 p.m. (slides and recording)
Room TBA
Oral Argument Open Practices
All in the Schell Courtroom (602)
- Dates and times to be announced
Oral Arguments
Arguments take place at 6:30 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays, and at 3 p.m. on Fridays.
See Rules for additional information about scheduling and conflicts.
October 27 – 31
November 3 – 7
November 10 – 14
Awards Announcement
We will announce the winners of the Best Brief and Best Oralist awards for each problem, as well as the names of the students invited to participate in Albers, at the Stone Awards Reception on Thursday, Nov. 20 at 1 p.m. The Reception will be held in the Charles River Room, and we will have plenty of food!
Problems
Problem Case Files (each problem contains two issues; teammates decide together who is briefing and arguing which issue).
ST-25-01 Problem
ST-25-02 Problem
ST-25-03 Problem
Brief Score Form
Student Briefs
Problem 1 Briefs
Problem 2 Briefs
Problem 3 Briefs
Argument Schedules
The oral argument schedules will be posted here as they become available. You need to be logged in with a BU email address to view the link. Contact the Help Desk if you have issues!
Week 1 (October 27 – 31)
Week 2 (November 3 – 7)
Week 3 (November 10 – 14)
Oral Argument Score Form
Judge Guidance (for attorney judges)
Sample Briefs
Sample briefs are for reference only. Briefs from the Homer Albers Prize competition are longer than allowed under the Stone Competition rules. These samples are intended to give you a sense of what a high-scoring brief from our Albers honors competitions looks like; they may not conform perfectly to the rules (which are different in Stone – in particular, the length requirements are different). You should refer to the Stone Competition rules for format and length restrictions. We have also posted a sample appellate brief written by attorney Peter Brann, a graduate of the Law School and former Homer Albers Prize winner.
Peter Brann – Sample Appellate Brief
Sample Briefs (zip file)