Just saw an year old thread jisme people were hating on the fact that the law schools glorified nls on winning jessup 2013. They said ki moot court competitions were essentially a waste of time and resource. Is it true? Does participating and winning moots have no to minimal positive impact on your CV and overall personality in general? Being a fresher it's something which I am genuinely interested in and so this question/thread.
Depends on the moot and the area of law that it deals with. If it's a Jessup or a Stetson then reaching the quarters or above has a lot of CV value. For other moots, if it deals with the area of law that you are applying for and you have won the moot then it matters. For example, if you are applying to the Competitipn law team and have won a decent domestic moot on competition law then it has value
Speaking from experience, International moots, only a few are worth your time. Jessup is definitely up there. Prestigious national moots on the other hand really amp your CV up in the subject they were in. Performing well in Palkhivala (Tax Law), Surana (Corp), KK Luthra etc. would really help you while applying in their respective areas of work. I don't think recruiters care much about your performance in some random Space Law, Aviation Law or maybe Media law moot.
legit. a surana performer batchmate from my shitfuck college got t1 internship(s) without any relevant past experience, solely on the basis of their performance in this moot
The people in the comments are clearly first yr students who have no idea how CVs are selected at law firms but have heard hearsay things.
Here's some expert advice if you may :)
1. Moots, at whatever stage, in whatever subject, with whatever prizes or positions, hold no value in terms of your CV for internships/ jobs in corp law firms, in house teams, litigation chambers, policy firms etc. Nowhere. Not even moot court committee memberships.
2. Here's how your CV is vetted- Your college- rank- your past internships if relevant to the team- publications
That's it.
So when you apply to HRs, they check your college. If you aren't from the top ones, you need to be a topper. Then you are arranged across different category of students and objectivily shortlisted. So ranks 1- 25 from NUJS> ranks 1-5 HNLU> Rank 1 GLC. The shortlists are further shortlisted by associates looking at your past internships and relevance to their work and your publications for objective analysis. They may actually open one and read it.
The shortlists are interviewed by partners and confirmed. Yes, the partner may like to converse about the moot, but it doesn't matter at all.
Therefore, moot for the spirit and thrill but don't let it curtail your academics and internships.
Here's some expert advice if you may :)
1. Moots, at whatever stage, in whatever subject, with whatever prizes or positions, hold no value in terms of your CV for internships/ jobs in corp law firms, in house teams, litigation chambers, policy firms etc. Nowhere. Not even moot court committee memberships.
2. Here's how your CV is vetted- Your college- rank- your past internships if relevant to the team- publications
That's it.
So when you apply to HRs, they check your college. If you aren't from the top ones, you need to be a topper. Then you are arranged across different category of students and objectivily shortlisted. So ranks 1- 25 from NUJS> ranks 1-5 HNLU> Rank 1 GLC. The shortlists are further shortlisted by associates looking at your past internships and relevance to their work and your publications for objective analysis. They may actually open one and read it.
The shortlists are interviewed by partners and confirmed. Yes, the partner may like to converse about the moot, but it doesn't matter at all.
Therefore, moot for the spirit and thrill but don't let it curtail your academics and internships.