UC Davis School of Law provides its students with an education that has a unique balance of theory and practice.
Each Fall Semester, a majority of the law school’s 2L students participate in Appellate Advocacy (commonly called “Moot Court”) as an elective, which entails attending lectures on appellate skills and participating in a series of practice oral arguments. The course culminates in the law school’s annual Intraschool Moot Court Competition, in which the students participate in appellate arguments which are judged and critiqued by dozens of local attorneys and judges who volunteer their time to provide feedback to students. Students who continue Appellate Advocacy in the Spring Semester focus their attention on appellate brief writing. The top students are selected to participate in the law school's annual Neumiller Competition, the final round of the law school’s Moot Court Competition.
The law school provides many additional opportunities for students to hone their skills as appellate advocates. All 2L and 3L students are eligible to participate in interschool moot court competitions, with preference given to those who have taken Appellate Advocacy. Students who excel in the Appellate Advocacy class during their 2L year are selected as members of the law school's Moot Court Board during their 3L year. In addition, the top students are selected to represent the law school in the National Moot Court Competition and the Roger Traynor Moot Court Competition (the California state championship). UC Davis School of Law has been very successful in interschool moot court competitions, as evidenced by the school winning the state moot court championship, and placing as a finalist in other national moot court competitions.