Advanced Writing: Moot Court
Section 65190
- Note: This undergraduate writing course, which fulfills USCs upper-level General Education writing requirement, centers on legal analysis and legal writing using the case universe and fact pattern employed by the American Moot Court Association (AMCA). Students will learn how to read and brief case law, how to write a legal memorandum, how to engage in an appellate-style oral argument and how to draft an appellate brief. For those familiar with my spring WRIT 340 courses (titled Legal Writing), I will be teaching the same basic skills but using the AMCA prompt as opposed to my curated case universes. Students who enroll in WRIT 340: Moot Court will be required to participate in at least one event on USCs competitive team, which has both oral argument and brief-writing competitions. Prior knowledge or experience in legal studies or legal writing is not required, but students will be expected to learn the case universe either via summer Zoom sessions with Professor Elefano or independently after the new prompt is released in May and prior to the start of the fall semester. The only prerequisite is WRIT 150 or its equivalent. APPLY AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE: Class space is competitive and extremely limited. Enrollment may be resolved first by a merit system and then, if necessary, a lottery. I aim to make a first round of acceptances into the class by mid-April so it would be to your benefit to submit your application by April 14. But if there is still space in the class afterward, you are welcome to apply until the class fills. For more information, please email elefano@usc.edu.
- Session Dates (session code 001)
- First day of classes:
- Monday, August 25, 2025
- Last day to add:
- Friday, September 12, 2025
- Last day to change to Pass/No Pass:
- Friday, September 12, 2025
- Last day to drop without a mark of "W" and receive a refund:
- Friday, September 12, 2025
- Last day to withdraw without a “W” on transcript or change pass/no pass to letter grade:
- Friday, October 10, 2025
- Last day to drop with a mark of "W":
- Friday, November 14, 2025
- Last day of classes:
- Friday, December 5, 2025
- End of session:
- Wednesday, December 17, 2025