This article has been written by Khushi Ahuja, from Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies on Virtual mooting, its advantages, disadvantages, and the current scenario revolving around the topic. 

Introduction

The traditional model of mooting involves research and drafting of memorials regarding a hypothetical legal issue and oral presentation of the same against an opposing counsel, being addressed before a judge. It is the closest experience to arguing in a Courtroom and is a way to learn about the mannerism involved in appearing before the court, to think like a ‘ lawyer’ and sharpen the oral advocacy skills that a law student can have before they enter the actual world of advocacy in courts. 

Being a law student requires learning how to argue and construct cases with a clear structure and persuasive content. Thus, joining a moot society is the first step to overcome the challenges and give yourself a chance to explore the line of arguments and flourishing of oral skills. 

It helps to develop practical skills in advocacy, writing, and research, improving self-confidence, analytical ability, developing professional networks, and enhancing employability along with engagement in law to enhance their knowledge. Students thus learn to apply the facts of a problem to a case, presenting complex arguments in a simple manner, understand courtroom processes, and build a network along with resumes.

Current scenario of mooting 

Although there are a number of advantages of mooting, according to Bobette Wolski mooting can be used to teach not only skills and law but also values and ethics. Hence, there are a number of concerns and disadvantages that tag along with the traditional model which includes an overemphasis on the employment of appellate moots, students being unable to draft their grounds of appeal, very limited opportunity to argue about the legitimate facts and lack of effective feedback. 

Thus, he encourages the use of technology to conduct the moots that might address the underlying concerns and extend opportunities to every student to reinforce their skills and build confidence.

Virtual mooting 

According to Albert Einstein “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” 

With the changing times, changing environment, and deeper understanding of the principle of equality of opportunity, we too along with the demands of the situations should allow ourselves to mould into the desired prospects of an issue.

To overcome the drawbacks of some of the traditional moots within the curriculum, it should be replaced with simulations that not only reflect the realities of practice in a better way but which also allow students to take full advantage of the benefits of experiential learning. Every student has the right to access the power of mooting and therefore the ability to perform better that comes with it irrespective of all the potential barriers that create hindrance in accumulation of knowledge and experience.

The major impediments within the traditional model of mooting might include, limitations of being an off-campus student, the time restrictions involved in mooting, being a first-generation student, and the lack of confidence and experience, first-year students and their inability to adapt to the changing learning environment.

It is possible to run a moot in its traditional style via videoconference, with participants conducting the moot remotely with the judge still having the power and option to intervene, point out the errors and ask questions where ever necessary. 

Mooting online not only saves effort and time, but also helps save paper which is wasted on making memorials, arguments, and submissions, which can now be e-mailed and sent online.

Today, even the law is set out to make use of video links and videoconferencing for certain aspects of the court process due to the demand of the situations helping build the foundation of virtual moots.

Need for virtual mooting in the times of crisis

Indian Government, on 25 March 2020 announced a stringent lockdown of the nation of 1.3 billion people to protect and prevent the spread of the global pandemic situation created by a virus namely COVID-19 which managed to turn life upside down within a matter of days for the entire world.

To save lives and get hold of the situation, schools, colleges, factories, etc were shut down and life came to a stall for the entire nation. Unfortunately for the law students mooting season directly coincided with the outbreak of COVID-19. Due to social distancing and quarantine protocols, many students found their mandatory moots, as well as moots they applied to and qualified for, cancelled indefinitely along with no near future scope of any updates.

Although moot courts are considered an extracurricular activity, they are given a lot of importance by faculty and students in the field of law with mock courts during which fictional cases are argued upon.

Many organizations and institutes decided to take moots online because the purpose of mooting is to achieve litigation experience, gain confidence with oral arguments and acquire better research and drafting skills while still in graduate school.

The impact of COVID-19 on legal practices and courts, in the long run, is yet unknown but the anyway online court does not seem as far fetched as it once did due to demands of situations and now the virus, which professes the need for adaptation and adoption of legal technology which will not only be able to modernise the profession, increase access to justice by speeding up administrative delays, ensure hearing of urgent matters under various circumstances but also cater to individuals that are unable to make in-person appearances because of personal problems and limitations.

Law must be able to change, evolve, and reflect the needs of society along with changing times. Thus if the judicial structure adapts to the transformation of the system, it is inevitable and necessary to introduce the changes in educational institutions as well to help cope with the challenges and overcome the gaps in learning and practice to introduce effective lawyers and justice systems to the people of the country.

Advantages

The use of technology and virtual-mooting opens major doorways of accessibility and opportunity for law students across the globe. Some of the advantages are enlisted below:

• This might benefit the off-campus students who do not have enough resources to access mooting programmes which traditionally occur face to face, and thus deprives them of the valuable opportunities to gain experience.
• The universities can organize remote moots facilitated through video conferences to provide better opportunities to these students.
• It uplifts the constraints associated with time and geographical location which proves to be a limitation in learning. Many schools in recent times have opened up vast opportunities for distance learning so that each student can access the programs without being physically present which has proven to be an enormous step within the structure of access to education. 
• Virtual education gives students space to grow into their own individuality and easier ways to deal with change and issues of adaptability. 
• It offers the identical experience and environment of learning irrespective of the mode of study. 
• Technology would enable law schools to hold more internal competitions, enabling students who have no experience in mooting or are too shy to participate and improve their skills before they put themselves out and get involved in external competitions that involve a high time commitment from them. 
• Technology should be used and inculcated in law students to ensure that they have the necessary technological skills for legal practice as technology is an effective and versatile means of providing legal skills training.
• Further with upcoming use of virtual means of videoconferencing and electronic document management systems by courts all over the world during the pandemic opening doorways to a future of stringent use in technology for dealing with cases, students should be made aware and trained in tech-savvy ways of coping through mooting and assisting students to gain the technical communication skills they are going to need in future practice. 
• Individuals that are unable to make in-person appearances due to personal problems and limitations can take part in the opportunity and gain experience a bit like their peers too.

Disadvantages

Along with the pros, we always have cons, which need to be overcome to implement effective strategies in order to be successful. Some of the disadvantages of virtual mooting are- 

• The body language, facial expressions, postures, and gestures of a participant cannot be seen. Physical presence can serve important expressive functions like confidence and faith in the arguments, particularly during cross-examination while assessing the knowledge of the participant, which ultimately leads to better judgement.
• Technology Skills and learning requires a substantial commitment of labour and resources than traditional doctrinal courses. Teachers need to be trained to train the students in learning the use of technology. It takes a lot of time, money, and effort to refine and execute the skills.
• There is a risk of theft of identity and immoral ways to win the competition by those who can easily exploit the rather advantageous use of technology.
• Effective implementation requires sophisticated technology and crystal clear network, thus overlooking the limitations posed to the students who are not privileged enough to have access to such electricity, internet connection, and electronic devices which deprives them of the facility.
• Even with those who have internet connections and electricity, the sources are not 100% reliable due to the shortage of electricity in some places and lack of high-speed connections that intervene with the whole process and make it difficult to conduct the online competition.
• For many people, motivation levels depend on the environment they are in and not just the facilities provided to them. Some people cannot work in the comfort of their homes which can result in decreased productivity. 
• Virtual mooting also means a lack of access to resources like books, journals, teachers and peer help as the internet at times cannot provide the varied and in-depth information confirming the topic which at times is also not as reliable. 
• Immediate feedback is a great drawback of virtual mooting as it takes time to evaluate and provide effective feedback when it is not being done face to face.

Suggestions for success 

No matter how much experience one has, there is always room for improvement and enough chances to do better. We have not yet accomplished the successful stage of conducting virtual moots but there is a lot that can be improved to achieve success-

There is a need for sophisticated technology that is instantaneous and crystal clear to enable personal communication and persuasion play as they play a vital role in mooting. There is a need for introducing training sessions to explain the usage and procedure to be followed while participating in an online moot.

More e-resources like e-books should be provided to students free of cost by the college authorities or online libraries to have better access to information by the students who cannot afford to buy them. Immediate facilitation of feedback is required which would, in turn, lead to better performances and participation.

Conclusion

The global spread of coronavirus (Covid-19) is having a massive impact on universities and schools around the world. All the current or prospective students are concerned about the impact the coronavirus may have on studies, exams and extracurricular activities. It is important to bring about a shift in our working and education environment along with the psychosocial aspects of work ethics too. Just like everything, law too must adjust to reflect the needs of society amidst various changes in circumstances, and legal education is no exception to it. Normal work patterns, modes of communication, and team dynamics are being disrupted which calls for adjusting to these work changes, thus bringing in the prospects of the need of virtual education and increasing use of technology.

Virtual moot courts are the call of the hour and are the only reliable source to be working in the benefit of students to facilitate mooting so that students will be able to participate regardless of their ability to attend on campus. Technology should be used in mooting to assist students to gain the technical communication skills they will need in practice. This experience will train the students as lawyers of the future by making them well-versed in technologies that will inevitably be used in the legal field and virtual court proceedings for transformed post-COVID litigation practice. 

I would like to end my article with the quote: 

“We need technology in every classroom and every student and teacher’s hand, because it is the pen and paper of our time, and it is the lens through which we experience much of our world.” – David Warlick

References 

1. 1. https://www.barandbench.com/columns/virtual-courts-a-sustainable-option
   2. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/41201656_Virtual_mooting_using_technology_to_enhance_the_mooting_experience
   3. https://elearningindustry.com/improve-an-online-course-in-2019-comprehensive-guide
   4. http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/LegEdDig/2010/40.html
   5. https://alc.edu.in/blog/virtual-mooting-in-covid-19-era-creating-lawyers-of-the-future/
   6. https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/18732/lawyers-of-the-future-virtual-mooting-in-covid-19-era-sigma-samanta-khan
   7. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/42038/1/42038.pdf

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