Dear Moot Court Society:

On behalf of the Moot Court Committee of the Young Lawyers Section of The Chicago Bar Association ("CBA"), it is our pleasure to invite your school to take part in the Twenty Eighth Annual CBA Moot Court Competition to be held November 19, 20, and 21, 2009.

As always, members of the Young Lawyers Section of The Chicago Bar Association create the problem and organize the competition. The Committee is already developing topics for this year's problem and making preliminary arrangements to ensure that this competition is an interesting and challenging experience for the participants.

Participants will have the opportunity to hone their research, writing, and oral advocacy skills along with approximately 25-30 other teams. A special effort is made to recruit sitting judges from the Chicago area to give contestants a real taste of courtroom practice. The following encompasses some important details of the Competition, which may assist you in your decision to participate:

1. Fee: There is no fee for participating in the Competition.

2. Participants: Each team may consist of two or three law students. A school may enter up to two teams in the Competition. The problem will be written so that it can be divided into two main issues.

3. Problem: Each school's faculty representative will receive a copy of the problem and the rules of the Competition no later than September 4, 2009 in order to give each team ample time to research and prepare for the Competition.

4. Briefs: Participants will prepare written briefs, which must be postmarked using a traceable means by October 15, 2009.

5. Oral Arguments: Participants will argue in two preliminary rounds of oral argument on the evening of November 19, 2009. A third preliminary round will take place with 16 teams advancing to the Octo-Final round on November 20, 2009. Eight teams will advance to the Quarter Final round at 9:00 a.m. and four teams will advance to the Semi-Final round at 10:45 a.m. on November 21, 2009. The top two teams will then advance to the Final round at 12:00 p.m. on November 21, 2009.

Barry Brotine  (312) 750-1215, and R. Andrew Smith (630) 779-1452, will serve as the Co-Chairs of the Moot Court Competition Committee along with Blake Shuart (312) 782-6070 serving as Vice-Chair of the Committee. Please feel free to them if you have any questions regarding the Competition. We ask that you try to direct all questions regarding registration, the listserv, and hotel accommodations to Jenni Bertolino of the YLS, at (312) 554-2031.

We hope you will include the CBA Moot Court Competition in your fall schedule. Please complete and submit the the registration form online. All entries must be received on or before September 3, 2009.

We look forward to your participation!