Galloway Criminal Moot Court

The Galloway Criminal Moot Court program (“Galloway”) is the only moot court program offered at Santa Clara University for first-year law students. Galloway is an exciting opportunity for first-year students to hone their legal writing, practice oral advocacy skills, and introduce themselves to the world of moot court competitions.

Competition Eligibility: Galloway is an internal competition open exclusively to full-time and part-time first-year students at the law school. Over half of each first-year class signs up to compete in Galloway each year.

Overview: Galloway consists of two competition stages.

• Appellate Brief Writing: Students work in two-person teams to draft an appellate brief to a fictional Supreme Court of the United States. Briefs are drafted based on a hypothetical case involving criminal law and procedure. The case is drafted by the Galloway Board under the supervision of the Faculty Advisor.
• Oral Arguments: The sixteen teams with the highest-scoring briefs are then selected to present oral arguments in four successive elimination rounds (e.g. preliminaries, quarterfinals, semifinals, and the final round).

Awards: The final two teams receive cash prizes, and both teams have the opportunity to receive a Best Oral Advocate award. Students do not receive academic credit for participation in Galloway.

Galloway 2025 Finalists and Judges
From left to right (Top Row): Justice Patricia Bamattre-Manoukian (Sixth District Court of Appeal), Judge Peter Kirwan (Superior Court of Santa Clara County), Judge Drew Takaichi (Superior Court of Santa Clara County).
From left to right (Bottom Row): Laurel McBride ’27, Joseph Press ’27, Aaditya Divekar ’27, Wilson Skjerven ’27.

Galloway 2025 Finalists
From left to right: Wilson Skjerven ’27,Aaditya Divekar ’27,Joseph Press ’27,Laurel McBride ’27.

Timeline: Galloway materials are released at the start of the spring semester in mid-January. Competitors have one week to draft and submit their briefs to the Galloway Board. Teams that advance to the oral argument rounds are selected in late January or early February. The four successive oral argument rounds take place throughout February.

Board Eligibility: Competitors who advance to the quarterfinal round are eligible to apply to be on the following year’s Board. Board applications are released in March, and decisions are released in April.

2024 Galloway Finals in Panelli Courtroom

Why should students participate in Galloway?

• Bolster your networking skills.
  • Meet practicing PDs, DAs, Santa Clara County Superior Court judges, and justices on the California Courts of Appeal.
  • Interact with faculty and other first-year students.
  • Receive mentorship from upper-division law students and Galloway alumni.
• Gain practical experience.
  • Practice persuasive legal writing techniques.
  • Develop public speaking skills.
  • Learn more about appellate practice.
• Stand out!
  • Become part of a group of students who gain moot court experience before the end of their first year.
  • Participation in a moot court competition that is highly regarded in job interviews.
• Win cash prizes and awards.

QUESTIONS? Please contact the Galloway Board at gallowaymootcourt@scu.edu. Additionally, the Galloway faculty adviser is Professor Adriana Duffy-Hörling, who may be contacted at amduffy@scu.edu.

2025-2026 Board Members