Lawyers have a reputation for being a bit verbose, but that鈥檚 understandable: they work in a world of complex legalese, teasing out terminologies to persuade discerning judges and juries of their arguments鈥� worth.
Now, imagine doing that 140 characters at a time.
That鈥檚 what will be attempted next week in the world鈥檚 first ever Twitter moot. On Tuesday, Feb. 21, five teams of law students鈥攊ncluding two representatives from the Schulich School of Law鈥攚ill take to the popular social media tool and perform a mock appeal of a recent precedent-setting environmental law case in British Columbia.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 realize it was going to be as big a deal when we volunteered, but it鈥檚 a really unique way of approaching the moot,鈥� says second-year law student Michele Charles, one half of the team along with classmate Kristen Balcom.
Tweet v tweet
Moots are a key part of the law school experience: it鈥檚 in these mock appeals courts that students gain practical skills in oral advocacy. All Dal law students moot as part of the curriculum, but many of them seek out opportunities to take part in competitive moots as well.
Most moots are almost done in person, though. In contrast, the Twitter moot, which is being run by West Coast Environmental Law will be held entirely online, public for all the world to follow. Each team will have 10 minutes to make its case in 140-character tweets, using the hashtag #twtmoot in every update so that people who search Twitter for that code can follow the entire conversation.
During that 10 minutes, they鈥檒l not only have to make their own lines of argument, but they鈥檒l be expected to respond to three judges who will be asking questions to them through Twitter.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the part that鈥檚 going to be the most challenging,鈥� says Ms. Balcom. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure how the dynamic between us and the judges is going to be online. In a regular moot, you can see the judge, you can see the body language and hear their tone, see their reaction to your answers. It鈥檚 going to be very different.鈥�
Making the case
The case they鈥檒l be arguing is that of the West Moberly First Nations v. British Columbia. Last year, the B.C. Court of Appeal upheld suspending a permit that would have allowed the First Coal Corporation to explore for oil in the habitat of a threatened caribou herd on the reserve.
Ms. Charles and Ms. Balcom will be arguing on behalf of First Coal in the Twitter moot. Their two issues they'll argue are whether the West Moberly鈥檚 right to hunt extends to this very聽specific herd of caribou, and whether the government鈥檚 consultation needed to take into account past wrongs done against the First Nation.
鈥淲hen you come from an environmental background, you don鈥檛 feel a lot of sympathy for a giant coal company,鈥� admits Ms. Charles, who is a member of the Environmental Law聽Student Society. 鈥淏ut you have to look at all sides in a moot, and there are some good arguments to be made in its favour.鈥�
Expanding legal discussion
Given the readiness with which they joined a tweet-based moot, you would be forgiven for thinking that the Dal team were Twitter experts. Ms. Charles, though, has only been on Twitter since last summer, and confesses that she doesn鈥檛 use it all that much. And Ms. Balcom only joined two weeks ago, in preparation for the moot.
鈥淚 find it really interesting for news, and being connected with things that I鈥檇 never learn about otherwise, so it鈥檚 pretty cool,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut I鈥檓 not interested in tweeting about my personal activities.鈥�
They鈥檙e excited about using it for mooting, though 鈥撀燼nd not just because there鈥檚 a $500 cash prize that鈥檚 up for grabs. They see it as a way to expand the boundaries of legal discussion.
鈥淎 lot of these big legal cases, especially aboriginal cases, nobody knows that they鈥檙e happening, outside of the really invested, like various environmental groups,鈥� says Ms. Charles. 鈥淭his [moot] is really bringing it to a level where the community can understand what鈥檚 going on and get engaged in a way they wouldn鈥檛 be able to otherwise. It鈥檚 a really neat way of approaching the concept.鈥�
The Twitter Moot takes place Tuesday, Feb. 21 starting at 2 p.m. AST. Follow the discussion online at , or visit for more information.