Delegation Resource Manual: Judicial Manual
Page 105
YMCA PA Youth & Government Program
Scoring: The score on the brief will comprise one-third of your overall score to be used to
determine the rankings for each round. The briefs will be scored by a committee of legal
professionals in the following categories (5 points for each):
*
Interpretation of Facts
*
Understanding of Legal Issue(s)
*
Persuasiveness
*
Presentation
*
Evident Study and Research of Case Law
*
Effective Analysis and Application of Case Law
*
Lateness Deductions:
o
Up to 3 days late (-5 points)
o
Up to 7 days late (-10 points)
o
Up to 2 weeks late (-15 points)
o
Beyond 2 weeks late (-20 points)
Lateness deductions could be modified based on extenuating circumstances approved by the State
YMCA office.
Oral Arguments
Your score during the oral arguments will comprise two-third of your overall score that will be used
to determine rankings at the end of each round. Please review the scoring information and sheet
below to determine the various categories on which you will be scored.
(a) Basic Rules:
*
For the purposes of this year’s competition, the arguments are being presented to the
Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court sitting as panels of two, three, or four judges.
The semifinals on Saturday and finals on Sunday will be presented to the Pennsylvania
Supreme Court sitting “en banc” (all of the justices together).
*
Each team has a total of thirty minutes to present their argument in each “round” of the
tournament. This time can be divided in any manner chosen by the team, except that (1)
each lawyer of the team must present at least 10 minutes of the argument, and (2) except
for rebuttal, each lawyer may go to the podium only one time; in other words, one
attorney of a team cannot give 2 minutes of the argument, sit down and let his or her
partner speak for 5 minutes, and then return to the podium to conclude the argument
[excluding rebuttal]. Additionally, this is not a tag-team effort. As the example below
demonstrates, you should only trade off once.
Appellants
Lawyer #1
14 minutes
Lawyer #2
13 minutes
Respondent
Lawyer #1
14 minutes
Lawyer #2
14 minutes
Appellant Rebuttal:
3 minutes
