This week’s Moot Court Competition is giving law students valuable hands-on experience.

The event requires all second-year students to participate. About 153 students were paired into teams of two, with the initial round taking place Monday.

Over 100 members of local law communities in Nebraska and Iowa will judge the competition.

The championship round is scheduled for this Monday and will be judged by the chief justice of the Iowa Supreme Court, a justice from the United States Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and a judge from the United States District Court of Utah.

Josh Swanson, third-year law student and vice president of publicity for the Creighton Moot Court Board, said the competition helps students learn how to communicate with clients, fellow attorneys and judges.

“This competition gives second-year students their first real taste of developing an argument in direct opposition to another lawyer and advocating that position,” he said. “It helps to develop well-rounded law students.”

Each year, two third-year students pose a question to be used in the competition. This year’s case is centered on a sexual harassment dispute. The students are required to write a 25-page appellate brief arguing their position. During the Moot Court Competition, the students will use those briefs to form their oral arguments.

Jason Hubbard, an employee at Keller Williams Reality, is a second-year student competing in the event.

“You’re overcoming the fear of talking to a group,” he said. “Once you go through it once, you never forget it.”