Document Type

Program

Publication Date

2025

Abstract

Nearly a century has passed since Henry Munroe Campbell’s law partners met with the dean of the University of Michigan Law School to establish a memorial for their friend and colleague. As a result, the Law School’s nascent “case club competition” was named in Mr. Campbell’s honor, a fitting way to combine his love for Michigan Law, oral advocacy, and the training of young lawyers.

I do not know what Mr. Campbell’s law partners envisioned when they met with the dean. They couldn’t have envisioned this beautiful room we are in today for the Final Round—Hutchins Hall didn’t even exist until 1933. And they couldn’t have imagined that, to judge the final round, we’d fly a distinguished panel of judges to Ann Arbor from all corners of the country. But they undoubtedly hoped that their generous gift would make a mark on generations of Michigan Law students. That hope has been fulfilled, and in spades.

To this day, participating in the Campbell Moot Court Competition teaches invaluable skills. The most visible of these is the tremendous oral advocacy you will witness this afternoon. The competitors have progressed through many rounds, refining their arguments at each step. By now, they know the case cold, and I’m sure you’ll be blown away by their command of the facts and the law. Listen more closely, and you’ll pick up on something else they’ve undoubtedly learned: that oral “argument” is a misnomer. The way to be a great advocate is not to argue with the court or with your opponent, but to listen to the court’s questions and to try to understand the best version of your adversary’s case. Only then can the advocate respond with the best version of his own. Indeed, it’s so important to understand one’s opponent’s case, that the Campbell competitors switch sides throughout the competition, advocating alternately for the rights of petitioner and respondent, or in this case, for the landlord and the state.

The Campbell competition teaches a great many skills—researching, brief writing, and public speaking, just to name a few. But if the generations of past and future competitors retain none of that, remembering only the skill of listening to and engaging with one another, we will have done well by the legacy of Henry M. Campbell and his gift to Michigan Law.

Joan Larsen
Adviser, Campbell Moot Court
Judge, US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

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