Mootness: The Moot Court Blog

Great Health: South Texas Closes In On 100th National Advocacy Win In SIU Health Law Competition

Natalie Barletta, Kaylyn Betts, and Ben Williams of the South Texas College of Law won the Sixteenth Annual National Health Law Moot Court Competition at Southern Illinois University School of Law in Carbondale. They defeated the strong team of Nicole Gerritsen and Jonathan Henry from Seton Hall University School of Law. This is the sixth win in nine years for South Texas in the SIU tournament. It is also the school's 97th win in a national advocacy competition; a trial team subsequently secured win number 98. Expect win 100 this spring. Probably early this spring. Coach/dean/ professor/counselor Gerald Treece runs a phenomenal program.

The Seton Hall team won the award for Best Brief. The competition awarded two Best Oralist prizes: the best overall oralist was William Godfrey of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law; the top preliminary round oralist was Sara Siegall of Chicago-Kent College of Law.

A second South Texas team -- Mary Katherine Gunn, Sara Patterson and Stephen E. Randall -- finished in third place. Ms. Barletta, Ms. Betts, and Mr. Williams of South Texas were runners-up for the Best Brief award.

South Texas's account of the competition is here; Seton Hall's is here; SIU's is here.

Natalie Barletta, Kaylyn Betts, and Ben Williams of the South Texas College of Law won the Sixteenth Annual National Health Law Moot Court Competition at Southern Illinois University School of Law in Carbondale. They defeated the strong team of Nicole Gerritsen and Jonathan Henry from Seton Hall University School of Law. This is the sixth win in nine years for South Texas in the SIU tournament. It is also the school's 97th win in a national advocacy competition; a trial team subsequently secured win number 98. Expect win 100 this spring. Probably early this spring. Coach/dean/ professor/counselor Gerald Treece runs a phenomenal program.

The Seton Hall team won the award for Best Brief. The competition awarded two Best Oralist prizes: the best overall oralist was William Godfrey of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law; the top preliminary round oralist was Sara Siegall of Chicago-Kent College of Law.

A second South Texas team -- Mary Katherine Gunn, Sara Patterson and Stephen E. Randall -- finished in third place. Ms. Barletta, Ms. Betts, and Mr. Williams of South Texas were runners-up for the Best Brief award.

South Texas's account of the competition is here; Seton Hall's is here; SIU's is here.

Tang Dynasty: Loyola Chicago Defeats Hastings In APALSA Nationals

Huda Krad and Caroline Kwak from Loyola University Chicago School of Law won the Thomas Tang National Moot Court Competition sponsored by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. In the final round in Las Vegas earlier this month, the Loyola students defeated Kathy Dong and Simone Pang from University of California Hastings College of Law. This is the ninth time in fifteen years that a Loyola Chicago team has won the national competition. UC Hastings also has an outstanding history in the Tang competetition.

A second Hastings team, Justin Lau and Teri Nguyen, won the national Best Brief award. Ms. Krad of Loyola-Chicago won the tournament's Best Oralist award; Ms. Pang of Hastings was the runner-up.

A second Loyola team, Animesh Ravani and Michael Yuan, also advanced to the national competition. In the central region competition in Milwaukee in October, the two Loyola teams won the Regional Championship, Regional Runner-up, Best Oralist, and Second-best Oralist awards.  And the two teams tied for best brief in the region. In last year's Tang Nationals, Loyola teams swept the top two spots.

Loyola's account is here; the school's Wikipedia entry lists past Tang winners from the school.

Huda Krad and Caroline Kwak from Loyola University Chicago School of Law won the Thomas Tang National Moot Court Competition sponsored by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. In the final round in Las Vegas earlier this month, the Loyola students defeated Kathy Dong and Simone Pang from University of California Hastings College of Law. This is the ninth time in fifteen years that a Loyola Chicago team has won the national competition. UC Hastings also has an outstanding history in the Tang competetition.

A second Hastings team, Justin Lau and Teri Nguyen, won the national Best Brief award. Ms. Krad of Loyola-Chicago won the tournament's Best Oralist award; Ms. Pang of Hastings was the runner-up.

A second Loyola team, Animesh Ravani and Michael Yuan, also advanced to the national competition. In the central region competition in Milwaukee in October, the two Loyola teams won the Regional Championship, Regional Runner-up, Best Oralist, and Second-best Oralist awards.  And the two teams tied for best brief in the region. In last year's Tang Nationals, Loyola teams swept the top two spots.

Loyola's account is here; the school's Wikipedia entry lists past Tang winners from the school.

Bulldogs Nip Gators In Hulsey-Kimbrell Competition

OK, so maybe it gets nobody points in that bestmootcourtprograms dot com rankings thingee. But the Hulsey-Kimbrell Moot Court Competition is the hands-down winner of the unofficial Mootness Award for Best Moot Court Tournament Concept. I tell my students that they're on the closest thing our law school has to a football team (and we might be the closest thing our university has to an athletic program -- who fears mighty Scarlet Knights of Illinois Tech*?). I admit the metaphor collapses under any scrutiny; as competitions go, moot court is probably more like Dancing With The Stars than the Super Bowl, though I think the subject would be a worthy one for further empircal studies and a resulting article in the Journal of Legal Education.

Regardless: kudos to folks at the University of Georgia School of Law and the University of Florida Levin College of Law for joining football and moot court in unholy matrimony since 1982. The Hulsey-Kimbrell competition pits teams from the two schools against each other on the eve of the annual Gator-Bulldog football game, a storied rivalry known as the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party (this is the nom de football game; presumably, moot court fans consume their cocktails indoors).

In this year's edition, the Bulldogs' Rebecca Thornhill and Tully Blalock prevailed over the Gators' Dana Israel and Josh Spount in what presiding Judge Gerald Tjoflat of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and fellow panelists deemed "the finest oral argument we have heard in the history of this competition."

In the football game, the Bulldogs beat the Gators 42-30 in a contest that will long be remembered for Georgia's 70-man, 30-yards-in-taunting-penalties, dance-a-thon celebration after its first touchdown, an orgy inspired when normally mild-mannered head coach Mark Richt threatened his players with extra running at practice if they weren't flagged for excessive celebration after the team's first score.

Press reports of the competition -- from UGa here and here or from the Jacksonville Daily Record here -- suggest that the moot court student-athletes were more sedate in their celebration; I cannot imagine that Georgia Law Director of Advocacy Kellie Casey Monk threatened her team with, say, extra citation exercises if they did not earn excessive celebration penalties after answering the panel's first question in a way that seemed to please Judge Tjoflat.

Though I might pay admission to see that kind of thing unfold.

*You didn't raise the point, but I will: contrary to what my parents seem to think, the university for which I work, IIT, is not ITT Technical Institute, the mail-order junior college familiar to late night TV watchers everywhere. Were ITT to have a rivalry-driven showdown, presumably it would compete against The Art Instruction School in a pirate-drawing contest. Or against DeVry Institute in a late-night Cheeto-eating/air-conditioner-servicing contest. Or against some truck driving or bartending institute.

Stetson Wins International Criminal Court Competition

Stephanie Ciechanowski, Chris Winkelman, and Ahmad Yakzan of Stetson University College of Law won the third Pace International Criminal Court Moot Competition in late October. It defeated a team from New York Law School and the team of Leila Parvizian, Delon Lewis, and Lauren DiLeo from Louisiana State University Law Center in the final round, held in late October in White Plains, New York. (ICC arguments feature presentations from the prosecution, defense, and victims' advocates, hence the three-team structure of the round.) The NYLS teams and LSU teams finished in second and third place, respectively. Teams from LSU have made it to the final round in all three ICC competitions.

The LSU team won the award for best memorial for the prosecution. The award for best defense memorial went to semifinalists Chad Ehrenkranz, Darren Leiser, and Roselyn Ramos of the University of Miami School of Law. And as soon as I hear who wrote the best memorial for the victim's advocate, I'll let you know.  The winning memorials will be published in the Pace International Law Review. Mr. Winkelman of Stetson was named the tournament's top oralist.

Stetson's account is here; LSU's is here; UMiami's is here.

Stephanie Ciechanowski, Chris Winkelman, and Ahmad Yakzan of Stetson University College of Law won the third Pace International Criminal Court Moot Competition in late October. It defeated a team from New York Law School and the team of Leila Parvizian, Delon Lewis, and Lauren DiLeo from Louisiana State University Law Center in the final round, held in late October in White Plains, New York. (ICC arguments feature presentations from the prosecution, defense, and victims' advocates, hence the three-team structure of the round.) The NYLS teams and LSU teams finished in second and third place, respectively. Teams from LSU have made it to the final round in all three ICC competitions.

The LSU team won the award for best memorial for the prosecution. The award for best defense memorial went to semifinalists Chad Ehrenkranz, Darren Leiser, and Roselyn Ramos of the University of Miami School of Law. And as soon as I hear who wrote the best memorial for the victim's advocate, I'll let you know.  The winning memorials will be published in the Pace International Law Review. Mr. Winkelman of Stetson was named the tournament's top oralist.

Stetson's account is here; LSU's is here; UMiami's is here.

Introducing the national finalists for the National Moot Court Competition

A quick and dirty post here, but here are the 28 schools that have placed teams in the national finals of the National Moot Court Competition. Some 179 teams competed in 14 regional tournaments over the last three weeks.

Regional winners are listed first.

• Region 1: Syracuse, Suffolk
• Region 2: Cardozo, NYU
• Region 3: GWU, Univ. of Maryland
• Region 4: Campbell, Duke
• Region 5: Mercer, Univ. of Georgia
• Region 6: Wayne State, Ohio State
• Region 7: Loyola Univ. New Orleans, LSU
• Region 8: Loyola Univ. Chicago, Chicago-Kent
• Region 9: Nebraska, St. Louis
• Region 10: Houston, Texas Tech
• Region 11: Colorado, UNLV
• Region 12: UC Davis, Loyola (Los Angeles)
• Region 13: Montana, Univ. of Washington
• Region 14: William Mitchell, Univ. of Minnesota,

A good year for the Jesuits, it seems, with 3 Loyola schools marching to New York City. (And all three schools have outstanding records in competitive advocacy.)

I'll fill in more details as they come.

Edit 11/28/07: Links to press releases and online announcements added.

A quick and dirty post here, but here are the 28 schools that have placed teams in the national finals of the National Moot Court Competition. Some 179 teams competed in 14 regional tournaments over the last three weeks.

Regional winners are listed first.

• Region 1: Syracuse, Suffolk
• Region 2: Cardozo, NYU
• Region 3: GWU, Univ. of Maryland
• Region 4: Campbell, Duke
• Region 5: Mercer, Univ. of Georgia
• Region 6: Wayne State, Ohio State
• Region 7: Loyola Univ. New Orleans, LSU
• Region 8: Loyola Univ. Chicago, Chicago-Kent
• Region 9: Nebraska, St. Louis
• Region 10: Houston, Texas Tech
• Region 11: Colorado, UNLV
• Region 12: UC Davis, Loyola (Los Angeles)
• Region 13: Montana, Univ. of Washington
• Region 14: William Mitchell, Univ. of Minnesota,

A good year for the Jesuits, it seems, with 3 Loyola schools marching to New York City. (And all three schools have outstanding records in competitive advocacy.)

I'll fill in more details as they come.

Edit 11/28/07: Links to press releases and online announcements added.

Jayhawk Nation(al Crim Pro): Kansas Tops South Texas in San Diego Competition

Luke P. Sinclair and Clay Britton, 3Ls at the University of Kansas School of Law, won the  nineteenth annual National Criminal Procedure Tournament this October in San Diego. The team defeated Morgan Driscoll and Michael Long from South Texas College of Law in the final round.

Mr. Sinclair and Mr. Britton also won the Best Brief award. Adam Muller of the Franklin Pierce Law Center was honored as the tournament's Best Oralist.

Teams from Texas Wesleyan and Stetson University reached the semifinals and finished in third and fourth place, respectively.

KU's report is here; a piece from the Kansas City Star is here. Franklin Pierce's report is here. The full results are posted here.

Luke P. Sinclair and Clay Britton, 3Ls at the University of Kansas School of Law, won the  nineteenth annual National Criminal Procedure Tournament this October in San Diego. The team defeated Morgan Driscoll and Michael Long from South Texas College of Law in the final round.

Mr. Sinclair and Mr. Britton also won the Best Brief award. Adam Muller of the Franklin Pierce Law Center was honored as the tournament's Best Oralist.

Teams from Texas Wesleyan and Stetson University reached the semifinals and finished in third and fourth place, respectively.

KU's report is here; a piece from the Kansas City Star is here. Franklin Pierce's report is here. The full results are posted here.

Summer State Championships: Texas Wesleyan Takes TYLA Competition, Florida Coastal Wins Orseck Competition for Third Straight Year

Students from Florida Coastal School of Law and Texas Wesleyan School of Law won statewide tournaments this summer.  As folks active in the moot court world are well aware, both states are home to several of the country's best advocacy programs. 

Texas Wesleyan Notches First TYLA Win:  Melissa Swan, Matthew Wright, and Johannes Walker of Texas Wesleyan topped students from South Texas College of Law in the championship round of the Texas Young Lawyers Association's State Moot Court Competition last June in San Antonio. This marks the first win for Texas Wesleyan's up-and-coming advocacy program in this ultra-competitive tournament. The teams argued before justices of the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals in the final round.

Teams from defending champ St. Mary's University School of Law and Texas Tech University School of Law advanced to the semifinals. 

TYLA's account of the competition is here; Texas Wesleyan's is here.

FloCo* Wins Orseck Competition:  Valerie Lennon, Rick Lasseter, and Rick Marshall of Florida Coastal won the 44th Robert Orseck Moot Court Competition, held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Florida Bar Association.  Royce Bluitt, Reneka Redmond, and Alyson George of Stetson University College of Law finished in second place.  The finalists argued before justices of the Florida Supreme Court.  This was Florida Coastal's third straight win in the Orseck competition.  Last year, the school swept the competition's first two spots.

Ms. Lennon and Mr. Lasseter were named Best Advocates of the competition. Mr. Marshall received the Best Brief Award.

Florida Coastal's account is here; the FBA's is here.

*I have no idea if the good people at Florida Coastal go by FloCo, but anonymous sources tell me that Mootness has lagged badly in the edgy hipness department that's so important to the kids on the Facebook thing these days, so: yes, I did.

Students from Florida Coastal School of Law and Texas Wesleyan School of Law won statewide tournaments this summer.  As folks active in the moot court world are well aware, both states are home to several of the country's best advocacy programs. 

Texas Wesleyan Notches First TYLA Win:  Melissa Swan, Matthew Wright, and Johannes Walker of Texas Wesleyan topped students from South Texas College of Law in the championship round of the Texas Young Lawyers Association's State Moot Court Competition last June in San Antonio. This marks the first win for Texas Wesleyan's up-and-coming advocacy program in this ultra-competitive tournament. The teams argued before justices of the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals in the final round.

Teams from defending champ St. Mary's University School of Law and Texas Tech University School of Law advanced to the semifinals. 

TYLA's account of the competition is here; Texas Wesleyan's is here.

FloCo* Wins Orseck Competition:  Valerie Lennon, Rick Lasseter, and Rick Marshall of Florida Coastal won the 44th Robert Orseck Moot Court Competition, held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Florida Bar Association.  Royce Bluitt, Reneka Redmond, and Alyson George of Stetson University College of Law finished in second place.  The finalists argued before justices of the Florida Supreme Court.  This was Florida Coastal's third straight win in the Orseck competition.  Last year, the school swept the competition's first two spots.

Ms. Lennon and Mr. Lasseter were named Best Advocates of the competition. Mr. Marshall received the Best Brief Award.

Florida Coastal's account is here; the FBA's is here.

*I have no idea if the good people at Florida Coastal go by FloCo, but anonymous sources tell me that Mootness has lagged badly in the edgy hipness department that's so important to the kids on the Facebook thing these days, so: yes, I did.

Loyola New Orleans Students Take JMLS IT/Privacy MCC

Rick Brown, Bill Burst, and Katie Francioni of Loyola University New Orleans College of Law won the 26th Annual John Marshall Law School International Moot Court Competition in Information Technology & Privacy Law, prevailing in the final round over Josh Deitz, Kakuti Lin, and Lindsey Shinn from the University of California Hastings College of the Law. A team from Loyola New Orleans finished in second place in last year's competition. The JMLS competition has long been an excellent one; typing its very long name, however, makes my fingers hurt.

The Dietz/Kakuti/Shinn team from UC Hastings also won the award for Best Petitioner's Brief. The winners of the award for Best Respondent's Brief were competition semifinalists Stacy Appleton, Adam Butkus, and Nick Mutton of Stetson University College of Law. The best-brief award winners will have their briefs published in The Journal of Computer & Information Law. New papa Brandon Graves of the University of Virginia School of Law was honored as the tournament's best oralist.

Also advancing to the semifinals was the team of Nahal Batmanghelidj and Hope Yates from Brooklyn Law School. The Ambassador Round, which showcases strong oral advocates, was won by Chris Baumann, Jim Graham, and Nathan Miller of Texas Wesleyan School of Law over in-state rivals from the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University.

Results are listed on the competition's blog. Full scores and results are here. LoNO reports the result here. Stetson reports its best-brief win here. Texas Wesleyan mentions the Ambassador Round win here.

Rick Brown, Bill Burst, and Katie Francioni of Loyola University New Orleans College of Law won the 26th Annual John Marshall Law School International Moot Court Competition in Information Technology & Privacy Law, prevailing in the final round over Josh Deitz, Kakuti Lin, and Lindsey Shinn from the University of California Hastings College of the Law. A team from Loyola New Orleans finished in second place in last year's competition. The JMLS competition has long been an excellent one; typing its very long name, however, makes my fingers hurt.

The Dietz/Kakuti/Shinn team from UC Hastings also won the award for Best Petitioner's Brief. The winners of the award for Best Respondent's Brief were competition semifinalists Stacy Appleton, Adam Butkus, and Nick Mutton of Stetson University College of Law. The best-brief award winners will have their briefs published in The Journal of Computer & Information Law. New papa Brandon Graves of the University of Virginia School of Law was honored as the tournament's best oralist.

Also advancing to the semifinals was the team of Nahal Batmanghelidj and Hope Yates from Brooklyn Law School. The Ambassador Round, which showcases strong oral advocates, was won by Chris Baumann, Jim Graham, and Nathan Miller of Texas Wesleyan School of Law over in-state rivals from the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University.

Results are listed on the competition's blog. Full scores and results are here. LoNO reports the result here. Stetson reports its best-brief win here. Texas Wesleyan mentions the Ambassador Round win here.

The 20th Annual Rendigs Products Liability Competition

This spring, the University of Cincinnati College of Law will host the 20th annual August A. Rendigs, Jr. National Products Liability Moot Court Competition.  This has long been an excellent competition, but the organizers inform me that they have taken steps in this milestone year to kick it up a notch.  Traditionally, the event draws an excellent posse of panelists, including judges from federal circuit and district courts across the country.  And, traditionally, the final round of competition is judged by an en banc panel of judges at the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.  This won't change.  But this year, the organizers have moved the entire competition to courthouse sites downtown.  The preliminary rounds of competition will take place on Friday, April 13, 2007 at the Hamilton County Court House in downtown Cincinnati.  The finals rounds will be held on Saturday, April 14, 2007 at the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.  In addition, the downtown Hilton will host the competitors and judges.

The deadline for the competition is approaching quickly:  Friday, November 17, 2006.  A few spots are still available.  The organizers tell me that they are willing to extend the application period for any additional schools that wish to grab the last few spots.   Contact Rendigs Director Nancy Workman to sign up.

This spring, the University of Cincinnati College of Law will host the 20th annual August A. Rendigs, Jr. National Products Liability Moot Court Competition.  This has long been an excellent competition, but the organizers inform me that they have taken steps in this milestone year to kick it up a notch.  Traditionally, the event draws an excellent posse of panelists, including judges from federal circuit and district courts across the country.  And, traditionally, the final round of competition is judged by an en banc panel of judges at the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.  This won't change.  But this year, the organizers have moved the entire competition to courthouse sites downtown.  The preliminary rounds of competition will take place on Friday, April 13, 2007 at the Hamilton County Court House in downtown Cincinnati.  The finals rounds will be held on Saturday, April 14, 2007 at the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.  In addition, the downtown Hilton will host the competitors and judges.

The deadline for the competition is approaching quickly:  Friday, November 17, 2006.  A few spots are still available.  The organizers tell me that they are willing to extend the application period for any additional schools that wish to grab the last few spots.   Contact Rendigs Director Nancy Workman to sign up.

Hastings Takes San Diego Crim Pro Title

Kelly O'Donnell and Jessica Sloan of the University of California Hastings College of Law won the seventeenth annunal National Criminal Procedure Tournament, sponsored by the Appellate Moot Court Board at the University of San Diego School of Law.  Also advancing to the final round were Chris Fahrenthold and Joseph Hoelscher of Baylor Law School. Both schools not only have highly regarded advocacy programs, but a pattern of recent successes in this tournament: Baylor won in 2004, and in 2005 placed two teams in the top five for the second year in a row; Hastings in 2004 reached the semifinals and had the tournament's top oralist (Evan Hoppin).

Semifinalists Ali Brady and J. Shontavia Jackson of the University of Arkansas School of Law won the award for best brief. Clay Adkinson of Florida State University College of Law -- who, along with teammate Maureen Walterbach, also reached the semifinals -- was honored as the top individual oralist.  Another Hastings team, Jason Liljestrom and John Garibaldi, wrote the second-ranked brief.

The top 10 teams, briefs, and speakers are compiled here.  Baylor's account is here.

Kelly O'Donnell and Jessica Sloan of the University of California Hastings College of Law won the seventeenth annunal National Criminal Procedure Tournament, sponsored by the Appellate Moot Court Board at the University of San Diego School of Law.  Also advancing to the final round were Chris Fahrenthold and Joseph Hoelscher of Baylor Law School. Both schools not only have highly regarded advocacy programs, but a pattern of recent successes in this tournament: Baylor won in 2004, and in 2005 placed two teams in the top five for the second year in a row; Hastings in 2004 reached the semifinals and had the tournament's top oralist (Evan Hoppin).

Semifinalists Ali Brady and J. Shontavia Jackson of the University of Arkansas School of Law won the award for best brief. Clay Adkinson of Florida State University College of Law -- who, along with teammate Maureen Walterbach, also reached the semifinals -- was honored as the top individual oralist.  Another Hastings team, Jason Liljestrom and John Garibaldi, wrote the second-ranked brief.

The top 10 teams, briefs, and speakers are compiled here.  Baylor's account is here.