Ben Basil, Ashley Eade, and Adrienne Henderson did an excellent job representing the school at the Wagner Moot Court Competition last week.  They received consistently positive feedback after each of the three preliminary rounds, and we were surprised that they were not among the approximately 1/3 of teams chosen to advance.

The Chief Justice in the first round stated that Ashley and Ben were both “excellent,” “in command of their arguments,” “unflappable, and persuasive.”  He thought Ben’s presentation exhibited an “enjoyability so rare in legal jurisprudence.”  Other judges noted that Ashley had a “nice pace” and “unflappable look.”  One judge emphasized that he had heard several Hoffman arguments (in real life) and that Ben’s was “the best presentation” he had heard.

In the second round, judges reported that Adrienne did an “excellent job,” that her “posture and composure” were “fantastic” and that her ability to use “little to no notes” was impressive.  The judges noted that Ben had a “good tone,” “responded well to questions,” clearly answering with a “yes” or “no,” exhibited appropriate deference, and made very good transitions.

In the third round, the judges stated that Ashley and Ben exhibited “meticulous preparation and their knowledge of the facts and precedent were remarkable.”  Ben gave “very good examples and “was very persuasive.”  One judge commented that Ben was “right on top of the game.”  Ashley had a good “conversational style,” and a steady, firm, committed presentation.  She “stood her ground well.”

Kentucky Refugee Ministries (KRM) is preparing to receive refugees from Haiti through Church World Service within the next few weeks. KRM is seeking monetary contributions and donations of the following items for the furnished apartments where the families will be placed:

• sofas, kitchen tables, and chairs
• pots and pans
• kitchen supplies and silverware
• lamps and lightbulbs
• towels, blankets, and sheets
• bathroom supplies
• warm coats

The KRM donation truck will transport the donated items to their warehouse on Friday, March 19 at 10:00 AM. There's a collection box in the Mosaic lobby. Contact Rachel Carmona if you have additional questions or call Kentucky Refugee Ministries' office at 502-479-9180 Ext. 15 to make a donation, and Ext. 53 to volunteer. You may also drop off donations at the KRM office at 969 B Cherokee Road, Louisville, between 9 AM and 4 PM. Monday through Friday.

Source: Community challenge - Coming to the aid of Haiti's refugees (Courier-Journal.com, Feb. 8)

The Animal Law Moot Court Team, comprising Lauren Bean and Rexena Napier, made it to the semifinal round National Animal Law Moot Court Competition held at Harvard Law School February 5-7.  Their only loss was to the team that won the entire competition.  As this is only the second year UofL has taken part in this competition, this performance was especially noteworthy.

Congratulations to the Saul Lefkowitz Trademark Moot Court Competition team for winning the South region on Saturday!  The team consists of Mari-Elise Gates, Marilyn Osborn, and Justin Capps and is coached by Adjunct Professor Jack Wheat.  A team consisting of Jessica Richards and Marty Pohl also faired very well.

The region included teams from Duke, Emory, Alabama, Houston, and Vanderbilt among others.  The win was Louisville Law's first ever trademark regional championship.  The team swept all the awards at the competition, taking best brief and best oral advocacy team.

The team now advances to the national finals in Washington, D.C., on March 20.  Arguments will take place at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

The University of Louisville was well represented in the pre-Moot International Commercial Arbitration competition at Loyola University on Saturday, February 27 with Elisabeth Luff receiving Runner Up for best oral argument. The team is composed of Elisabeth Luff and James Fischer, who received Runner Up for Top Team. The other team composed of Andrea Fagan and Chris Smith also received great scores, but were just out of medal competition. Two students will be selected to compete next month in Vienna. The team is coached by adjunct professor, Robert Brown.

 

Rules and Submission Guidelines

The National Law Review (NLR) consolidates practice-oriented legal analysis from a variety of sources for easy access by lawyers, paralegals, law students, business executives, insurance professionals, accountants, compliance officers, human resource managers, and other professionals who wish to better understand specific legal issues relevant to their work.

The NLR Law Student Writing Competition offers law students the opportunity to submit articles for publication consideration on the NLR Web site.  No entry fee is required. Applicants can submit an unlimited number of entries each month.

• Winning submissions will initially be published online in April, May, and June 2010.
• In each of these months, entries will be judged and the top two articles chosen will be featured in the NLR monthly magazine prominently displayed on the NLR home page. Up to 25 runner-up entries will also be posted in the NLR searchable database each month.
• Each winning article will be displayed accompanied by the student’s photo, biography, contact information, law school logo, and any copyright disclosure.
• All winning articles will remain in the NLR database for two years (subject to earlier removal upon request of the law school).
• In addition, the NLR sends links to targeted articles to specific professional groups via e-mail. The NLR also posts links to selected articles on the “Legal Issues” or “Research” sections of various professional organizations’ Web sites. (NLR, at its sole discretion, may distribute any winning entry in such a manner, but does not make any such guarantees nor does NLR represent that this is part of the prize package.)

The first submission deadline is March 25, 2010.

The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) is sponsoring the Fifth Annual NAELA Elder Law Writing Competition - a writing competition designed to focus students on the legal issues affecting seniors or people with disabilities.  

NAELA offers a $1,500 cash prize for the best article, and the winning author will be interviewed for a future issue of NAELA News, a publication that reaches all of NAELA's 4,000+ members. The cash prizes for second and third places are $1,000 and $500, respectively. The top eight authors will be published in the NAELA Student Journal in early winter 2011 and will receive a complimentary one-year membership in NAELA.

May 31 is the deadline. This opportunity is open to all part- and full-time JD candidates who have not yet graduated. See the attached announcement flyer and official entry form for details.

 

As a way to beat the winter doldrums, the faculty and staff at the law school hosted two Mardi Gras celebrations for out students. Serving lemonade, nachos, and king cake, the parties took place at 11:30 a.m. and at 5:00 p.m. on tuesday, February 16. Music from Professor Longhair played while faculty and staff served up fun and refreshments. Having found the baby in the king cake, Barbara Thompson was crowned the afternoon queen. Barbara was on hand that evening as well, when she and James Fischer led a parade for the second party.

Thanks to all who shared in the fun!

Surprise to see the party.	Students enjoy some nachos while the music plays.
Students settle in near the king cake.	While Dean Urbach leads a congo line.
Barbara Thompson: Our benevolentMardi Gras queen.	Students ejoyed the festivities.

 

On February 11, Nancy Vinsel and Alex Davis presented Professor Leibson with a check for $1040 in exchange for his coveted golf hat signed by PGA Champion, Byron Nelson. The money that they and their classmates in Leibson's Section 1 Torts class raised will go towards student scholarships.

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We are having a bar night this Friday, Febrary 5th at the Tequila Factory to raise money for Haiti Earthquake Relief

WHAT: Haiti Earthquake Relief Fundraiser at The Tequila Factory

WHEN: Friday, Feb. 5th from 10:30 pm- 4 am

WHERE: Tequila Factory- located at 917 Baxter Avenue, in the same block as Molly Malones and other Baxter Ave/Bardstown Rd. Bars

There is a $5.00 cover, which goes directly to the Haiti Earthquake Relief efforts lead by the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund! Also...if you stop by the Tequila Factory for dinner from 8 - 10 PM, 10% of your bill will be donated to the fundraiser!

For information about the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.

Please come join us for a night out on the town, whether you are just finishing block exams, rotations or just want to come out for a fun time that benefits a good cause!

For more information, please contact Meg Stewart.

The Tequila Factory will donate 10% of proceeds from dinner to this cause. Come out to celebrate the end of rotations/tests, or just come hang out while also supporting a great cause!