The Moot Court Board thanks everyone who participated in the First-Year Oral Advocacy Competition this year.  Twenty-six students argued in the Competition's first round on Monday.  Eight individuals advanced to the quarterfinals which will be held Wednesday, March 31.  Terry Cushing (Assistant United States Attorney), Shane O'Bryan (Dinsmore & Shohl), and Rebekkah Rechter (Kentucky Supreme Court staff attorney) will judge the quarterfinals.

All students are invited to attend the remaining rounds of the competition.  The quarterfinals begin Wednesday at 4:00, the semi-finals Thursday, April 1 at 4:00, and the finals on Friday, April 2 at 2:00.  All rounds are held in the Allen Courtroom.

First-Year Oral Advocacy Competition Quarterfinals

Wednesday, March 31

Allen Courtroom

4:00 Margaret Royar v. Earlene Whitaker

4:45 Todd Garland v. Jenn Siewertsen

5:45 Alex Davis v. Josh Porter

6:30 Sarah Potter v. Thomas Stevens

The Buffalo Criminal Law Society is hosting the Twelfth Annual Herbert Wechsler National Criminal Law Moot Court Competition at Buffalo Law School this weekend.  Molly Mattingly and Ian Richetti are competing for the University of Louisville.  They are being coached by Ted Shouse and David Harshaw.  We wish Molly and Ian the best of luck this weekend. 

The Moot Court Board wishes luck to Jennifer Tarrance and David Ward who will be competing in the Irving R. Kaufman Memorial Moot Court Competition this weekend.  The Competition focuses on securities law issues and is held in New York.  The team is coached by Professor Manning Warren.

Congratulations to the Trademark Moot Court Team consisting of Mari-Elise Gates, Marilyn Osborn, and Justin Capps!  After winning regionals last month, the team competed at nationals during spring break and won 2nd place for Best Brief, beating out California-Berkley and Creighton. Out of 89 teams, UofL finished 3rd overall. The team was coached by Jack Wheat of Stites and Harbison.

The Moot Court Board is proud to announce that the following individuals were elected officers for the 2010-11 academic year:

Marilyn Osborn, President 

Brian Bennett, Vice President for Administration 

Jennifer Monarch, Vice President for External Relations

Ben Basil, Vice President for Internal Affairs

Roz Cordini, Vice President for Public Relations

The Moot Court Board is responsible for organizing and administering all the Law School's moot court activities of the Law School. The school competed in eighteen external competitions during the 2009-10 academic year and held two internal competitions, Pirtle-Washer and the First-Year Oral Advocacy Competition.

The Moot Court Board would like to wish Andrea Fagan and Elisabeth Luff continued success as they compete in the International Commercial Arbitration Competition in Vienna beginning this weekend.  The team is coached by Robert Brown.

The Moot Court program's 2009-10 success continued last weekend as our Patent Law team made the regional semi-finals of the Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial Moot Court Competition.  The competition was held in Houston, Texas, at the Federal Courthouse for the Eastern District of Texas and marked the first time that UofL had competed in the competition.  Eighteen teams participated.

Team member Dave Kincaid argued all issues by himself for the team after teammate Mari-Elise Gates, who was on brief with Kincaid, could not attend due to the Trademark Moot Court Competition finals.  Kincaid was the only student at the competition forced to argue by himself. 

Kincaid defeated three teams, including the University of Houston, Loyola (Los Angeles), and South Texas, before succumbing to the University of Tennessee in the semi-finals.  Along the way, judges complemented Dave on his professional demeanor and presentation skills and particularly liked his ability to complete a running rebuttal when arguing as appellee.

The Patent Law team is coached by Professor John Cross.  Special thanks goes to Dr. Bruce Stuckman, an alumnus of the law school, for his generous financial support.

 

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.”

The Moot Court Board invites all first-year students to an information session tomorrow at 11:45 in Room 275.  We will discuss first-year oral arguments, the First-Year Oral Advocacy Competition, moot court teams, and the Moot Court Board.  Feel free to bring your lunch and questions.

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.