The 2008-2009 TYLA/ACOT  Regional Trial Competition is  this weekend, hosted by Michigan State University.  The  U of L/Brandeis School of Law is sending two teams.The team members are  Erin Blake, Matt Stauble and Chris Hoerter, Sam Lee  The team is coached by  Rob Riley and Kimberly Ballard.

Attention Moot Court Members and First Year students:

A sign up sheet has been placed on the door of the moot court board office for practice rounds to the First Year Oral Argument.  All moot court members are asked to sign up as soon as possible to serve as practice round judges.

*First year students are NOT to sign up for practice rounds at this time.  

The Animal Law Moot Court Competition was held at Harvard University this past weekend. The University of Louisville sent two moot court teams: Lauren Bean/Rexena Napier and Sarah Haegele/Melissa McHendrix. Additionally, Ebert Haegele competed in the closing argument competition. All competitors performed very well and impressed the judges. Final scores are not out yet, but unofficially both moot court teams went 1-1 against top teams such as Duquesne, Berkeley (Winner of Best Brief), and New Mexico.

Out of 16 teams, only four make the semi-finals and unfortunately neither UofL team advanced among such tough competition. The judges were quite impressed with UofL's preparation. Lauren Bean was complimented on her controlled demeanor and steady pace while delivering her argument. The judges were very complimentary of the policy behind Rexena Napier's argument and her quick responses to their questions. Sarah Haegele impressed the judges with her poise and ability to remain relaxed under intense pressure. The judges complimented Melissa McHendrix on her ability to withstand difficult questioning while choosing her battles wisely and refocusing the judges on her core argument.

"Daddy, they shot the dogs," uttered Ebert Haegele dramatically to begin his closing argument about two family pets that were shot. He did this in front of six jury members from the Harvard Law Community. Ebert impressed them with his level of preparation and all thought his argument was very logical. They also loved his visual aids (they looked like a million bucks). In a battle where mere points separated the competitors, Ebert was not able to advance to the finals. Overall, the University of Louisville was very well represented by this group of competitors who garnered the respect of many in the animal law community over the weekend.

Be sure to congratulate these fine competitors for their tremendous effort and preparation. Special thanks to Professors Marcosson, Liebson, and Cross for their help in the team's preparation.

 

The National Environmental Moot Court team is asking for any professors or students that might be available to assist in judging their practice this Friday at 4pm.  Please contact Kelly Oates (kjoate02@gwise.louisville.edu) or Izzy Moore (izzy.moore@louisville.edu) if you are interested. 

The Moot Court Board will meet Monday, January 26, at 12:00 pm in Room 175 to discuss plans for this year's First-Year Oral Arguments.

Professor Ariana Levinson provided the following report on the regional competition of the Third Annual National Arbitration Competition that took place at NKU's Chase College of Law in Highland Heights, KY on November 14-16, 2008.

“I would like to congratulate the arbitration competition team on their great performance at the ABA arbitration competition this past weekend.  It was the first time each member of the team had competed, yet they managed to secure an arbitrator judge’s vote in each of the two rounds.  Their evaluation forms include many positive comments.  Here are some highlights.  Lily Chan and Josh Speirs prepared a “well organized” opening statement and summation.  They made “good use of evidence” and gave a “well done professional and ethical presentation.”  Mike McIntire’s direct examination included “good chronological organization of questions and proof,” and on cross he did well by showing “possible bias.”  His partner, Colleen Goodman, gave a “superior” opening with “great organization” and a “good timeline” that was “great on remedies.”  All participants were repeatedly congratulated on how well-prepared their witnesses were.  I have every expectation that next year Lily and Josh will make use of their experience to advance the team to the semi-finals.”

Congratulations to Erin Blake, Chris Hoerter, Samuel Lee, and Matthew Stauble for making the ACTA National Trial Competition teams! They will be representing UofL's Brandeis School of Law at the regional competition in February at Michigan State University. Thank you to all who expressed interest in the competition and those who tried out!

Any interested 2L, 3L, or 4L may sign up now for the Entertainment and Communications Law Moot Court Competition, held March 5-8 in New York City. The team's coach is Professor James Zanewicz from the University's Office of Technology Transfer.

To sign up, send an e-mail to Professor Zanewicz's assistant at sandra.foster@louisville.edu containing the following items in pdf format:

1. Resume
2. Statement of interest (1 page maximum)
3. Writing sample (brief, memo, etc.)

The deadline for submission of these items is Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 5:00. Professor Zanewicz will review the submissions and, if necessary, conduct interviews the following week to select team members.

Currently, only one team of two members is allowed in the competition from each school.

Direct any questions to Barry Dunn or Bryant Smith.

 

The Moot Court Board wishes good Luck to Joshua Speirs, Lily Chan, Colleen Goodman, and Michael McIntire who are competing in the regional 2008-09 ABA Law Student Division Regional Arbitration Competition this weekend in Highland Heights, KY.

See the National Aribtration Forum Blog for updates.

Professor Sam Marcosson provided the following report on the regional competition of the National Moot Court Competition that took place at the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, VA on November 7-8, 2008.
 
“One of our teams, composed of third-year student Steve Mattingly and second-year Brian Stempien, were recognized for writing the Best Brief in the tournament.  This was the second time in the last three years that one of our teams has won this award.  Writing the best brief of the 21 teams in the competition positioned Steve and Brian to then win both of their preliminary rounds on Friday (beating teams from George Mason and William & Mary), and advance into the quarterfinal round on Saturday morning.
 
There, they defeated the defending regional champions from Campbell University, to advance to the semi-finals where they faced a team from Duke.  In an extremely close and high-quality round, they were knocked out by a slim two-point margin.  Overall, it was the most successful performance by any U of L team in the history of the competition.
 
We were also very well-represented by a team made up entirely of second-year students, Barry Dunn and Duffy Trager.  They went 1-1 on Friday, including a win over a team from Wake Forest, and just missed out on a tie-breaker from advancing to the quarterfinals.
 
It was a great performance, and I was extremely proud of the way all four of them represented the law school.”