Congratulations–Participants in the Fall 2023 Phelps Dunbar First-Year Appellate Advocacy Competition
Congratulations to the participants in, and the winners of, the Fall 2023 Phelps Dunbar First-Year Appellate Advocacy Competition. The first-year appellate advocacy competition is the capstone event at the end of Stetson’s R&W II courses. All R&W II students had completed an appellate brief and presented an oral argument, and the top six students (three from each section) were selected to participate. The competition was held last night in the Smith Courtroom at the Tampa Law Center.
Please join me in congratulating ALL of these students for their hard work and extraordinary performances.
Participants and Round Winners:
Round 1: Zoe Stern v. Deepika Sathe (round winner)
Round 2: Sam Hart v. Rachel Lies (round winner)
Round 3: Ernesto Martinez v. Bailey Long (round winner)
Best Oralist: Rachel Lies
Runner-up Best Oralist: Bailey Long
The students dusted off their oral argument notes and participated in this competition after just finishing their final exams on Monday evening. The attorneys from Phelps Dunbar asked many thoughtful questions about whether a state university professor’s use of pronouns in the classroom was protected speech and whether paid administrative leave is an adverse employment action. The students remained poised and calm. They were prepared—citing a lot of law and facts to support their arguments. Two of the attorneys have been judging this competition for years, and they said they were so impressed with how composed and organized all the students were.
We would like to thank Phelps Dunbar for sponsoring the competition again this year! We are extremely grateful for Phelps Dunbar’s continual support over all these years. A very special thank you goes out to the attorneys from Phelps Dunbar who served as judges: Raquel Ramirez Jefferson (Chief Judge), Clare McQueen, and Mallory Thomas.
Congratulations to the participants, and thank you to law firm of Phelps Dunbar and to our judges.
Happy Holidays!
Professor Bowman