Congratulations to Stetson’s Moot Court Teams!
What a weekend! Three moot court teams were in action this weekend—two in Washington, D.C. and one in Chicago—and there is much to report.
In Washington, D.C., the team of Valeriya Gilmutdinova and Clayton Smith brought home—for the seventh time—a championship win at the National Veterans Law Moot Court Competition. Since the competition began in 2009 (which Stetson won), only Baylor (at five wins), comes close to Stetson’s record. (And yes, the Chief Justice in the final round was none other than Stetson’s own, Chief Judge Mike Allen.) And to top it off, our very own Clayton Smith became the seventh Stetson advocate to win the Best Oral Advocate award. (Clayton was the top advocate out of the 56 advocates who participated.) Congratulations to Valeriya and Clayton! Many thanks to our friends in the VLI who helped the team work through some challenging constitutional and veterans benefits issues. A special thanks to the team’s co-coach, Christopher Gieger. And to Logan West—this was for you!
Also in D.C., Patricia Bishop Hamlin, Brendan Fink, and Emma Vis participated in the 2025 Wechsler First Amendment Moot Court Competition. The unique rules for this competition require advocates to learn multiple issues for both parties, which the team did beautifully under the guidance of Professor Okuno. (Thank you, Professor Okuno!) The team battled it out, eventually losing a very close round in the octofinals to a team that has won the competition a number of times in the previous years. But Stetson earned two additional recognitions—the team had the fourth best brief and Emma was the fourth best oralist. Congratulations to Patricia, Brendan, and Emma!
And finally in Chicago, the team of Logan Wallen, Tara Basile, and Beliz Esen argued at the 2025 Appellate Lawyers Association Moot Court Competition (ALA). Logan and Tara were part of last year’s ALA team that lost in the semifinal round by less than a quarter of a point. Needless to say, the team’s focus was on arguing every round that they could. And the team did just that—through preliminary rounds, elimination rounds, all the way to the finals. Logan, Tara, and Beliz earned the Second Place Overall Team award. And the recognition did not stop there—Logan was recognized as the Second Place Advocate out of a field of over 50 advocates. Congratulations, Logan, Tara, and Beliz! And a special thanks to the team’s coach, Jeremy Bailie!
What a weekend; congratulations! And this cannot be said enough—thank you to all the professors, administrators, alums, and Moot Court Board members who helped these teams prepare. Go Stetson!
Professor Bowman