What a Weekend for the Moot Court Board!!
What a weekend for the Moot Court Board! Within a 48-hour period, three Stetson Moot Court teams were competing in three cities—Tallahassee; Washington, D.C.; and Chicago.
Starting in Tallahassee: Elizabeth Campbell, Sophia LaFrance, and Sydney Smith competed in the inaugural Claude Pepper Elder Law Moot Court Competition at FSU. It was a whirlwind day with the team arguing back-to-back-to-back-to-back rounds, flipping from arguing on behalf of the appellant, one of the ward’s children, to the appellee, one of the ward’s children and now the ward’s guardian. (Yes, the issues involved guardianships—standing and exploitation.) And we thought our arguing had come to an end in the semifinals. But no! Just five minutes before the final round started, we learned that a mathematical error had been made, and we were in the final round! The team responded professionally and enthusiastically. They changed sides one more time and gave their best arguments ever. The end results? Four awards were given out, and Stetson won two of them—Second Place and the Best Oralist, Preliminary Rounds Award to Elizabeth. Congratulations to Elizabeth, Sophia, and Sydney!!
On to Washington, D.C., to the National Veterans Law Moot Court Competition. This is a tough competition with a large number of teams battling for only eight spots after only two preliminary rounds. Alyssa Adamo and Garrett Williamson did Stetson proud. Their arguments were excellent, and the feedback and scores showed just that. If you want to know about statutory interpretation and whether the United States Supreme Court should overrule or clarify Chevron, Alyssa and Garrett will tell you! Congratulations to Alyssa and Garrett!
And last, but not least, Chicago, where Madison Neylan, Rylie Pennell, and Gabby Zapun participated in the Appellate Lawyers Association’s Donald C. Hudson Memorial Moot Court Competition. The team’s coach, alum Jeremy Bailie, was keeping me posted round after round, as the team faced tough competition each round, and each time winning the round. The team was arguing about issues involving the Fourth Amendment and the prison-mailbox rule. Then it was on to the quarterfinals, then the semifinals, and then the final round against last year’s winner, University of California College of Law, San Francisco. And the results? Stetson was awarded First Place Overall! And the awards did not stop there. Rylie won the Best Oral Advocate Overall award, and Gabby won the Second Place Oral Advocate award.
So, as I started—what a weekend! Congratulations to all our advocates!
Go Stetson!
Professor Bowman