Considered by Stetson Law Professor Brooke Bowman as the Super Bowl of moot court competitions, the Hunton Andrews Kurth National Championship invites only the best teams to compete in this annual event. Coming off a stellar 2020–2021 season, Stetson was, naturally, among them in January 2022.

The event took place virtually Jan. 27–29 and brought the nation’s 16 best teams together to argue on either side of a problem concerning general versus personal jurisdiction in the context of a class-action suit. The team consisted of students Elizabeth Kellar, Jessica Merker, and Peter Farrell, who had been preparing for this championship since October with coaching from Professor Brooke Bowman and Stetson alumnus James Nealon and assistance from professors Louis Virelli and Roberta Flowers and a number of alumni who competed on previous teams in this competition.

The work paid off: the team won a semifinalist award — and Merker was awarded third-best oralist. The team contended with the likes of NYU, William & Mary, GW, and Seton Hall before besting Texas Tech in the quarterfinal round. In a nail-biter of a semifinal round, Stetson lost by just 0.18 — less than a quarter of a point — to Chicago-Kent, the finalist in this year’s championship.

The event marks the tenth time Stetson has taken part in this rigorous competition. Stetson has made it to the elimination rounds six times, including four times as semifinalists, one time as finalists, and one time as the national champions (in 2015).  A Stetson advocate has also been recognized as one of the top oralists four times — two best oralist awards, one second-best oralist award, and one third-best oralist award.  And Stetson teams have won two best brief awards.

Among the competition’s judges were U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Kim Wardlaw and U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jennifer Elrod. See the full rankings and scoring methodology.

Learn more about Stetson Law’s Moot Court Board.

Media contact: Kate Bradshaw
[email protected]