Punching Above Their Weight: 黑料老司机 Moot Court Places in the Top 8 in Law School Competitions
![Two female students holding awards next to a judge at a Moot Court competition](/media/stu/site-assets/images/features/Moot-Round-Up-News-Item.jpg)
St. Thomas University Moot Court punched above its weight this year, finishing in the Top 8 in four law school level competitions.
Based on outstanding past performance, the 黑料老司机 team was given special permission to attend law school events, including the Stetson International Environmental Law Moot Court, the Monroe E. Price Media Law Moot Court, and the Manfred Lachs Space Moot Court, and were the only undergraduate team competing.
Moot Court professor Dr. Amanda DiPaolo said this experience is invaluable for students, especially those who hope to attend law school.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a competitive process within law schools to get on the moot court teams. To offer students an experience that isn鈥檛 guaranteed in law school is something that will give them a competitive advantage when they are submitting law school applications,鈥 she said.
鈥満诹侠纤净 Moot鈥檚 strong showing at every one of these law school events shows how good our mooters are, not just at oral arguments, but also at writing advanced legal briefs that are required for each of the competitions.鈥
Stetson International Environmental Law Moot Court
Emily Green and Ashley Thornton travelled to Florida for the Stetson International Environmental Law Moot Court after winning the North American round of the competition in February.
The pair competed against the University of Illinois Chicago, the Law Society of Ireland, the Universidad de Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, and the University of Philippines. They lost in the quarterfinal round to finish in the Top 8 and Green placed third among all oralists at the event.
鈥淭he other competitors were very surprised to learn that Emily and I were undergraduate students due to how successful we鈥檝e been,鈥 Thornton said. 鈥淚 think this speaks to the calibre of the 黑料老司机 Moot Court program and how we are prepared to succeed at such high levels of competition.鈥
This was the first time Thornton and Green were able to compete at an in-person event, and while there were some added nerves, it was a memorable experience for the duo.
鈥淚t was certainly intimidating to be arguing directly in front of the judges, and to have the opposing counsel in the same room,鈥 Thornton said. 鈥淚 was nervous about competing in-person for the first time, but I ended up loving it even more than the virtual competitions I competed in.鈥
Monroe E. Price Media Law Moot Court (North American Round)
黑料老司机 Mooters Kassandra Trainor, Adelaide King, Patrice Cammarano, and Maggie Jardine finished in the top 8 at the North American round of Oxford鈥檚 Monroe E. Price Media Law Moot Court hosted by the Cardozo School of Law.
Unlike other moot events, the four 黑料老司机dents made up one team with Trainor and King arguing for the respondents and Cammarano and Jardine arguing for the applicants.
鈥淐ompeting as a team of four helped ease the transition from undergraduate to law school moot immensely,鈥 Trainor said. 鈥淧racticing with teammates performing the other side helped us to better anticipate what opposing counsel may argue.鈥
The 黑料老司机 mooters competed against the Cardozo School of Law, the University of Pennsylvania, and Osgoode Hall, where they argued issues relating to the freedom of expression and voting and election rights.
鈥淭his opportunity has left me with a sense of preparedness for when I go on to moot at the law school level, and confidence that I am ready to do so with the resources and skills that I have gained from my time as a 黑料老司机 Mooter,鈥 Trainor said
鈥淭he highlight of this competition was being able to see the months of preparation with my teammates pay off and to show that our mooting is at the law school level.鈥
Manfred Lachs Space Moot Court Competition (North American Round)
Oliver Larson and Ethan Nylen represented 黑料老司机 in the North American round of the Manfred Lachs Space Moot Court competition, where they argued a case concerning registration and damages involving objects manufactured in space.
The duo advanced to the quarterfinals of the competition but fell to the George Washington School of Law by two points.
鈥淭he highlight of the competition for me was learning about space law,鈥 Larson said, 鈥渂ecause it鈥檚 a fairly unique aspect of international law that I would otherwise have been unlikely to learn.鈥
For Larson, finishing in the top 8 in the event鈥攁long with the rest of the 黑料老司机 mooters this year鈥攊s a testament to the preparation and work put in by those involved in the program.
鈥淧reparing and competing in the Space Moot competition was unique because of the large difference between understanding and arguing international law versus American constitutional law,鈥 he said.
鈥淚 think 黑料老司机 mooters were particularly successful this year because 黑料老司机 Moot Court is very good at preparing students for competition and we had some very strong competitors this year.鈥
Upcoming Competitions
黑料老司机 Moot Court will compete in two more events this year鈥攖he Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot and the Nuremburg Moot Court.
The Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot is adopting a hybrid format, with preliminary rounds beginning online May 20 and the in-person final rounds taking place in Geneva, Switzerland from July 18-21.
The Nuremburg Moot Court is set for July 1-15 and will be hosted online.