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First-Year Students Go To Moot Court
The 2007-08 Moot Court executive board are (top, left to right) Stephanie Chen, advocacy director; Danielle Tizol, managing director; Matthew Poole, executive director; (bottom, left to right) Erin Schietinger and Jennifer Frost, topics directors.
April 8, 2008 -- Their heads filled with points of law and persuasive arguments, their stomachs with butterflies, nearly 250 first-year students completed their Moot Court requirement the weekend of April 5 and 6. Working in teams of two - a petitioner and a respondent in an appeal court setting - they prepared written briefs and oral arguments on topics ranging from torts (the use of animals as products for purposes of strict product liability) to the Fifth Amendment and employment law (the dismissal of a government employee for refusing to answer questions in an administrative hearing).
"We look for areas where the authority is split," explained Moot Court Case Counsel Stewart Kellar, 2L. "That gives both sides the opportunity to research and create credible arguments for their clients."
Case counsels started researching and creating fact patterns for 19 different cases last summer. They also coach and mentor the first-year students through the two-month Moot Court course. "Our own Moot Court is still fresh in our minds, so we really understand what the 1Ls are going through. It's one of the things that makes our student-run Moot Court program so successful," he continued.
Members of the USF School of Law class of '07 served as alumni judges during Moot Court weekend: (left to right) Eugene Kim, Cherie Beasley, Rob Lawton, David Mesa, Michelle Schuller, Matt Peters, Nicole Magaline, Jordan Jaffe.
The USF program is also unusual in that it encompasses both written and oral argument. "The sooner you have the experience of being in a courtroom,
having to respond to judges' questions and then artfully return to your own argument, the better able you are to figure out the direction your career might take," said Stephanie Chen 3L, the 2007-08 Moot Court Board advocacy director.
The students argued before three-judge panels, drawn from a pool of local judges and attorneys, the majority of them alumni. This was the third year as a judge for Sunny Shapiro '02. "As a judge, I look for commitment to their client's cause and their ability to argue around the weaknesses in their case," she said. "USF prepares its students well and it is always exciting to see young lawyers showing their stuff."
Beyond the relief and exhilaration of completing one of the defining moments of any law student's experience, 38 students had even more to celebrate. Their judges honored them with best brief and best argument awards:
Topic Letter / Case Counsel |
Best Brief |
Best Oral Argument |
A / Bambo Obaro |
Matthew Adler |
Monica Baranovsky |
B / Stephen Hew |
Sachi Clements |
Elisa Cervantes |
C / Leslie Bennett |
Seth Nelson |
Joseph Morris |
D / Celine Mui |
Jim Folger |
Ashley Cornwall |
E / Ellen Bass |
Natalie Davis |
Krista Henneman |
F / Tiffany Yee |
Anne Ho |
David Kennedy |
G / Cameron Cloar |
Russell Ozawa |
Kevin Christopher |
H / Stewart Kellar |
Andrew March |
Judson McDougal |
I / Joanna Giang |
Matt Lewis |
Donovan McKendrick |
J / Jen Stanger |
Amber Ingels |
John Kirkham |
K / Phillip Babich |
Gregory Avant |
Christina MacDougall |
L / Katy Young |
Allison Low |
Negin Mohajeri |
M / Amol Mehra |
Erin Park |
Michael Pasternak |
N / Meredith Marzuoli |
Devon Phelps |
Elizabeth Mounts |
O / Mia Marron |
Martha Saracino |
Aman Sebahtu |
P / Andrea Fellion |
Casey Truelove |
Achal Srinath |
Q / Jennifer Baker |
Cru Ulrich |
Caitlin Ward |
R / Lailah Morris |
Ning Yu |
Sally White |
S / Nazar Ghosseiri |
Gwyndolen Thiessen |
Erik Fitzpatrick |
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