Awards

Southwestern has one of the most active and successful moot court programs in the country. Members advanced triumphantly against highly skilled adversaries in hard-fought competitions held across the country. Recent top placing events and competitors follow below.

Record of Awards - Past Awards


2008-2009 Academic Year


Wagner Team Wins Best Respondent Brief,
Second Place Oralist

From left: Reyes, Dumitru and Weiner
Southwestern's Moot Court Honors Program team of Carlo Reyes, Alma Dumitru, and Matt Weiner excelled at the Robert F. Wagner Labor and Employment Law Competition, winning Best Respondent's Brief. Matt Weiner also won Second Place Oralist and the team finished overall as semifinalists. The team argued a problem exploring two issues: whether mid-level employees should be deemed supervisors under the National Labor Relations Act, a determination that could bar millions of employees from union representation; and whether a disabled employee is entitled to automatic reassignment to a vacant position under the reasonable accommodation provision of Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Southwestern's team defeated law students from New York University, Pepperdine University, Penn State, and University of Arkansas at Little Rock before besting University of Hastings in the Quarterfinals. They narrowly lost to Northern Kentucky University in the Semifinal Round.

Reyes, a third-year PLEAS student, father of four girls, and a full-time Emergency Medicine physician, served as the swing oralist and brief writer for the Wagner Team. He said, "The most important experience gained by participating in Moot Court is the opportunity to work as part of a team - to find a way for three strong-minded individuals to collaborate effectively to produce something special."

Weiner is a two-time Second Place Oralist, having also competed in the ABA National Moot Court Competition last year. Professor Christopher Cameron, who has served as faculty advisor for the Wagner competition for 11 years, said of Weiner's performance, "Matt's unflappable demeanor, encyclopedic knowledge of the law and record, and persuasiveness were commented upon by many judges as the best they'd seen." He also praised the team's performance, saying, "In 11 years of competing at Wagner, this was Southwestern's third Best Brief and fourth Semi-Final appearance. The team was incredible."


From left: Roston, Houchen and Colunga
Stetson Moot Court Team Advances to International Finals

At the Pacific Regional Round of the Stetson International Environmental Law Competition held at Santa Clara Law School on January 23 and 24, members of Southwestern's Moot Court Honors Program earned Second Place Team and Second Place Memorial (brief). Oralists Kristen Houchen and Anthony Colunga, and writer Matt Roston performed extremely well - Houchen was named Best Oralist in the final round, and the team's outstanding showing secured them an invitation to the International Finals at Stetson University College of Law, in Gulfport, Florida, at the end of March.

"International environmental law is one of the more difficult competitions to compete in because the students haven't taken courses in these areas of law and they had to do all of their research from scratch," said Melanie Partow '04, the team's alumna advisor, who also coached the Southwestern team that returned home with a First Place win in the International Competition in 2006. "The one thing that boded well for them is that they never stopped researching. The case law in this area is not like it is in the U.S. The decisions are hundreds of pages long. They did phenomenally well and walked away with more awards than any other school at the regional competition."


Wechsler Team Earns First Place Award

Cohen-Mays, Azat and Weinstein
Southwestern's Moot Court Honors Program team of Michael Azat, Leah Cohen-Mays and Jillian Weinstein earned First Place in the Burton D. Wechsler First Amendment Moot Court Competition held at American University Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C., October 23-25. Among other teams, Southwestern triumphed over the finalist team from Cleveland Marshall College of Law, as well as teams from Brooklyn Law School and Florida International University in the semi-finals, and Stetson University College of Law, South Texas College of Law and Thomas Jefferson School of Law, among others in earlier rounds.

Rodriguez (far left) with the team

Southwestern alumna Zee Rodriguez '99, an appellate prosecutor for eight years who served as the team's advisor, said the students were well organized and prepared. "[They understood that] judges don't want a regurgitation of the brief," she said. "Our team's ability to answer questions in their own words and use cases to support their positions really paid off in the final rounds."

"It felt great to help continue the national recognition our school deserves," team member Leah Cohen-Mays said, "and arguing at the Court of Appeals in front of real judges was amazing. Their comments and advice were invaluable."

The appellate issue explored whether a public university professor's assignment of a grade constitutes speech and if so, does that right of speech belong to the university or the professor? Southwestern's teams traditionally perform well at the Wechsler competition, and were finalists last year.