Students Win Big in Recent Legal Skills Competitions
The team of Kate Hollist, James Carlson, and Ryan Pont (above, left to right) was among four teams to win the San Francisco Regional of the ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition, earning a spot in Nationals, which will be held in Chicago April 7-9. It was a dramatic victory: going into the elimination rounds as the #16 seed, they took out the #1 seed in round four and delivered a decisive victory in round five. (Yes, a 16 can take down a 1.) The team of Briana Campbell, Erica Morris, and Dan Roberts also made it to the final round of the regional, narrowly missed advancing to Nationals. Professor Susie Salmon serves as coach.
In its first time competing in the Giles S. Rich IP Moot Court competition, Arizona Law has advanced to the national finals, which will take place mid-April at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C.. Jingyuan (Joey) Zhou and Ryan Wekerle (above) competed at the Southwest regional, beating out the University of Texas, two teams from SMU and a team of the University of Houston. Wekerle was singled out for his exceptional knowledge of the law, and Zhou won the award for best advocacy in the final round of the regional meet. The Giles S. Rich Moot Court competition is the oldest and most prestigious moot court completion in the field of intellectual property and the only national competition specifically directed to the area of patent law. Students Evan Speciale and Brian Louis, and Professor of Practice Ron Brown helped coach the team.
Two teams represented Arizona Law at the National Native American Law Student Association Moot Court Competition, going up against more than 60 teams from law schools across the country. The UA NALSA team was (above, left to right): Anna Hohag (Bishop Paiute, 2L), Lisa Wrazidlo (Bad River Ojibwe, 2L), Jacob Metoxen (Oneida, 1L), and Alex Mojado (Pala/Cherokee, 2L). Wrazidlo and Hohag advanced to the Elite Eight round. Pilar Thomas served as the coach.
Arizona Law's Jessup International Law Moot Court team won the Third Best Memorial at the Pacific Regional Competition, where 20 schools participated. The team of (above, left to right) James Florentine, Parker Bunch, Jackie Kafka, Troy Anderson, and David Lundmark worked since September with coach and Professor of Practice Julie Ferdon conducting in-depth research and preparing written and oral pleadings to present before a mock International Court of Justice. This year's complicated and real-world issues included mass surveillance, the right to privacy, treaty interpretation, preventive detention, and cyber attacks. In addition to demonstrating an in-depth understanding of these issues, the students proved they know how to take an incredible team photo.
The Arizona Law Pace Environmental Moot Court team of Bradley Pollock, Lorena Hutton, and Ian McCloskey successfully competed in the 2016 competition in White Plains, New York in February, advancing for three rounds. The competition drew teams from 50 law schools, and this year's complex problem concerned climate change regulation in the context of permitting a new biomass plant for generating electricity. The Arizona Law team, coached by Professor Kirsten Engel, advanced through three rounds, and Pollock won best oralist in the second preliminary round.