Texas Tech University School of Law Wins National Moot Court Competition
Texas Tech University School of Law won the final round of the 72nd Annual National Moot Court Competition held February 3. The winning team was comprised of Kayla Schaded, Alicia Mpande and Taylor Holley. Chicago-Kent College of Law was the runner-up, with a team comprised of Jason Skolnik and Zelpha Williams.
Best Brief honors went to South Texas College of Law, Houston with Runner-Up Best Brief awarded to University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law.
Best Oralist in the Final Round was Alicia Mpande. Runner-Up Best Oralist in the Final Round was Kayla Schaded.
The final round was judged by Sheila Boston, President, New York City Bar Association; Susan J. Harriman, President-Elect, American College of Trial Lawyers; Hon. Eunice Lee, US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; Hon. Kiyo Matsumoto, United States District Court, EDNY; Hon. John Gleeson, Ret. Judge United States District Court EDNY and Hon. Michael Sonberg, Ret. Judge, New York State Supreme Court.
This year’s Record on Appeal addresses two key issues:
- Can an incarcerated individual represented by counsel take advantage of the prison mailbox rule as it relates to his filing of a Notice of Appeal under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4, where the inmate’s counsel was temporarily incapacitated at the time of filing?
- Is a blanket ban prohibiting gender reassignment surgery at a state correctional facility an unconstitutional violation of an inmate’s Eighth Amendment right to be free of cruel and unusual punishment?
The final argument was the culmination of more than six months of preparation and arguments by 140 teams from over 110 law schools across the country. The top two teams from each of the 14 regional competitions advanced to the final rounds.
The Competition is co-sponsored by the American College of Trial Lawyers and the National Moot Court Competition Committee of the New York City Bar Association.
