Congratulations, 2018–19 Student Advocacy Teams!

BU Law student successes in advanced appellate advocacy, negotiation, and client counseling competitions.

Boston University School of Law prides itself on its robust student advocacy program. From class-wide participation in the 1L Esdaile Moot Court Competition to advanced appellate advocacy in the Edward C. Stone, Homer Albers, or intramural moot court competitions, students develop skills that will have a direct impact on their future practice. Student advocacy teams prepare to compete against some of the country’s top law students in appellate advocacy, negotiation, and client counseling competitions. Below, find results from completed competitions, and check back frequently for updates!

Jump to:

• Homers Albers Prize Competition
• 26th Annual Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot
• Judge John R. Brown Admiralty Moot Court Competition
• John J. Gibbons Criminal Procedure Moot Court Competition
• Irving R. Kaufman Memorial Securities Law Moot Court Competition
• 24th Annual Thurgood Marshall Memorial Moot Court Competition
• American Bar Association National Appellate Advocacy Competition – Boston Regionals
• American Bar Association Negotiation Competition – Nationals
• American Bar Association Client Counseling – Regionals
• National Moot Court – Finals
• National Moot Court – Regionals
• Edward C. Stone Moot Court Competition
• American Bar Association Negotiation Competition

Homer Albers Prize Competition

Congratulations to all the student advocacy and moot court teams on a successful year! Special congratulations to the 2019 Homer Albers Prize Competition winners, next year’s intermural teams, and the students selected to direct the 2019–20 competitions.

Homer Albers Prize Winners

Best Petitioner Brief: Rich Driscoll and Jocelyn Mosman
Best Respondent Brief: Stasie Levin and Giancarlo Ambrogio
Best Oralist: Stasie Levin
Best Team: Ian Hunley and Raymond Myer
Second Team: Stasie Levin and Giancarlo Ambrogio

2019–20 Moot Court Boards

Albers Directors: Giancarlo Ambrogio and Ray Myer
Stone Directors: Jessica Hartman, David Horton, and Ian Hunley
Negotiation & Client Counseling: Tyler Stites, Ahmer Qureshi, Maris Kramer Brosnan, and Ainsley Tucker

2019–20 Intramural Teams

Gibbons Criminal Procedure: Elaine Ortyl, Skyler Splinter, and Daniel Woodhouse
National Appellate Advocacy: Jocelyn Mosman, Amanda Pine, and Maxwell Robidoux
National Appellate Advocacy: Rich Driscoll, Suzanne Davies, and Laura Drohan
National Moot Court: Tyler Shearer, Stasie Levin, and Jacqueline Betz
Seigenthaler-Sutherland: Julia Schur and Noah Cherry
Thurgood Marshall: Nadia Lee and Sanjaya Dubey

26th Annual Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot

BU Law students Anna Kozlowski (’19), Max V. Katner (’19), Nadia Lee (’20), and Noah Cherry (’20), and coach Dimitrios Ioannidis (’90), travelled to Vienna, Austria in April to participate in the 26th Annual Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot. This was the second year that BU Law joined the prestigious international competition.

The Vis Arbitral Moot promotes the study of international commercial law and arbitration as a pathway to resolve business disputes by asking law students from around the world to mediate a concrete legal problem. Teams are asked to follow specified arbitration rules as they draft two memoranda, one as the claimant and the second as the respondent, with the goal of resolving a dispute related to the sale or purchase of goods under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. The Vis Arbitral Moot often pairs teams trained in civil law schools against those from common law schools—to give each team the opportunity to learn from different approaches. Similarly, the judges in each round come from both common law and civil law backgrounds.

This year, 378 law schools participated, pitting BU Law against great schools in the four rounds of arguments. In the first round, the team argued as the claimant against the IE Law School from Spain, then as the respondent against and the EWHA Women’s University from Korea. BU also argued as claimant against the Saudi Electric University and as the respondent against the Peking University of Transnational Law. During the preparation for the final rounds, the BU Law team practiced with the teams from Charles University Law School in Prague and Galatasaray University Law School from Istanbul, Turkey.

While the team did not continue into the final rounds of the competition, they received excellent feedback from the judges. Katner was praised for his use of cases and academic articles and Kozlowski was congratulated for her assertiveness in presentation and her ability to respond to questions. Professor Johan Erauw, the presiding arbitrator, referred to her as “cool.”  Lee was complimented on her knowledge of the full case and her concise summary of both her and Cherry’s argument. The tribunal was impressed by Cherry’s strong word choice in his argument, as well as his ability to give a clear and pointed rebuttal, and the research he cited in his presentation.

The Vis Moot is sponsored by most of the largest law firms, including WilmerHale, White & Case, Baker & McKenzie while representatives from the EU, the United Nations, UNIDROIT, and the ICC act as arbitrators. The BU Law team attended a presentation and networking reception at Schima, Mayer & Starlinger Rechtsanwälte GmbH in Vienna and connected with international students who are interested in applying to BU Law’s LLM programs.

We invite all first and second-year students who are interested in participating in next year’s competition to reach out to the coach, Dimitrios Ioannidis <ioannidis@rimlawyers.com>, as early as possible.

Congratulations to the BU Law team!

Judge John R. Brown Admiralty Moot Court Competition

BU Law students Caroline Lambert and Sigal Markowitz (both ’19) competed in Judge John R. Brown Admiralty Moot Court Competition in Charleston, South Carolina, from March 28 to March 30. The competition hears issues relevant to admiralty law that it thinks the US Supreme Court should hear. The Supreme Court has twice granted certiorari in cases that presented issues included in the competition.

Coached by Lecturer Chester Hooper, Lambert and Markowitz prepared a brief that considered whether an appeal may be taken from a decision to limit a vessel owner’s liability  to the value of the ship, even if a final judgment on the issues of liability and damages has not been issued, and if starting an action for limitation of liability to the value of the ship will grant admiralty jurisdiction, even if no other grounds for admiralty jurisdiction exists.

Although the team did very well in the first three rounds of competition, they not advance to the quarterfinals. Both Lambert and Markowitz performed extremely well. “They wrote an excellent brief, were well prepared, and argued very well,” Hooper said. “This is the second year they participated, and they took on the competition this year knowing full well the amount of work it requires. They are to be complimented for their fine efforts.”

John J. Gibbons Criminal Procedure Moot Court Competition

The 2019 John J. Gibbons Criminal Procedure Moot Court Competition, hosted by Seton Hall Law School, gathered forty teams of law students from across the country to examine questions related to criminal procedure and criminal law.

Laura Martin and David Zhang (both ’19) represented BU Law in two preliminary rounds of the competition. This year’s argument focused on the Fourth and Fifth Amendments: specifically, on the constitutionality of a police search in which blood is drawn from an unconscious person and whether successive state and federal criminal prosecutions violate the double jeopardy clause

While the team did not move on to the advanced rounds, the judges made many comments about their understanding of the issues and knowledge of the record. Multiple judges commented on Martin’s poise, professional demeanor, capacity to answer rapid fire questions with ease, and seamless ability loop back to her argument. Zhang was commended for his detailed knowledge of the facts and record and his careful handling of the specific questions. The team represented BU Law well, and we congratulate them on their performance!

Irving R. Kaufman Memorial Securities Law Moot Court Competition

Omeed Firoozgan and Ian Gillen (both ’19) competed in the Irving R. Kaufman Memorial Securities Law Moot Court Competition, which “offers teams the opportunity to test appellate advocacy skills before leading jurists, securities regulators, academics, and practitioners,” according to Fordham University School of Law, which hosts the competition in honor of its alum.

With the help of Claire Abely, lecturer in the BU Law Lawyering Program, Firoozgan and Gillen argued a two-part question under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934: (1) an oil and gas company’s statements describing environmental commitments were inactionable as a matter of law, and whether the plaintiffs’ claims challenging those statements as materially misleading adequately pled scienter; and (2) whether a claim for control person liability under 20(a) requires the plaintiff to plead that the control person was culpable.

Each team argued three preliminary rounds before the results were tallied and teams were chosen to move on. The BU Law team faced teams from the University of North Carolina ­– Chapel Hill School of Law and University of Miami School of Law.

While Firoozgan and Gillen did not advance to further rounds, both received praise from each judge over the three rounds, especially for the level of research and preparation they put into their arguments.

24th Annual Thurgood Marshall Memorial Moot Court Competition

The Thurgood Marshall Memorial Moot Court Competition, hosted by the Young Lawyers Division of the Federal Bar Association, one of the few moots designed specifically for two-person teams.

Stella Oyalabu and Anna Kozlowski (both ’19) traveled to Washington, DC for this year’s competition, which asked participants to consider two questions related to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act: Whether a corporation can assert a claim for discrimination on the basis of marital status under the Act, and whether a guarantor has standing to claim discrimination under ECOA (is a guarantor an “applicant”?).

Forty teams from law schools across the country competed in the 2019 competition. After facing two schools in preliminary rounds, Oyalabu and Kozlowski advanced to the round of 16. Although the team did not progress further, they faced strong competitors from the University of Minnesota who went on to place third in the overall competition. The judges in the round of 16 complimented Oyalabu on her powerful presence at the podium and Kozlowski on her preparedness and the ease with which she answered questions and transition back to the argument.

This is the second time a team from BU Law has participated in this competition, and the first team to advance past the preliminary rounds. Congratulations to Stella and Anna on their success!

ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition – Boston Regionals

Two BU Law teams competed in the regional round of the National Appellate Advocacy Competition, hosted by the American Bar Association and held from February 28 to March 2.

Weijia Ma, Meghan McCafferty, Zach Missan (all ’19) made up one team, and Joseph Azeizat, Meghan Hayes, and Matthew Parker (all ’19) competed on the other. Both teams argued well in the preliminary rounds. While their scores were quite close to their competitors, unfortunately, the teams did not advance. McCafferty argued especially well—earning the Best Advocate Award for the region!

Competitors are asked to argue a hypothetical appeal to the US Supreme Court. Each team prepares a brief as either the respondent or petitioner, and then participate in the competition, which “emphasizes the development of oral advocacy skills through a realistic appellate advocacy experience,” according to the ABA website.

Azeizat, Hayes, and Parker competed against a particularly tough pairing of teams—from University of Arkansas School of Law and Cleveland State University-Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, which had the first and second highest brief scores, respectively. Ma, McCafferty, and Missan were paired against the two teams from Marquette University Law School, which had the third and fourth highest brief scores.

ABA Negotiation Competition – Nationals

Maris Kramer Brosnan and Ainsley Tucker (both ’21), who won the regional round of the American Bar Association Negotiation competition in November, traveled Chicago to participated in the national round on February 8 and 9.

The topic this year was employment law. Acting as lawyers, participants were asked to negotiate a series of legal problems based on a set of commonly known facts as well as confidential information only known by each side. Coached by Ryan McCarthy (’19), Kelly Moran (’19), Ahmer Qureshi (’20), and Tyler Stites (’20), the BU Law team is the first since 2013 to reach the national tournament. They prevailed in the first round of the competition, but were unsuccessful in the second round.

“While we did not finish with the results we hoped for, this was an incredible learning experience for both competitors and coaches,” says Qureshi. “We learned about many different styles and techniques of negotiating which will translate well both in competition and in real life practice. Additionally, the judges were impressed with Maris and Ainsley’s organic and seamless chemistry. Their teamwork allowed them to overcome hurdles and zealously negotiate on behalf of their clients.”

ABA Client Counseling – Regionals

Congratulations to the two BU Law teams— Avantika Krishna and Anyela Perez, and Alexandra Trobe and Claire Wells (all ’21)—who competed in the American Bar Association Region 1 Client Counseling Competition in early February!

After admirable performances in the first round, Krishna and Perez were selected to move on, eventually securing 3rd place after six rounds of competition. The teams consulted mock clients on issues involving professional responsibility. Some of the ethical issues raised involved confidentiality, ability to withdraw from a case, perjury, and fee disputes.

Ryan McCarthy (’19), Kelly Moran (’19), Ahmer Qureshi (’20), and Tyler Stites (’20) served as student coaches helping to prepare the team for the competition. “The competitors did a wonderful job demonstrating compassion and building trust during some of the more emotionally turbulent consultations,” says Stites. “They showed an excellent understanding of professional responsibility rules.”

National Moot Court – Finals

Alexandra Arnold, David Bier, and Jason Ecker (all ’19) participated in the final rounds of the 69th Annual National Moot Court Competition January 28–31.

The team was asked to consider first, whether a federal trial court in a given state may exercise general personal jurisdiction over a corporate defendant on the basis of that corporation’s registration to do business in the state, and second, whether an autonomous vehicle that was involved in an accident while its operator was asleep is unreasonably dangerous.

BU Law faced two schools in the preliminary rounds: University of Nebraska College of Law and Loyola University School of Law. The team argued exceptionally well, receiving praise from the judges for their thoughtful analysis and enthusiasm. The team received a higher oral argument score than their competitors in both rounds. Unfortunately, due to a slightly lower brief score in both rounds, the team lost each overall round on total points, by a very small margin.

According to Jen McCloskey, who attended the competition with the team, “Alex, David, and Jason put in an enormous number of uncredited hours preparing for the competition, and it showed. Although we were disappointed that our brief did not receive a higher score, given that we had the second-best brief score at regionals, I am extremely proud of how well the team argued. They did all they could at oral arguments, receiving a higher oral argument score than their opponents in both rounds. We also want to thank the faculty who helped moot the team in preparation.”

National Moot Court Team Wins Regional Round!

Congratulations to Alexandra Arnold, David Bier, and Jason Ecker (all ’19), the BU Law National Moot Court team, who competed in and won the National Moot Court Region 1 competition!

The BU Law team was undefeated, winning their preliminary rounds against Vermont Law School and Western New England Law School, their semi-final round against UMass Law, and finally defeating Boston College Law School in the finals. In addition, Arnold won Best Oralist in the competition, and the team received the second-highest brief score. The team will compete in the national competition in New York in late January.

This year, the students argued two issues: First, whether a federal trial court in a given state may exercise general personal jurisdiction over a corporate defendant on the basis of that corporation’s registration to do business in the state, and second, whether an autonomous vehicle that was involved in an accident while its operator was asleep is unreasonably dangerous.

Hosted by Roger Williams University School of Law, the pairing schedule was a difficult one: UMass won Best Brief (which accounts for 40 percent of each round), Vermont’s brief score fell just half of a point below the team’s, and Boston College entered the final round undefeated. Moreover, due to the vagaries of the coin toss, the BU Law team had to argue for petitioner—perhaps the more difficult position—in both the semi-final and final round.

“I’m extremely proud of these students for the many hours of uncredited, self-directed time they put in to writing their brief and practicing,” says Jennifer Taylor McCloskey, associate director of the Legal Writing & Appellate Advocacy Program.

2018 Edward C. Stone Award Winners and Homer Albers Prize Moot Court Competition Invitees

Please join us in congratulating this year’s participants in the Edward C. Stone Moot Court Competition. Sixty 2L students competed in the competition this year, and all of the participants worked extremely hard during what is an especially busy time of year. We had an especially strong group this year; the students’ brief scores were, across the board, the highest I have seen in 11 years. In particular, we’d like to recognize the winners of the Best Brief and Best Oralist awards for each problem, as well as the Homer Albers Prize Moot Court Competition invitees, who are listed below. Please congratulate these students if you know them!

Best Brief

• Rich Driscoll and Cameron Chan, and David Horton, co-winners for problem 1: Mandelay v. Kramerica Indus., Inc. 
• Jacqueline Betz and Nadia Lee for problem 2: Maybee v. City of Pawned Knee Dept. of Parks & Recreation 
• Gavin Tullis and Brad Baranowski for problem 3: United States v. Jones and United States v. Thompson 

Best Oralist

• Raymond Myer forproblem 1: Mandelay v. Kramerica Indus., Inc.
• Alexa Solimano for problem 2: Maybee v. City of Pawned Knee Dept. of Parks & Recreation    
• Brad Baranowski for problem 3: United States v. Jones and United States v. Thompson 

Albers Invitees

Congratulations to the twenty-four students who have been invited to participate in the 2018 Homer Albers Prize competition this spring!

BU Law Team Wins Regional American Bar Association Negotiation Competition!

Three teams, Maris Kramer Brosnan (’21) and Ainsley Tucker (’21), Baasil Shariff (’20) and Dante Spurlock (’20), and Calvin Utter (’21) and Olivia Strange (’21), competed in the regional round of the American Bar Association Negotiation Competition, hosted by New York Law School on November 2.

After three rounds of competition, Maris Kramer Brosnan and Ainsley Tucker prevailed, winning the regional round of the competition and securing their spot in the national round in February.

Aided by student-coaches Ryan McCarthy (’19), Kelly Moran (’19), Ahmer Qureshi (’20), and Tyler Stites (’20), the teams competed against 22 teams from 10 schools, including Colombia Law School, New York University School of Law, New York Law School, the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University, and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, among others. This year’s theme was employment law, and the first negotiation required the teams to reach an agreement representing an employee who wanted to take additional leave time to help facilitate her adoption. In the second negotiation, the teams represented a law firm defending its unpaid summer internship program against a disgruntled intern.

The top four teams competed in the final round, in which each team was asked to represent a tour bus company in a negotiation with a bus driver who had recently become disabled and needed a new position. Kramer Brosnan and Tucker were titled co-champions with another team in the region, and finished the tournament with the highest cumulative score of all 22 teams.

“Throughout all three of their rounds, judges consistently noted that Kramer Brosnan and Tucker carried themselves with poise and professionalism beyond the level of most first-year students,” Qureshi says. “Additionally, the judges found their ability to play to each other’s strengths and balance their client’s objectives with their opponent’s a key reason for their success at the tournament.”