The University of Tennessee College of Law was awarded the Harrison Tweed Bowl for best brief at the 2015 National Moot Court Competition in New York City.
The award was a first for UT Law, whose team competed in the finals against thirty other law school teams from around the country. The UT team’s members were 2Ls John Baxter, Jarrod Casteel, and Kaitlyn Holland.
“What makes this all the more impressive is that the Tennessee team was composed of three second-year students,” said John Sobieski, the Lindsay Young Distinguished Professor of Law who co-advises the team with Joseph Cook, the Williford Gragg Distinguished Professor of Law. “Most of the other teams were exclusively or predominantly third-year law students.”
Designed to promote the art of appellate advocacy, the National Moot Court Competition is the oldest and largest moot court competition in the United States. It is sponsored by the Young Lawyers Committee of the New York City Bar and the American College of Trial Lawyers. More than 150 law schools compete each year in regional competitions, and the top two teams from each of the fifteen regions compete in the finals in New York City. For the Harrison Tweed Bowl, the Young Lawyers Committee reviews and grades the briefs of each finalist team.