The University of Tennessee College of Law’s National Moot Court team will advance to national finals after winning the regional event earlier this month.
Third-year law student Kayla Rask, and second-year students Mark Kelly and Joseph Robinson outperformed teams from nine other schools to secure the regional championship.
During the virtual competition Nov. 14-15, College of Law students defeated Vanderbilt University and Cumberland School of Law in the two preliminary rounds and was the number one seeded team for the quarter-final round.
Tennessee again defeated Vanderbilt in the quarter-final round, the University of Mississippi team in the semi-final round and the Cumberland team in the championship round. Tennessee’s brief, with a score of 95, was also the highest in the competition.
The team’s success qualifies it for the National Moot Court Competition final rounds, scheduled to take place Feb. 9-12.
The competition is sponsored annually by the New York City Bar Association’s National Moot Court Competition Committee and the American College of Trial Lawyers. More than 120 law schools compete annually in regional rounds with the top two teams from the 14 regions advancing to final rounds.
The National Moot Court competition is one of the longest running competitions of its kind, allowing student advocates to hone their appellate advocacy skills before prominent members of the legal profession.
The College of Law team is coached by Professor Emeritus John Sobieski and assisted by Professor Don Leatherman and alumna and former national moot court team member Wanda Sobieski.