For the second consecutive year, the University of Tennessee College of Law’s National Moot Court Competition team has won the regional title and will advance to compete nationally.
Third-year students Joseph Robinson and Jonathan Russell along with second-year student Miles Schiller competed this month against 11 other teams in the regional event hosted virtually by Mississippi College.
The UT College of Law team won all three rounds defeating student teams from the University of Memphis, Vanderbilt University and Louisiana State University. The team won best brief of the competition, and Schiller was named best oralist.
Robinson said the coaching the team received from Professor Emeritus John Sobieski and Professor Don Leatherman was critical to the team’s success. The students spent several weeks first writing their brief on their own, then arguing before their coaches, professors and legal professionals to improve their abilities.
“It was a pretty intense schedule,” Robinson said. “There were just so many people putting in so much time and effort and providing feedback to make us better. It is like no other experience I have had in law school.”
The competition, hosted by the New York City Bar and one of the longest-running competitions of its kind, allows students to argue current issues being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court, based on the Record on Appeal written by a competition committee.
Schiller said preparing for the competition helped him hone the skills he will need as a trial lawyer or appellate advocate arguing current issues.
As regional competition winners, the UT College of Law team qualifies to compete against 27 other teams that will advance to the national finals. The national competition will take place at the New York City Bar from Jan. 31 to Feb. 3.