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Student Moot Court Competition

ACS Launches 2008 Constance Baker Motley National Moot Court Competition in Constitutional Law

We are pleased to announce the third annual Constance Baker Motley National Moot Court Competition in Constitutional Law. In recognition of the upcoming general elections and the fact that in 38 states judicial candidates must stand for election, the 2008 Moot Court legal problem involves timely and open questions related to state elections and their role in helping ensure a fair and independent judiciary.
Two issues will be briefed and argued:

• Whether a state rule precluding judicial candidates from personally soliciting campaign contributions is inconsistent with the First Amendment;

and

• Whether a state rule restricting the partisan political activities of candidates for judicial office violates the First Amendment.

The official 2008 Problem, Rules, and other information about the competition may be accessed by clicking on the links directly above.
The competition consists of two phases: briefings and oral arguments. Briefs will be due from all competitors on January 18, 2008. Oral arguments will consist of two preliminary regional competition rounds, at the University of Colorado Law School at Boulder (March 15-16) and Georgetown University Law Center (March 29-30). Each team will argue both on and off brief.

At each regional competition, teams of two will argue a minimum of three preliminary rounds on Saturday, and eight teams will advance to the quarterfinal level of elimination rounds on Sunday. From that, four teams will advance to a regional competition final round. The winning team from each regional competition will compete in the Constance Baker Motley National Moot Court Competition in Constitutional Law Final Round in June 2008 at the ACS National Convention in Washington, D.C. The winning team selected in the Final Round will receive a $3,000 cash prize, and the runner-up team will receive a $2,000 cash prize. Registration will open on Friday, October 26, 2007, and close on Friday, November 16, 2007.

Timeline

• October 24, 2007: Official Problem Released

• October 26, 2007: Registration Opens

• November 16, 2007: Registration Closes

• January 18, 2008: Briefs Due

• March 15-16, 2008: University of Colorado Law School at Boulder Regional Competition Rounds

• March 29-30, 2008: Georgetown University Law Center Regional Competition Rounds

• June 2008: Final Round at the ACS National Convention

We invite you to learn more about the competition, and to join us for what promises to be an exciting competition!

ACS wishes to thank Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, the National Sponsor of the competition.

Congratulations to our 2007 Moot Court National Champions


Moot Court 2007 Regional Round at the University of Chicago
Moot Court 2007 Regional Round at the University of Chicago

From left: ACS Executive Director, Lisa Brown, Hon. Richard D. Cudahy, Hon. Diane P. Wood, Laird Nelson and Benjamin Garry


Congratulations to Laird Nelson and Benjamin Garry of Columbia Law School who are the winners of the 2007 Constance Baker Motley National Moot Court Competition in Constitutional Law.

The National Final Round, which was judged by the Hon. Susan Graber, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Hon. M. Blane Michael, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and Hon. Robert W. Pratt, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, was held at the Fifth Annual ACS National Convention: Toward a Just Future in July 2007.

Nelson and Garry competed against Emily Rae Woods and Fred Smith from Stanford Law.

Congratulations to Our First Champions!

The American Constitution Society is proud to announce that Suzanne LiaBraaten and Andrea Schmitt from the University of Washington School of Law have won the inaugural Constance Baker Motley National Moot Court Competition in Constitutional Law, prevailing in a highly spirited final round over Adam Litle and Sonya Mays from the University of Michigan Law School. Arguing before the Honorable Dolores K. Sloviter and the Honorable Theodore McKee, both of the Third Circuit, and the Honorable Catherine C. Blake of the United States District Court for Maryland, all the finalists held their own in the face of incredibly intense questioning from the entire panel. The winners received $3,000 and the finalists $1,000 from ACS in recognition of their great achievement.

Congratulations and Thank You!

Adam Adam Adam Adam
The American Constitution Society is proud to announce that the tournament rounds of the first Constance Baker Motley National Moot Court Competition in Constitutional Law were a great success. Twenty-seven teams from sixteen schools and fifteen states gathered at Columbia Law School to argue felon disfranchisement before judges that included Lisa Brown, Executive Director of the ACS, Guy-Uriel Charles, Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota, the Honorable Helen Freedman of the Supreme Court of New York, Jack Greenberg, Professor of Law at Columbia University and former Director-Counsel of the NAACP LDF, Victor Kovner, Partner at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP and member of the Board of Directors of the ACS, Gara LaMarche, Vice President and Director of U.S. Programs for the Open Society Institute, the Honorable Jed Rakoff of the Southern District of New York, Theodore Shaw, Director-Counsel and President of the NAACP LDF, and William Yeomans, Director of Programs of the ACS, among many others.

ACS Announces Constance Baker Motley Moot Court Competition

Judge Constance Baker Motley

The American Constitution Society proudly announces the debut of the Constance Baker Motley National Moot Court Competition in Constitutional Law.

The first national competition will be held at Columbia Law School on March 4-5, 2006. The topic will be felony disfranchisement. Teams of two will argue a minimum of three preliminary rounds on Saturday, and eight teams will advance to elimination rounds on Sunday. Note that while teams will write either an appellant or an appellee brief, each team will argue both sides at the competition.

Awards will include best brief (on both sides) and best oral advocacy. The two finalist teams will travel to the ACS National Convention in Washington, D.C. to compete for the national championship on Thursday, June 15, 2006. The winning team will receive a $3,000 prize, and the runner-up team will receive $1,000.

Watch for the problem and registration materials to be posted in mid-October. Registrations will be due November 1, with briefs due in mid-January.

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