AUWCL Competition Teams Zoom Their Way to the Top
March 5, 2021
This past year featured a plethora of virtual visits, online meetups, and Zoom calls – especially for American University Washington College of Law’s advocacy competition teams. While professors shifted their classes online, competition students and coaches had to adapt to the challenges of virtually hosting, preparing for, and competing in moot court competitions.
Members of the AUWCL Moot Court Honor Society (MCHS) learn courtroom skills from professors in the law school’s #4 ranked Stephen S. Weinstein Advocacy Program and compete once a year. “With the ongoing pandemic, many schools cancelled competitions completely, so we had to find ways to continue learning and practicing our advocacy skills,” said 3L Katie Sauter, president of the MCHS.
In the fall, the Moot Court team held a virtual advocacy workshop with team coaches, where they practiced brief writing skills and talked about emerging best practices in the courtroom, including the increased use of technology.
“Like many organizations, we’ve had to increase communication, not only to prepare for competition with team members, but also to create a support system for students through group chats and social hours,” Sauter said.
The MCHS also increased awareness via social media to get new students interested in participating in competition and advocacy work.
In January 2021, the Moot Court Honor Society hosted the Alvina Reckman-Myers First-Year Moot Court Tournament – an annual competition held exclusively for first-year AUWCL students. Sixty-six first-year students competed in the two-day competition on a completely virtual platform.
The competition allowed for multiple courtrooms where students argued issues including evidentiary exceptions to hearsay under the Federal Rules of Evidence and admissibility of evidence under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment. Four students advanced to the final round where their advocacy skills were judged by AUWCL Professors Elizabeth Beske and Paul Figley and Adjunct Professor Thomas Bondy.
Other Moot Court Honor Society successes from this past year include:
- 2020 Evans Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition 3rd Place (last pre-Covid competition) – Hannah Skopicki (3L) and John LaMonaca (3L)
- 2020 San Diego National Criminal Procedure Moot Court Competition Quarterfinalists – Hannah Skopicki (3L) and Tommy Sommer (3L)
- 2021 Hunton Andrews Kurth Moot Court National Championship – Kristen Bartolotta (4L) and Katie Bumpers (3L) competed virtually. Their brief, with the help of Zach Perez (3L) as brief editor, placed 4th.
- 2021 ABA Moot Court Regional Finalists and 5th Best Brief– Eric Sell (3L) and Mike Carbonara (3L)
- 2021 VIS Pre-Moot 3rd Place – Bailey Roe (3L), Andrew Treske (3L), Sienna Heard (2L), and Shannon Quinn (2L)
With more competitions on the horizon, students and coaches continue to prepare online until they can be back in-person inside the courtroom. For more information about the MCHS, visit: wcl.american.edu/community/students/competition-teams/mootcourt