Supreme in Court
Ohio Wesleyan’s Moot Court Team recently completed its second successful season as a competitor in the American Collegiate Moot Court Competition. Participants included Maxwell Richards (from left), Veronica Duff, William Thieman, Katherine Berger, adviser Michael Esler, Marissa Alfano, Seung-Wan Paik, Jared Yee, Anthony McGuire, and Kayla Henderson. (Photo by Pam Laucher)
The Ohio Wesleyan Moot Court Team successfully completed its second season as a competitor in the American Collegiate Moot Court Competition this year.
The competition is the nation’s premier undergraduate moot court competition. Fourteen OWU students participated in this year’s competition, reports Michael Esler, Ph.D., professor of politics and government and adviser of the Pre-Law Studies Program.
The students worked throughout the fall to analyze issues in a fictional case. They then read and analyzed 20 actual court cases on the topic. Their task was to apply the precedents set in the actual court cases to their fictional case to craft legal arguments representing both sides of the issue. In competition, the students responded to questions from judges and lawyers portraying Supreme Court Justices deciding the case’s outcome.
OWU students Kayla Henderson ’13, Marissa Alfano ’14, Rachel Tallmadge ’14, Veronica Duff ’13, Adam Dettra ’13, and Max Richards ’14 participated in the regional tournament in Wooster, Ohio.
Students Seun-Wan Paik ’14, Anthony McGuire ’13, William Thieman ’13, Jared Yee ’14, Saar Rajpuria ’15, Alex Jacobs ’14, Katherine Berger ’16, and Erik Poicon ’14 participated in the regional tournament in Saginaw, Mich. Each team won several ballots and at least one round.
At the Saginaw tournament, the team of Paik and McGuire advanced to nationals. Paik won honors for the ninth-highest individual score, and Berger won honors for the fourth-highest individual score, a particularly impressive feat considering Berger is a freshman, Esler says.
At the national championship, held last month in Virginia Beach, Va., the Paik-McGuire team performed at a high level but was eliminated at the round of 32. Paik and McGuire lost to the opposing team by less than 10 points combined.
Students interested in participating in Moot Court should contact Esler at mvesler@owu.edu.