After University of Wisconsin Law School teams participated in numerous competitions throughout the country during the 2008-2009 academic year, the Moot Court Board is celebrating the teams' many successes. Of 19 teams that represented the Law School this year, 10 teams advanced past the preliminary rounds and 6 teams advanced to the quarterfinal rounds or better. Highlights of their accomplishments include:
William Dalsen and Michael Link advanced to the octofinal round at the John Marshall Information Technology Competition in Chicago. The legal issue involved privacy rights in online settings. Andy Barragry coached the team.
Rudy Moore and Andrea Von Hoff also advanced to the octofinal round while competing at the San Diego Criminal Procedure Competition. The team’s brief writing skills were recognized with a third place award for best brief. Laura Bayard coached the team. The problem explored both a defendant's Fourth Amendment rights during traffic stops and the admission of statements made to law enforcement without the benefit of legal counsel.
Sam Kidd and Andrew Hawes advanced to the semifinal round at the Stetson Environmental Law Competition in Santa Clara, California. Kidd won additional recognition for oral advocacy as the recipient of one of three Top Oral Advocate Awards. The issue they addressed involved the legality of one country's krill fishing and another country's retaliatory seizure of one of the krill fishing ships on the high seas. Travis Mueller coached the team.
Mike Yellin and Rachel Peterson represented UW Law School at the National Tax Moot Court Competition’s Florida Bar Tax Section in St. Petersburg, Florida. The team advanced to the quarterfinal round. Their coach was Andy Gehl.
Tim Kuhn and Jenny Vandermeuse both took home Best Oralist awards from the National Telecommunications Moot Court Competition in Washington, D.C. The two tied for the honor. The team, coached by Vic Yanz, also advanced to the competition's semifinal round. Their problem concerned whether the Federal Communications Commission had the power to mandate warning messages on cell phones about the dangers of driving while watching videos on the devices.
Josh Christensen and Scott Colom advanced to the quarterfinal round, the top 8 of 36 teams, at the Tulane Sports Law Competition in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ben Prinsen and Adam Witkov coached the team. Their problem dealt with whether the NBA, including its teams, was a single entity and whether the NBA's apparel contract violated antitrust law.
Andrew Rima and J. Malcolm DeVoy also advanced to the quarterfinal round at their competition, the Vanderbilt First Amendment Competition in Nashville, Tennessee. Zina Deldar coached the pair, whose legal problem required examining the scope of public employees' speech in light of the Supreme Court decision Garcetti v. Ceballos.
Cat Giljohann and Ashley Senary successfully advanced to the octofinal round at the Cardozo/BMI Entertainment & Communications Competition in New York. Senary also took home the award for Best Oralist. Their problem involved copyright liability for direct and contributory infringement on file-sharing networks. Jill M. Smith coached the team.
Rachel Miller and Jake Remington competed at the Wagner Labor Law Competition in New York and advanced to the quarterfinal round. Joe Hanes coached the team. The problem involved an employment dispute and what qualifies as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
For more information about the Moot Court Board and this year's achievements, please contact Joe Hanes at jhanes@wisc.edu.
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