Moot Court Honor Society Holds Tryouts
April 2, 2012
By RuthAnne Bergt, 2L
The Moot Court Honor Society held their annual tryouts on March 31 and April 1. The tryouts were accomplished through
a two-day Intra-School Competition. This year, 34 TJSL students competed in the event.
The talent of the students was high and the competition fierce! Each competitor participated in two rounds on Saturday. The field was then narrowed down to the top eight, based on average overall scores. On Sunday the finalists competed in three single-elimination rounds.
The competitors making it into the final rounds were Oluwatomilola Adeleke, Cristina Kinsella, Crystal Salumbides, Emily Shank, Adrieannette Ciccone, Thomas Bollman, Kimberly Roth, and John Stauffer. (The quarter-final and semi-final rounds were all close matches, with many only decided by one or two points out of 100!
The final round was held on Sunday at 11:15 a.m. and was between Thomas Bollman, representing Petitioner, and Crystal Salumbides, representing Respondent. The two competitors argued in a composed and articulate manner despite the pressure of a rather large audience. The round was another close one, however, the win went to Crystal Salumbides. Congratulations Crystal on your first place finish!
This year’s Intra-School competition problem was based on a First Amendment issue from the 2011 National Moot Court Competition. A special “thank you” goes to Meghan Buckner, Jonathan Yu, Rane Casalegno and Jesse Allen for putting together this flawlessly run competition!
Judging by this competition, next year will be a great one for TJSL’s Moot Court team! Faculty Advisor Professor Paul Spiegelman said, “This was a very talented group of students trying out. Not only were there a number of standouts who are ready to represent TJSL today, but I was very impressed with the dedication and the tatent of the overall group and their ability to master First Amendment law relating
to schools’ power to discipline students for online postings made off campus. This was especially good because so many of those trying out were 1Ls. The depth of talent displayed by the group trying out suggests a bright future for TJSL Moot Court teams in the coming years.”
Xavier Carr (2011/2012 Chair) agreed, stating that he is very confident that the Moot Court Honor Society will reach new heights in the upcoming year.